While griping recently to an associate about the lack of Microsoft Excel on my Windows XP Home Edition, I was reminded of this site.

Open Office, as its name implies, is completely free of licensing fees and should be the first stop for the bootstrapping entrepreneur looking for a way to outfit an office environment with workable software at little or no cost.

The openoffice.org website claims:

The software looks and feels familiar and is instantly usable by anyone who has used a competitive product.

The latest version includes:

• WRITER, word processing capable of creating complex documents with illustrations

• CALC, a spreadsheet program for calculating, analyzing and producing reports with graphics

• IMPRESS, for producing multi-media presentations with special effects

• DRAW, for simple drawings, 3D and effects

• BASE, for making, moving and manipulating reports and data

Download your copy now and don't tell Bill Gates you heard it here.