Five Free Open Source Alternatives To Microsoft Office

These free office OS software supports all document formats including those of Microsoft and finally give MS Office a break.

Apache OpenOffice: The free, open productivity suite

Apache OpenOffice is named amongst the well known open source office suites available today. It if packed with tools for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics and databases. Apache OpenOffice can save your documents in OpenDocument format, read-only Microsoft Word documents of proper Microsoft Word format.

It is released under the Apache License. The recent 3.4.1 version of Apache OpenOffice is supported by Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux and Mac OS X operating systems. And do not carry any licence fee.

The suite includes: Writer - the word processor, Calc - the spreadsheets app, Impress - the alternative power point, Draw - the substitute of paint brush, Base - a database tool for creating and managing tables, forms, queries and reports, Math - it creates mathematical equations via graphic user interface or by manually typing formulas in equation editor.

LibreOffice: A powerful open source productivity suite

The Document Foundation's LibreOffice suite is a division of OpenOffice, as the underlying coding is the same. LibreOffice features the same six applications that Apache have; OpenOffice-Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Base and Math. The only difference between the two suites are the applications features, usability and community support. LibreOffice believed to be more actively developing suite than OpenOffice.

It is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) 3.0. The latest version v3.5.6 of LibreOffice supports Windows, Macintosh and GNU/Linux systems.

NeoOffice: Office applications for Mac OS X

The NeoOffice suite is an OpenOffice division too but is meant for Mac OS. It has almost all of the features available in OpenOffice.org but is focused on Mac users, it integrates the OS X interface with use of Mac OS X fonts and printing services.

The newest version 3.3 of NeoOffice, supports high resolution text drawing on Retina displays, is compatible with Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and Gatekeeper, and native Mac OS X text highlighting. It also lets Mobile users securely share NeoOffice data with other computers and devices. It is licenced under the GNU General Public License.

Google Docs: Create, share and collaborate online

Google Docs is an office suite that works on online module. It lets users with Google account create, share and collaborate on the internet. It offers to its users tools for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings and forms, which are stored on Google's cloud service Google Drive.

It is integrated to other Google services like Gmail, GChat, Google+, Google Calendar and Google Drive. And being based on cloud you can use your files anywhere from any device. Though Google Docs is not open source, but it is free and works perfectly as the office suite.

KOffice: The integrated office suite   

KOffice is equipped with the three major tools of office suites namely word processor, spreadsheet and presentation application. Koffice's latest version is 2.3.3 and is licensed under the LGPL 2.0. It is compatible with Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X systems.

தமிழ் வருடங்களும் எண்ணியல் அளவும்

பிரபவ	Prabhava	1927	1928
விபவ	Vibhava	1928	1929
சுக்ல	Sukla	1929	1930
பிரேமாதூத	Pramodhudha	1930	1931
பிரசோர்பதி	Prajorpati	1931	1932
ஆங்கீரச	Angirasa	1932	1933
ஸ்ரீமுக	Srimukha	1933	1934
பவ	Bhava	1934	1935
யுவ	Yuva	1935	1936
தாது	Dhatu	1936	1937
ஈஸ்வர	Esvara	1937	1938
வெகுதான்ய	Vehudhaniya	1938	1939
பிரமாதி	Pramathi	1939	1940
விக்கிரம	Vikrama	1940	1941
விஷூ	Vishu	1941	1942
சித்திரபானு	Chitrabanu	1942	1943
சுபானு	Subanu	1943	1944
தாரண	Tarana	1944	1945
பார்த்திப	Parthiba	1945	1946
விய	Viya	1946	1947
சர்வசித்து	Sarvasithu	1947	1948
சர்வதாரி	Sarvadhari	1948	1949
விரோதி	Virodhi	1949	1950
விக்ருதி	Vikruthi	1950	1951
கர	Kara	1951	1952
நந்தன	Nandhana	1952	1953
விஜய	Vijaya	1953	1954
ஜய	Jaya	1954	1955
மன்மத	Manmatha	1955	1956
துன்முகி	Dhunmuki	1956	1957
ஹேவிளம்பி	Hevilambi	1957	1958
விளம்பி	Vilambi	1958	1959
விகாரி	Vikari	1959	1960
சார்வரி	Sarvari	1960	1961
பிலவ	Pilava	1961	1962
சுபகிருது	Subakrithu	1962	1963
சோபகிருது	Sobakrithu	1963	1964
குரோதி	Krodhi	1964	1965
விசுவாசுவ	Visuvaasuva	1965	1966
பிரபாவ	Parabhaava	1966	1967
பிலவங்க	Plavanga	1967	1968
கீலக	Keelaka	1968	1969
செளமிய	Saumya	1969	1970
சாதாரண	Sadharana	1970	1971
விரோதிகிருது	Virodhikrithu	1971	1972
பரிதாபி	Paridhaabi	1972	1973
பிரமாதீச	Pramaadhisa	1973	1974
ஆனந்த	Aanandha	1974	1975
ராட்சச	Rakshasa	1975	1976
நள	Nala	1976	1977
பிங்கள	Pingala	1977	1978
காளயுக்தி	Kalayukthi	1978	1979
சித்தார்த்தி	Siddharthi	1979	1980
ரெள்த்திரி	Raudhri	1980	1981
துன்மதி	Thunmathi	1981	1982
துந்துபி	Dhundubhi	1982	1983
ருத்ரோத்காரி	Rudhrodhgaari	1983	1984
ரக்தாட்சி	Raktakshi	1984	1985
குரோதன	Krodhana	1985	1986
அட்சய	Akshaya	1986	1987
பிரபவ	Prabhava	1987	1988
விபவ	Vibhava	1988	1989
சுக்ல	Sukla	1989	1990
பிரேமாதூத	Pramodhudha	1990	1991
பிரசோர்பதி	Prajorpati	1991	1992
ஆங்கீரச	Angirasa	1992	1993
ஸ்ரீமுக	Srimukha	1993	1994
பவ	Bhava	1994	1995
யுவ	Yuva	1995	1996
தாது	Dhatu	1996	1997
ஈஸ்வர	Esvara	1997	1998
வெகுதான்ய	Vehudhaniya	1998	1999
பிரமாதி	Pramathi	1999	2000
விக்கிரம	Vikrama	2000	2001
விஷூ	Vishu	2001	2002
சித்திரபானு	Chitrabanu	2002	2003
சுபானு	Subanu	2003	2004
தாரண	Tarana	2004	2005
பார்த்திப	Parthiba	2005	2006
விய	Viya	2006	2007
சர்வசித்து	Sarvasithu	2007	2008
சர்வதாரி	Sarvadhari	2008	2009
விரோதி	Virodhi	2009	2010
விக்ருதி	Vikruthi	2010	2011
கர	Kara	2011	2012
நந்தன	Nandhana	2012	2013
விஜய	Vijaya	2013	2014
ஜய	Jaya	2014	2015
மன்மத	Manmatha	2015	2016
துன்முகி	Dhunmuki	2016	2017
ஹேவிளம்பி	Hevilambi	2017	2018
விளம்பி	Vilambi	2018	2019
விகாரி	Vikari	2019	2020
சார்வரி	Sarvari	2020	2021
பிலவ	Pilava	2021	2022
சுபகிருது	Subakrithu	2022	2023
சோபகிருது	Sobakrithu	2023	2024
குரோதி	Krodhi	2024	2025
விசுவாசுவ	Visuvaasuva	2025	2026
பிரபாவ	Parabhaava	2026	2027
பிலவங்க	Plavanga	2027	2028
கீலக	Keelaka	2028	2029
செளமிய	Saumya	2029	2030
சாதாரண	Sadharana	2030	2031
விரோதிகிருது	Virodhikrithu	2031	2032
பரிதாபி	Paridhaabi	2032	2033
பிரமாதீச	Pramaadhisa	2033	2034
ஆனந்த	Aanandha	2034	2035
ராட்சச	Rakshasa	2035	2036
நள	Nala	2036	2037
பிங்கள	Pingala	2037	2038
காளயுக்தி	Kalayukthi	2038	2039
சித்தார்த்தி	Siddharthi	2039	2040
ரெள்த்திரி'	Raudhri	2040	2041
துன்மதி	Thunmathi	2041	2042
துந்துபி	Dhundubhi	2042	2043
ருத்ரோத்காரி	Rudhrodhgaari	2043	2044
ரக்தாட்சி	Raktakshi	2044	2045
குரோதன	Krodhana	2045	2046
அட்சய	Akshaya	2046	2047

Five Essentials to follow when you invest in your 30s!

When you turn 30, your financial responsibilities suddenly “increase”. Or at least they seem to. This is because the 30s is the age most people start taking money seriously. When you are in your 30s, you are settled in your job, married and have children. Your financial obligations increase and you have various goals like children’s education, buying property and saving for retirement. As expenses shoot up, simply saving money in your bank account or making random investments will not help you in achieving your financial goals.

The following are some essential steps to be followed when you plan your investments while you are in your 30s:

Increase your monthly investments as much as you can:
Investing the bare minimum is a mistake most investors make. Even a small increase in your monthly investments results in a huge difference in the amount you accumulate over the long term. This is due to the compounding effect on money.

Let’s say there are two individuals A and B who earn Rs. 60,000 per month. They both invest in the same set of mutual funds which give returns of 12% per annum over a same time period of 10 years. The only difference is the amount of investment made every month. While A spends 70% of his monthly income and invests Rs.18000 every month, B spends only 60% of his income and invests Rs. 24000 per month. The total corpus, assuming constant monthly investments and constant returns of 12% per annum over 10 years is Rs. 41.8 lakhs for A and Rs. 55.8 lakhs for B - a difference of Rs. 13.9 lakhs. A small difference of Rs. 6000 per month in investments has resulted in a huge difference in the end-corpus.
Therefore, the first important aspect of investing in your 30s is to maximise your investments as much as possible.

Build an emergency fund:
Life is uncertain and the best you can do to combat this uncertainty is to ensure you are financially prepared for this. Emergencies can be a sudden job loss, a fall in income levels or a sudden medical expense if you do not have health insurance. Start planning to build an emergency fund to deal with such uncertainties while you are in your 30s. This fund should be earmarked for emergency purposes only, and should not be touched for regular expenses. Remember that this fund should be easily accessible, as you are preparing this for an emergency. While experts opine that you should set aside at least 6 months of your expenses in an emergency fund, this can be even upto 2.5 years of your expenses, depending on your risk-return tolerance. Liquid investments usually yield a lower return; so plan your emergency fund accordingly.

Understand your financial goals and commitments in life:
You investments must be planned to help you realise your financial goals, without disturbing the returns.
For example, you cannot plan to purchase a car, 5 years from today using the amount in a 10 year fixed deposit which you started a year back. Each of your goals will have to be met at different points of time in your life. So you must invest in various instruments according to these goals.
Let’s say you estimate your child’s post-graduate education in 15 years. You estimate today’s cost to be Rs. 10 lakhs for the same. Assuming an average inflation rate of 7% per annum, you will need Rs.27.5 lakhs at the end of 15 years. So you will have to plan your investments so that you can meet this financial goal.

Similarly, you must also understand the quantum of your retirement savings. Assume your monthly expenses are Rs. 50000, and you expect the pre and post retirement inflation to be 7% per annum. You expect to earn 8% on your savings post-retirement. You will work for the next 25 years and you expect to live for 20 years post retirement. You will need a total of Rs. 5.9 crores to sustain the present lifestyle.  This amount looks humungous and unachievable. But it can be achieved with proper planning and investing.

Get sufficient insurance cover:
A sudden death of the primary earning member can leave dependents devastated, both mentally and financially. Ascertain the right amount of insurance needed, and ensure that you have taken enough cover to protect your family in case of your sudden death. Remember, the earlier you take an insurance cover on your life, the lower will be the premium to be paid. Also ensure you have other insurance policies in place - like a health insurance, personal accident cover etc.

Register a Will:

Legal hassles can be plenty for your family members if you do not have a registered will in place. Many people ignore this and start thinking about this when they are in their 50s. But as life is uncertain, death can occur anytime. Making a will is easy and inexpensive. So do this on priority.

Start planning your investments keeping in mind the above points.

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