It used to be the case that investing in an office suite meant parting with a fairly substantial amount of cash, and while it is still possible to pay a great deal for a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation tool, there are also an increasing number of free options available.
One newcomer can be found in the form of Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012 which can be used both at home and in the office as a replacement for Microsoft Office.
The suite is made up of three tools; Kingsoft Spreadsheets Free 2012 to help with number crunching, Kingsoft Writer Free 2012 for processing words, and Kingsoft Presentation Free 2012 for the creation of slideshows and presentations.
Each of the programs is fully compatible with files created in their Microsoft Office counterpart. Each of the programs is impressive in its own right and all manage to look the part as well. While some free software has a tendency to look cheap, the offerings from Kingsoft are good-looking as well as functional.
Almost everyone has use for a word processor at some time, and Kingsoft Writer Free 2012 is a genuinely impressive piece of software. Just like the other applications in the suite, there is support for cross-referencing of files and the ability to save documents as PDFs.
There is a built in equation editor, and both Writer and Spreadsheets feature readymade functions that you can use in your calculations. In Presentations, Double Screen Extended Mode is available to take advantage of multi-monitor systems so you can more easily monitor what you are displaying as you make a presentation.
Despite the remarkable set of features to be found in the suite, low system requirements mean that it is great for older systems. If you are on a budget an unable to upgrade your computer, it is heartening to know that you do not need to scraps together the pennies for software when there is something that is not only suitable but impressively so available free of charge.
You can find out more by paying a visit to the Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012 review page, or take a look at the individual reviews of Kingsoft Spreadsheets Free 2012, Kingsoft Writer Free 2012 and Kingsoft Presentation Free 2012.
This article originally appeared at softwarecrew.co.uk
