Sun Microsystems offers a free alternative for struggling online college students to Microsoft Word, Access, Excel, and Powerpoint through a free and open productivity suite, OpenOffice.org. All of the source code is available under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), and you may use OpenOffice.org binaries for commercial use. In short, OpenOffice.org offers a free version of Microsoft Word for those of us who can’t afford or do not wish to buy Microsoft Office.

If you want to try Open Office before installing it, Google Docs is a good way to experiment. It is free and you can create and download documents in OpenOffice. You may also save your online college documents to Google Docs for storage and later retrieval. You may make documents private or share them with your online college buddies. Sign in to Google Docs using your Gmail account or create a new one.

You may want to check out Google’s hundreds of other apps that can only supplement your online college career. Most, if not all, are free. http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/#utm_medium=et&utm_source=catch_all

Free Google Applications include:

• Gmail – fast, searchable email. You can create as many free accounts as you’d like, and with Google’s massive storage, you almost never have to erase any messages. Great for online college students as an extra email address.
• Google Earth – View earth from any address.
• Blogger – create your own blog for free. A great way for online college students to grab some computer experience and expertise and share their experience with the world.
• Picasa – edit and share your photos
• Google Maps – free directions from almost anywhere to almost anywhere. Great for occasional trips to your college campus if you forget how to get there.
• Google Chrome – a fast, stable browser that you’ll love to use

Make sure to peruse all of Google’s free apps for use in your online college and university material. You may also download and install the Google Toolbar.

• Income Based Repayment for Online College Loans  Still worried about racking up debt at an online college and not being able to repay it? No worries. Income based repayment is here. What this means is that, if you qualify, your online college loan payments could be as low as $10 a month. Family size, income and......
• Is Googling Your Answers Cheating?   I routinely Google my answers to online college homework. Sometimes Google provides you with tutorials, hints, and even direct answers. The temptation is definitely there to recreate the answer as your own. Is this illegal? Some college guidelines say so. At Clayton State University, the guidelines are as......
• Scholarships for Online College Students and Where to Find Them Online college students can also find scholarships online. The process is much the same as the scholarship finding process for traditional students. There are millions of scholarships and grants out there that may help to fund your college education. Knowing where to look and what to look for can......
• WEBBSIT, BSIT at Clayton State University Clayton State University, as well as Georgia Southern University, and other universities in the University of Georgia system offer an online Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Technology via the WEBBSIT program. This is a great, accredited, trustworthy online college degree program offered online. The catch is that some......

• My Favorite Money and Time Saving Websites Next to the TV, DVD, flushing toilet, hot shower, computer and properly working automatic garage door, the internet is one of the best inventions ever. In fact, living in the...
• Retire in a College Town - Ithaca, New York This is the fifth in Mr. GoTo's brief introductions to college towns that may also be attractive locations for baby boomers to retire, either as part of an active adult community...
• Free Financial Management Software When it comes to your getting out of debt, having the right software can actually make a real world of difference. Some people tend to manage their efforts at debt...
• Job Search Resources for Baby Boomers The increase in demand for jobs for baby boomers has generated additional online resources for finding those jobs and/or for increasing your chances for landing one of them.  These are...