I used to be an active follower of Microsoft Office and McAfee, but the constant upgrade cycle and payments to continue getting antivirus updates got old. So I did some research and discovered free, top-notch alternatives to these money hogs for use at home.

Instead of using Microsoft Office, I’ve switched to using Open Office. These applications replace every major feature that I use Office for (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint - I don’t use Outlook thanks to Gmail and Google Calendar) and at a very agreeable price - $0. Best of all, I can save in the Office formats for when I send documents to friends and associates.

My replacement for McAfee Antivirus is Clam Win. It does everything McAfee did for me - automatic updates, regular hard drive scanning, checking my emails for viruses - without paying out the nose for updates or hogging a bunch of memory and slowing down my other programs. It’s really the best of both worlds, and it’s got a nice cost, too: $0.

In my spare time, I often set up and fix computer problems for people, and I’ve been asked if I can get free antivirus or free Office programs for people. Now, instead of telling them to burn a lot of money or else pirate software, I just set up these two programs and they have everything they need. Happy customers and happy me.