For me, as long as it works, I can care less about the name of the product. Here are a couple of free products out there that are good alternatives to these popular software packages.

Open Office

This is very similar to Office. I have this installed on one of my PCs and I must say it is very similar what I am used to working with in Office. You can even import and Save As to the latest version of Office. This program includes a clone of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.

And its free!!

The GIMP

This is very similar to Photoshop. If you are a novice or advanced novice to the functionality of Photoshop, this is great option to add to your PC. I just installed this program on my PC and so far I am very impressed.

Because both of these programs are Open Source software, this means that updates and improvements are always available. The one downside about Open Source software is that there is no 800 number for you to call for help. Most help can easily be found either on the websites of these products or elsewhere on the net.

Also compatible to Photoshop files.

Enjoy!