The maturity of OpenOffice is fast winning over many of those still deep-rooted in a Microsoft Office way of working, and while this latest release isn't likely to tip too many more over the edge, it's a further move forward in the quest to be accepted as the legitimate alternative that it already is.

OpenOffice 2.4 is the last update to the 2.x development line of the software, before it moves on to a full version 3 later in the year. Version 3 looks interesting, too: that's when support for Microsoft Office 2007 is said to be integrated into the software (something that even early versions of Microsoft's own Office tool don't offer by default!), along with PDF importing facilities and a few other progressions.

It's still worth downloading and giving version 2.4 a spin, though. For those new to the software, OpenOffice is a fully featured office suite that brings together a word processor (Writer), spreadsheet (Calc), presentation package (Impress), database tool (Base), a scientific formula creator (Math) and a drawing program (er, Draw).

Get it free Here