Open Office Acrostic

Open source is the key
Pushing the boundaries, Office seeks
Everyone's knowledge that it exists
Not as an alternative but as the premier
Office suite in the world.
Features packed, this program is loaded.
Free to use, it gives all you want.
Included are Base, Draw, Impress, Math
Calc, Math and Writer, a variety of programs
Enter a 9, as Open Office is the future.

Homepage: http://www.openoffice.org/
Download: http://download.openoffice.org/index.html

Sketch Up 6 Cinquan

Sketch Up 6 will let you trace
Buildings, ships, and even a car
3-D artwork you see a-far
From Google Earth, you can replace
Your finished models, see them from space

Build, stretch, or even move
Your beautiful creations of work
If you mess up, you can twerk
To make the project your groove
A 9 I give, a line so smoove.

Download: http://sketchup.google.com/download.html

Homepage: http://sketchup.google.com/product_suf.html

Picasa Haikus

Picasa is cool

For editing all photos

Google has struck gold

Crop, edit, or mold

Your pictures always look new

Web albums are here

A 9 half I give

As picasa is worth it

Download this fast now

Download: http://picasa.google.com/download/thanks.html
Homepage: http://picasa.google.com/

Pidgin Freestyle

We look at a clever Pidgin today

Who looks to do it his way.

He tired of using 4 ims in a daze

So he found a way to combine in a blaze.

His program was born, 2.0.2

And all his features will take away blues.

AIM, YAHOO, MSN, it's all here

With all of the quirks that you hold dear.

Added are plugins that give you more

With aliases for names, you'll start to adore.

Layout is boring but it's GTK+!

With a program like this, no complaint is a must.

I give it a 9, as Pidgin rocks.

The only flaw is that its color sucks.

All in all, download this fast.

As talking at once will give you a blast.

Download(Source): http://pidgin.im/pidgin/download/source/
Download(Windows):http://pidgin.im/pidgin/download/windows/
Homepage: http://pidgin.im/pidgin/home/

The Gimp Sonnet

2.2.17, The Gimp is back in form
Photoshop users be aware of this ware
Free, of course, it takes you by storm
With plenty of features, more than Shop's share
In GTK+ design, the Gimp makes best
Of a unique layout that may confuse
All of Shop's filters remain in vest
While added functionality leaves much to choose
The tutorials at home will help you out
While graphically showing what you're about
9.5, this gets with relative ease
As this nifty program leaves Shop in the breeze

Download: ftp://ftp.gimp.org/pub/gimp/v2.2/
Download (Windows): http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=121075
Homepage: http://www.gimp.org/

GnuCash 2.2.0

Recently, the newest Windows-ported version of GNUCash was released and I have to say the wait is well worth it. I have a tendency not to be...proficient...at saving money. I hate budgeting and my monetary plan usually exists in my brain. With GNUCash, there is finally a way to keep track of everything related to finances. Anyone who has used Microsoft Money or, for some reason, still does can tell how much capability there is in these type of programs. GNUCash provides this for free.

To say this program is easy would be a blatant lie. The learning curve is steep but worth the effort to plan everything out. You start out by creating a new file, from which a wizard will pop up. Create a basic account unless you want to spend more time customizing everything. The layout of the program is similar to other GTK+ related software such as the GIMP and Pidgin. The color scheme is monochromic with a basic and an icon toolbar at the top. The amount of options available is staggering at first but the help system is tutorial-based and very, very extensive. Immerse yourself in this, as they go through absolutely everything.

This program focuses particularly on the different ways that you spend money, not just checking accounts and loans. You have the ability to literally keep track of every single financial transaction you make, even when someone gives you 5 bucks randomly. If you run a business, this tool could make your business run extremely efficient. You have the ability to keep track of customers, employer's wages, and invoices that you may produce, along with vendors, bills, and taxes. Detailed reports outline every piece of data you have entered. It's mind-boggling.

Honestly, if you have the time and paitence to learn everything with this program, take it. Very few open source programs have the detailed documentation and the amount of features that GNUCash has. Let's hope that, as future updates are released, they find more ways to be creative with the layout. All in all, it get my...

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Download link: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=192
Home Page: http://www.gnucash.org/