About AbiWord About Open Source Index Contents What's New Check Version Introduction Installation Getting Started The Workspace Entering Text Formatting Edit Commands Paragraphs Styles Inserting Objects Printing Preferences Shortcuts abisource.com FAQ Credits Search |  | ## Why AbiWord? AbiWord, in spite of its youth, has several advantages over it's competition. One of its principal assets is that it is free, whatever its use (personal, professional...). Also, it is multi-platform, i.e. it can function on several principal operating systems (Windows, Linux, BeOS, Solaris...). AbiWord is in constant development and in perpetual evolution. It is simple but functional: it contains only the essential features. However, contributors from around the world improve it, day by day. Updates are frequent because of these volunteers, who add new features and make many corrections. Because it is free and it is easy to install and use, the traditional problems with payment for updates are removed: giving the users a greater return on investment (ROI) with lower ownership costs (operating expenses) . AbiWord has a " Look & Feel " that is very close to other word processors in the market. One will need only very little time to get used to it. Lastly, its native ABW format writes in XML which ensures that AbiWord and others will be able to read then because of universality of this format. It also ensures good compatibility with the many former versions of AbiWord so you don't loss work due to upgrades. In short, here are the advantages of AbiWord: Free, in cost and sourcecode Multi platform Simple to use Frequent Updates with new features Easy to use interface Compatable native file format