Tired of paying for Microsoft Word? These open-source alternatives get the job done

I’ve been deeply entrenched in the Microsoft ecosystem for most of my career. From PowerPoint and Word to Excel and Teams, I’ve relied on them for everything from writing and editing to collaboration and file management. But over the years, the software has grown heavier, slower, and more expensive. Every new version seems to bring more features I don’t need and more nudges toward cloud subscriptions I never asked for. At some point, I began to think that I was spending more time managing licenses and updates than actually getting work done.