Microsoft Office 2013 has officially hit the streets, and it offers a significantly upgraded interface, more tools, and perhaps most importantly, a cloud-friendly system that lets you work from anywhere. While CNET's Jason Parker did give the updated Office suite high marks, he was also quick to say that its new $100-per-year subscription scheme will likely be hard for many people to swallow. Sure, there are (confusingly) single-pay standalone versions available as well, but those don't offer quite as much as the Office 365 subscription version.

In any case, if you are part of the camp that is unconvinced by Microsoft's new offerings, then know that there are some fantastic and completely free alternatives out there. Here are four of the best.

Google Docs Many Office users have been migrating to Google's productivity tools since long before Office 2013 and its yearly subscription came to be. That's because Google offers fantastically intuitive applications for creating text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and drawings. You can import and export Microsoft Office file types, and it's all completely free (for individual users, not businesses). A Google account is required, though.

One of the biggest draws of Google's offering is the collaborati... [Read more]

For most computer users, the idea of having malware or adware creeping into your machine has become an accepted fate that comes with being online. More tech-savvy users can manage to stay clean for a while but, like the flu, everybody gets it eventually. Whether it was through a questionable email sent by a friend or from a moment of weakness when you clicked on that video link promising playful kittens, suddenly you find your beloved computer starting to behave strangely. It might be a quick process; it might not happen right away, but you will know right away something is up.

Removing adware and malware has become a sort of art or pseudo-science to many netizens and techies. The skill requires a mix of creativity, common sense, and a whole lot of patience. It's a cat-and-mouse game that is not meant for everyone; only a select few can emerge from the ordeal without lasting emotional damage. Here at Download.com we try to make the whole trial-by-fire a little less traumatic.

WARNING: We take no responsibility for usage of any of the mentioned software. Inappropriate or incorrect use can result in system instability or failure. If at any moment you don't understand what you are doing, please stop, exercise some Google-Fu, or, like mom said, take your problem to a professional.

With that out of the way here are some pretty great lesser-known programs that can probably save you some headaches and help you... [Read more]

Mozilla Firefox (download for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, or the Portable App) didn't invent tabbed browsing, but they sure as heck perfected it, or at least the extended network of extensions developers did. If Firefox doesn't include a tabbed-browsing feature you want, there's a good chance you can find one among its numerous add-ons.

Personally, I'm a tab glutton. I might be using a Windows XP box from 2004, but that doesn't stop me from running four Firefox windows with 10-15 tabs open in each. Each window usually relates to a specific task, project, or email request, and each tab within each window includes various sorts of specific content, documentation, or Web tools. When researching, I'll generally open every link in a new tab, to scan and close or save as I work through. So tab management is more than a luxury for me, it's a necessity for my job.

From that perspective, while there are thousands of tab-related Firefox extensions, there are only four tab add-ons that I find critical for ... [Read more]

Samsung's Chromebox runs Chrome OS.

Google is getting closer to building Google Now notifications into Chrome, marrying the anticipatory alert system of Android with its browser.

Yesterday, developers committed a patch with an "initial implementation of Google Now notifications."

According to the code, the patch means that "The Google Now event page gets Google Now cards from the server and shows them as Chrome notifications. The service performs periodic updating of Google Now cards."

Related stories

• Android's Google Now services headed for Chrome, too
• Google Now update brings boarding passes, song ID, more
• Motorola Droid Razr HD, Maxx HD get Android 4.1 next week

Google's work to build Google Now into Chrome emerged in Decem... [Read more]

Modern.IE is a new tool from Microsoft for Web developers to make sure that their sites are built for the modern Web.

In case you weren't sure, Microsoft wants you to really, really understand that Internet Explorer 10 isn't just any old update to the much-maligned browser. The latest example: "modern.IE," a set of tools to help Web developers that the company announced today.

"It's still too hard to test sites across the different OSes and browsers," Ryan Gavin, Internet Explorer's general manager, said in a phone interview with CNET yesterday. "On our part, we can encourage best practices. We know we can do better here, so we're providing the tools and support so that developers spend more of their time innovating and less of their time testing."

"More time innovating, less time testing" was Gavin's watch-phrase of the day, something he repeated throughout our conversation. Microsoft clearly believes that modern.IE's toolset will appeal to developers.

Some developers who have used pre-release versions of the service were impressed with modern.IE.

Rachel Andrew, managing director of Web development company Edgeofmyseat.com, said to me in an e-mail: "I'm a Mac and Linux desktop user. I have Windows laptops for testing, but haven't used Windows for anything else for m... [Read more]