It is critical for the modern day entrepreneur to equipped with effective and efficient software to be successful however, these software can be quit expensive. In this article I discuss about MS PowerPoint from Microsoft and the alternative that are available to persons who just don't have the funds to access Office 2010 features.

MS PowerPoint has long been thought of as the Gold Standard of presentation software. In this day of growing dependence on the Internet to provide successful marketing projects, more people depend on presentations to promote their business message. This being the case, it is imperative that each of us use the best software available to get our message out to potential customers. Herein lie several problems.

First, PowerPoint is fairly expensive. PowerPoint is part of the Office 2010 package, which retails from Microsoft for $279.99, the prevailing price I found on Google. The lowest price I found was $134.45 at ComputerPrice.us.

It is true that PowerPoint can be accessed free online through Windows Live–but this assumes you have Widows Live on your OS. In addition, the free version of PowerPoint does not have all the features available in the Office 2010 version.

The second problem is the need, in our increasingly mobile society, for the ability to access programs from anywhere, meaning from the cloud. Some studies say all computer activity will take place in the cloud by 2020, or there about. The Windows Live version makes PowerPoint available in the cloud to some extent, but it is not the same as using the Office 2010 version, which ties you to your PC or laptop.

These two problems are the focus of this article, where I will how you several free alternatives to PowerPoint, all independent of Office 2010, and all but one (Impress) available in the cloud, meaning from the Internet alone. There are many so-called free replacements for PowerPoint in any Google search. I found most of these were not complete presentation tools, did not totally operate in the cloud, or required specific operating systems (this specifically refers to Unix and Linux). The programs discussed here were the most frequently mentioned in reviews found in my research. Here they are:

SLIDEROCKET

This is a fine cloud presentation program. It carries with it a library of great templates to simplify your presentation process. Your presentation products can be published online, embedded in a Website, or sent to PowerPoint in case you don’t have access to the Internet for your presentation.

This company began in 2007. It was built around the vision of providing a better presentation experience by enhancing all areas of the presentation process to help you make outstanding presentations. It has recently expanded the capabilities of this vision through its acquisition by VMware. This merger provided additional impetus to Slide Rocket’s mission of adding power to great stories and presentations. VMware and SlideRocket share the idea of seizing large opportunities to make new ways of working and exploit abilities of working in the cloud. This mutual thinking, it is hoped, will provide a platform for collaboration, social, and mobile activities in a way that may even be fun. The basic Lite version of SlideRocket is free, with other options from $24 per month.

PCMag provides an in-depth review where the editors rated it with four stars, while readers gave it five stars. The review says SlideRocket is an elegant, feature-packed, cloud-based presentation platform providing the ability to include YouTube and Flickr videos in presentations. As soon as you create your free SlideRocket account you will find a sample presentation in your private library that will show you what SlideRocket can do. In addition to closely duplicating the features of MS PowerPoint or Apple’s Keynote, there are some new features included in a set of plug-ins that enable you to post current stock prices or real-time Twitter feeds about any subject you choose. Pretty slick, wouldn’t you say?

SlideRocket is a creature of the cloud, so, if you are going to post your presentation on the Internet, it is likely SlideRocket will be your best presentation choice. This platform allows you to import existing PowerPoint or Google presentations you have already made, thus protecting your presentation investment. Add to this SlideRocket’s professional design tools and you have the ability to create exciting presentations that will hold your audience spell bound. In addition, you have the power of Web meetings without having to download special software.

ZOHO SHOW

This presentation platform enables customization at nearly the level of PowerPoint and other desktop presentation programs. Excel charts can be imported, which you can’t do with SlideRocket, and you can export your slides to PowerPoint, as well as track how many people have viewed your presentation.

Zoho Show portrays itself as an online equal to PowerPoint or other desktop presentation programs. Everyone, be they businessman. salesman, student, teacher, or anyone who needs a quick and beautiful presentation, can use Zoho Show. Zoho’s main advantage is you can use it anywhere you have an Internet connection; it is completely free.

Zoho Show is not dependent on any OS; it is dependent on browsers. It works with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome (using an app). Even if you have a desktop presentation program, Zoho could be better for you because you can easily share it with others, instead of having to e-mail it all over the place. Zoho also supports the ability to revert to a previous version if needed.

Existing desktop presentations can easily be uploaded to Zoho; it supports a variety of file formats. Of course, you can also create a new presentation with Zoho which provides a complete presentation editor with features like text formatting, themes, color, bullets, clipart, and more. By default, all your presentations are protected from public view; only you can make them available to those of your choice. Zoho also allows your presentation to be embedded in a Website with a simple snippet of code.

With Zoho you can reach a world wide audience with something like a Webinar without leaving your desk. The “Remote” button on the Show toolbar allows you to sent e-mails to everyone you want to see your presentation wherever they are; a URL is furnished so they can join your session. Very easy to do. Zoho also has a feature allowing you to make notes on your slides (like talking points) which are visible only to you.

 

I hope you have found this article helpful, in future post I will  discuss other PowerPoint  alernatives in part two of this topice.