<p>We got our daughter a Dell Latitude 520 laptop for graduation, but we did not preload it with a lot of software (we have the basic word processing/spreadsheet sort of thing covered). If you were building the “perfect” college computer, in terms of software, what would you add? (My daughter is going to major in music and broadcasting, but she’ll be getting a Mac at a later date for her video editing needs.) All suggestions are welcome…</p>
<p>Before you buy anything software wise, check to see what the school offers. The prices of things like Microsoft Word and other packages are unbelievable (sometimes as in single digits!).</p>
<p>And if you really want to save money… openoffice.org - it’s compatible with .doc, .xls, etc so sharing files with others won’t be an issue.</p>
<p>:)</p>