FreeWriter Standard is a text editor designed to help you write reports, novels, and any lengthy, structured document (although you can use it for shorter ones, too).

The editing engine is simple, more WordPad than Word. You can choose a font and style, set alignment, create numbered or bulleted lists, insert images, check your spelling, but that's about it.

FreeWriter's strong points are more about the functionality surrounding the editor. For example, a built-in Explorer allows you to break your document down into sections - individual chapters, say - then display and organise them in a tree.

FreeWriter has a built-in multi-tabbed browser, enabling you to research online without having to keep switching applications.

There's a built-in sticky notes area where you can save quick notes or URLs for speedy recall later.

If the Notes feature isn't enough, FreeWriter's "Thoughts Canvas" is a brainstorming tool which accepts notes, labels, and links to individual sections within a document.

Smaller extras include a Dictate (speech to text) tool, and a Backup option to save the current document as a ZIP archive.

When you're done, documents can be saved as RTF files.

A $15 Professional build extends the package with a dictionary, thesaurus, search/ replace, speech to text tool, a vastly improved Thoughts Canvas with many more brainstorming tools, an Elements feature to track items within a document (characters, places, events, things, more), HTML and web export, and more.