Welcome to Monday!  In honor of the start of the work week, we're going to take a look at some of the top open-source and freeware office applications.  We're not just talking about suites, though.  Like our previous three features, we're going to run through programs that cover a wide range of activities you might encounter during a typical, nine-to-five day.  Hey, maybe you'll even be able to convince your friendly IT person of choice to install these finds across a batch of computers!  You'll be a hero!  You'll save your company millions in licensing fees!  Promotions will be thrown at your cubicle like butter on bread!

Open-source and freeware applications are just that exciting.  But don't take our word for it.  Check out the full list of applications after the jump!

We've already shown you our picks for top-notch open-source (or freeware) graphics applications and system optimizers. To celebrate the start of the weekend, we're going for the gusto this time around: games.  But the difficulty in this list stems from the fact that there are a ton of excellent games in the independent scene right now.  We frequently profile these as much as possible on the Maximum PC monthly CD, but even then, it's tough to pick five examples of top-quality games--we could fill an article with five hundred. Your favorite open-source game might not have made our list this time around, but feel free to leave comments about other awesome alternatives you've sampled!

Now that the disclaimer's out of the way, cancel your appointments and throw up your away message.  It's time to game, and it's time to game for free.  Check out our list of awesome free games after the jump!

Economy got you down? No longer able to make those day-long trips to your local computer store of choice for all the latest and greatest software tools? Tired of paying top-dollar for programs that don't quite have the functionality you want? Well get ready. It's freeware and open-source week at Maximum PC. We're going to spend the next week showing you the best (and cheapest) software we've been able to find across different themes: graphics design, system optimization, games, and office/productivity.

Just because it doesn't come in a box doesn't mean that these titles are any less powerful than their retail counterparts. The graphics category exemplifies that fact, offering programs that are every bit as good as their hundred-dollar Adobe counterparts.  But just for good measure, we threw in our favorite free Adobe graphics program too.  Check out that, and the rest of our exclusive list, after the jump!