I've written before about OpenOffice, the free office software that emulates Microsoft Office software. I have used it and liked it very much and still use it on my laptop on occasion. The new version 3 is now out and available for a free download, and according the reviews I have read, it is a real winner.
A review on ZDNet called it, ..."a full-featured suite that gives us everything we need from MS Office and the world of productivity software while keeping the bottom line quite a bit more reasonable (you don’t get any more reasonable than free)."
If you want to try it out, download it at the OpenOffice.org Web site.