We're always amazed when we hear someone complain because they have a computer without Microsoft Office/Word on it and can't seem to open or edit documents. The reason we're amazed is because there's an amazing, free resource that still doesn't seem to be widely used in the funding-hungry education community: OpenOffice.org.
We've posted before about using
Google Docs, but sometimes you need a full word processor and a way to make PowerPoint-like presentations. For that, we're fans of OpenOffice.
Using OpenOffice you can open, edit and save Word documents just like you would with Microsoft Office. The only difference - you don't pay for the program. You can also create slideshows and presentations using
OpenOffice Impress or manage spreadsheets using
OpenOffice Calc (just like Excel).