Open Office

If you are buying a new computer and thinking you have to buy a Microsoft Office suite to write Word documents or prepare PowerPoint slideshows, then think again. Open Office is an open-source (which means free code) software suite that will allow you to create, save, view, edit .doc files, .ppt files, .xls files, and more. Just go to www.openoffice.org and download. You will need a bit- torrent program like µTorrent to download. You will need to download/install the bit-torrent program first, then go and download open office. The default settings in open office do not save as microsoft files but you can change this default in the settings to always save as .doc, .ppt, .xls, etc. It's also a good response to students who say they don't have Microsoft Office at home. Just copy your program file on a CD and give it to them.