There is a free program that works very well called "Open Office" from sun microsystems.

It includes:
base, a database package
calc, a spreadsheet program
draw, a graphics package
Impress, to make presentations
Math, a math package (serves the same function as MathType, but it's not wysiwyg)
Writer, similar to work .. you can make newsletters, brochures, etc.

Some of these allow you to read the microsoft equivalents.
Most of these allow you to write to pdf format.


For the life of me I don't understand why they don't push this at K-12 schools instead of MS office.