When most people buy a new Windows PC, they usually bite the bullet and buy Microsoft Office for their office suite.  But there are other options, and the most popular is Open Office (OO).  Not only is Open Office free, but it is very compatible with Microsoft Office,  reading and writing Microsoft Office files.  Open Office comes with all the expected applications: 1) OpenOfficeWriter, 2) OpenOfficeCalc (Spread Sheet), and 3) OpenOfficeImpress (Power Point).  There are also OpenOfficeBase, and OpenOfficeDraw.  Most people probably won’t use the last two very often, but I have found OODraw invaluable for storing the vector drawings I use in these articles.  I also find it useful for flow and org charts.