It typically costs $100 or more to buy Microsoft Office, the suite of software that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other must-haves for most personal computer users. And while Office once was included in most new PC purchases, it now often costs extra.

But small-business owners, students and anyone else can save those bucks with OpenOffice, a freebie alternative that can be used to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations. OpenOffice works on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms, and you can download the just-released newest version for free online.