Open Office have several uses

There is some Open source applications that are useful. Open office has several uses. The most useful is the feature so that you can export as PDF. This means that you easy can convert your Office files into PDF. Another useful feature is the one that you can turn your .ppt files into .swf this means it is easy to share your powerpoint documents over the internet.

More over i like the new Draw feature. One problem being a math teacher on distance is trying to get your students express themselfs in formulas. I also like that there is an equation editor in Open office at start. In MS Office you have to install it and that is a hindrance to people with little computing experience.

The draw part of Open office could be used as a free formula writer and then copy the forumla into the document. This would be more simple for people with little computing experience.