If you don't like the Thunderbird mail program, Eudora is either free or has an ad supported version (It's a long time since I've checked.) Personally, I've gotten better results with Star Office than Open Office, but the free version requires an academic connection. Again, it's been a couple of years since I checked. Bill D's links may not be the best organized site in the world but they're definitely worth checking out. While you're at it, consider linux. Especially the KDE desktop.