what you might consider using
browsers
i use the Mozilla web browser as my primary browser. the software is a little bloated, but for its cost (free) Mozilla gives the user benefits she won't find in Netscape and Internet Explorer. for example, with a touch of the CTRL button with the numberpad "+", a user can increase the size of the font of the entire web page. use the CTRL button with a "-" and it shrinks the font. tired of opening extra windows? use the CTRL button with a "t" and the browser will open an extra window inside itself, that is, a tab. browser technology has come a ways since a few years ago, and the newer browsers have conveniences the older ones don't. tired of those annoying pop-ups and the pages that redirect you to porn sites? you can stop these using the Mozilla browser.
as a second choice i use the Opera browser. it performs in many ways like the Mozilla browser, only it's slightly faster and carries a small, unobtrusive ad in the upper right-hand corner of the window. people can purchase Opera to get rid of the ad, but hey, it's free otherwise, so why not try it?
i tout these two browsers because of one particular benefit i am pleased to share with you: the ability to choose style sheets. you see, this site uses more than one style sheet to present its content. want to see an example of what i'm talking about? with the Mozilla and Opera browsers, you can choose a style sheet by clicking on the "View" button and selecting the style you want. this site uses five style sheets for the user's viewing pleasure.
office
hate paying for upgrades to the newest office suite? consider moving to OpenOffice, an open source implementation of office products. the software has a word program, a spreadsheet program, a power point program, a database program -- essentially, everything you would want in your office software. except it's free. and it will handle just about 99% of all the codes and other markup found in those other office products, rendering most .doc and .xl documents just fine.
java
if you do happen to download any of the packages above, you may need to download one other thing: Java. no, no, it's not difficult, it's actually quite easy. and downloading the package will allow you to do so much else with free and open source programs. if you head out to Sun's Java web site, you will find a column on the right hand side of the web page that reads, "Popular Downloads". under that heading you should see a link to some words that end in "SDK" (this means "Standard Development Kit"). this link should take you to a download page, from which you will begin to download, and eventually install, Java. on this page the link you will want to choose is under the column header that reads, "JRE". it's this little piece of software that other software, like OpenOffice above, uses to function.
editor
i wrote and revised the site using a text editor called jEdit. this is a very powerful editor, moreso than your average wordpad, and is free of charge to download and use. jEdit does require you to have Java installed, which is not too difficult (see above), and is free for individual use.
operating system
feeling brave at all? you might like to know that i use the Linux operating system as my personal desktop system, and i run nothingistic.org on a version of FreeBSD, another operating system. while i do not know the desktop capabilities of the latter system, i am very comfortable with the former system (and this from a man who was a humanities major in college.) they are both of them free-of-charge operating systems.
what is an operating system? if you are a Windows user, or an Apple user, those are your operating systems. Linux and FreeBSD are two more operating systems. i won't go into details on the benefits of Linux and FreeBSD versus the other two operating systems, because these two require a high learning curve to set up right. for now, that is. Linux is fast becoming an excellent operating system for the desktop (your personal computer), and in some ways has already surpassed its competitors. it is secure, it is friendly, it is easy to install, and (again) it is free-of-charge.
still, you might want to check them out. the three flavors of Linux i see most touted are those that belong to RedHat, to Suse, and to Mandrake. FreeBSD comes in one flavor, and may be found at FreeBSD's web site. keep in mind that all of these can be had for free, however, if you want convenience, you might consider looking into buying a pre-made CD and a manual for your system. all of these sites have them.
books
if you love books, and i know you do, you might make a jump over to any number of other book sites. one that i use to find new books on the 'Net is the Online Books Page, a project of the University of Pennsylvania. it started off small years ago, but has grown into something of a monster, and as a place to advertise new, free-to-download books. i also enjoy what Bartleby's has been doing, especially in their reference area. one cannot beat a free-to-use and updated basic encyclopedia, or an online copy of Bartlett's. finally, there's the granddaddy of the online books movement, Project Gutenberg, a site that got its start over thirty years ago. you will find many plain text versions of books there, which include everything from literature to history to economics to philosophy to, well, pretty much any subject. it's a valuable resource, one that you ought to use often.