@ openoffice is an alternative to ms office, it has most of the functionality of the office suite, but it is open source (free). The latest version of it will create PDFs. Buying the PDF writer is about $600, but it is free with openoffice.
openoffice.org is the site.
@ i don't work for openoffice, so i hope this isn't considered spam. i think PDF is a good way of getting work out into the world and maintaining some degree of security over it. i figured i'd share the good news.