Free Alternative to Microsoft Word Starter 2010

Greetings Ya'll, This is my 1st post, & since I'm trying to be a "sponge" on how Windows 7 operates, I imagine that I'll have many more. I've been using Microsoft Word Starter 2010, up until it started freezing my PC. I actually had to hit Control/ Alt/ Delete in an attempt to get out of Word, & free up my PC. That took me to a screen that showed me that OFFSPON.EXE was not responding. I...