Linux is becoming more prevalent in university, corporate, and government laboratories where researchers find it offers power and flexibility for operating instruments, crunching numbers, and analyzing and publishing results, while maintaining a comfortable desktop form and feel. With no Linux/Unix version of MS Office available, institutional divisions with multiple dedicated Linux desktops and workstations alongside Windows and Mac machines might find that OpenOffice.org provides an opportunity to synchronize word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation-making within a research group, while maintaining the ability to convert to MS Office formats for sharing with the outside world.