just received an e-mail that has an attached file. it's a form to apply for a job. it's in .xls file format. i do not have excel software. is there some other way for me to open this file? thanks for your time.

If you can find a computer with 64MB ram the following solution is a cheap way to get an office suite installed on the computer. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with 32MB ram. At www.openoffice.org you can download a free office suite which is compatible with microsoft office. Once installed it will open your xls file. But... It's a very large file (about 50MB, so with a slow internet connection it will take a lot of time to download). I believe the file is in zip format, thus if your system doesnot have a tool for "unzipping" you will also need to download that file (www.winzip.com or www.tucows.com) Openoffice does work with windows 95 (to XP and also Linux); is compatible with windows office (Office XP and backwards). Read the installation instructions for windows '95 (or windows 9x) on the www.openoffice.org website. It's not the fastest solution, and you'll have to see if you can find another computer where you might install the office suite. But when you find a way, Goodluck with your job!!

If everything else fails and the job doesnot involve working with computers: Call them by phone / visit them personally or if that's not possible, email them. Explain the problem and say you need the job to buy another computer.

You can download a free Excel viewer from Microsoft. That will allow you to at least view and print the file. OpenOffice is great software, and it's ~mostly~ compatible with MS Office. You could investigate ProSuite602, another Freeware program. ProSuite is also ~mostly~ compatible with MS Office, but I can't recall if it has a spreadsheet program. The office where I work uses MS Office exclusively and absolute compatibilty is a must. The only way to accomplish this is to have the exact same version of the exact same software installed. If you're in the same situation, you might have to invest in some new software. Best Wishes on the Job Hunt, Bob

download the microsoft excel viewer and print it out. Good luck with the job. -SN