Vista - how to open excel files on vista?

Hi Everyone - I'm brand spanking new. I just bought a Dell with Vista Home Premium x64 yesterday and am struggling with it.

My husband works frequently with Excel and he can't open documents that his company is sending him in the Works Spreadsheet. Is there any program to open and modify .xls documents on Vista besides purchasing Excel for another $250.

Thanks for helping the newbie.

Hi theres actually free software called openoffice. its a suite like microsoft office but its entirely free. its also compatible with microsoft office and contains a spreadsheet program. see if it works!
http://www.openoffice.org/

Thanks nojo. I had my husband download that but he can't get the tabs to work, only one sheet at a time will open and when you try to print, it turns 1 page into 15.
Still fiddling around with it though. Thanks again!

No need to spend $250. You can buy the Office 2007 Home and Student for $100. And that contains Excel, Word, Powerpoint and another half dozen excellent programs. It is really worth having.

thanks whs. that may be our option if we can't find another free program.

Hi i just found a forum topic u might find helpful. here is the lnk. it tells you how to open microsoft files with openoffice. here is the link.
OpenOffice.org Forum :: Quickly re-assign Microsoft Excel to open Excel Spreadsheets

also, as for your printing problem, here is another link
Calc: Printing Options | Open Office Technology

*sorry for the multiple post*

if nothing works, then check this website, it has other free office suites you can use. im not sure if they are all compatible with microsoft though.
6 Free Office Suites That Are NOT Microsoft

OpenOffice is great, but the Office 2007 student package is WELL worth the investment If he's used to using microsoft packages. With OpenOffice there is a little bit of a learning curve.