The Microsoft Word documents & Microsoft Powerpoint Presentations can be viewed in some browsers just by clicking on the link for the file that you want to view. To save the files for viewing or printing later, will depend on the web browser you use.
In MS Internet Explorer right click over the link and select the save target as ... item.
If you do not have a copy of Microsoft Word or Microsoft Powerpoint then you can download a free program for your computer from the Microsoft site.
Please note, that the notes associated with a powerpoint slide are not visible when viewed within the web browser.
The Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) files require the use of Adobe Acrobat reader (version 5.0), which is free and can be downloaded here 
