Sharon, there is no cost for using OpenOffice. Just be sure you obtain your new copy from www.openoffice.org or www.openoffice.apache.org. There are other places that will say it's free but they embed malware and advertisements. Other sites even try to sell it.....
In my experience OpenOffice only asks permission if you attempt to delete something....then it asks you if you are sure?? It will probably also ask you if you want to save your work when you close OpenOffice if you have not already done so. Hope this answers your questions....enjoy AOO!
