The advantages of OSPF include support for packet authentication, which provides a layer of security against unauthorized routing updates. OSPF can load balance traffic among equal-cost routes, which helps in efficient utilization of network resources. Additionally, OSPF supports Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR), allowing for more flexible and efficient allocation of IP addresses. While area partitioning is a feature of OSPF, it is not necessarily an 'advantage' but rather a characteristic or capability of the protocol.