On Fri, 14 Jan 2011 06:46:31 +0000 (UTC), D.M.Chapman wrote:

OO is ok for minor work - if you are working alone on spreadsheets or
word processing then it's fine. If you are hoping to exchange documents
with people who use MS Office then expect some pain.

Anything that uses VBA - forget it. Powerpoint conversions - ropey at
best IME. The word processor is fine, but if feeding it MS docs then
there can be font issues and other odd formatting incompatibilities.

What he said. The only time I tried to use OO to edit a Word documnet
it was a right nightmare with formating, in both directions. If you
have no choice but to exchange stuff with MS users there isn't really
any choice, bite the bullet and use MS.

Some one has already mentioned the "educational discounts" available
if you are a parent or guardian of have a child (or grandchild!) in
full time education. ISTR some changes to the licencing rules in the
last year or so, have a google. There were several sites selling via
the scheme, I think I used:

http://www.software4students.co.uk/default.aspx

A very quick look shows MS Office Pro 2010 £38.95 for installation on
up to 2 PCs.

--
Cheers
Dave.