There have been instances where people have made mention to me they would like to have Microsoft Office (MSO), but they can't afford the price for the software suite.

People should really consider OpenOffice instead of MSO. OpenOffice an open source software suite that almost does everything that MSO can do. It can even open and edit almost any MSO document or spreadsheet. You can even elect to save your documents and spreadsheets in MSO format.

Another great thing about OpenOffice is that you can choose how much you feel you can afford to pay to use it. If you can't really afford to pay anything (unlikely with the typicasl user that has a computer), then it's free to use.

I'm so impressed with OpenOffice that when my current version of MSO is no longer supported by Microsoft I'll make the total switch to OpenOffice.

You can find OpenOffice at: http://www.openoffice.org

You can also find OpenOffice as a portable application for the thumb/flash drive at: http://portableapps.com/apps

A final disclaimer
OpenOffice may not be for everyone, or for every bussiness, but it should be fine for the typical home or student computer. Give it a try!  :)

   I have OpenOffice and it is a good substitute for Microsoft Office.  It also has its version of PowerPoint which is compatible with MS PowerPoint.
   Some of the wording in it is different than MS Office and the MailMerge feature is not as good as MS Office.  Those are the only disadvantages that I have found.  Definitely, if you do not have MS Office, you should get OpenOffice.