For that level of use, anything will work, as noted in the posts above this one.
A Mac is likely going to give you the lowest total cost of ownership in the long run, at the cost of a higher initial price. Subjectively, Macs tend to hold their value better than the others with minimal maintenance.
A Linux machine will likely be the least expensive up-front, and is often a good choice for putting onto lower-end hardware. While the UIs have certainly improved, it still helps to be moderately savvy about system maintenance. Then again, if I was sticking with the stock install, I’d likely not have to do much to keep one running, if it has a built-in package manager/update utility (like Fedora and Ubuntu, among others, have).
On the whole, I can’t recommend Windows for anyone who doesn’t need it for one or more specific programs that are unavailable on other platforms. If you go with high-end hardware to extend the computer’s life, you might as well get a Mac. If you want the lower entry cost, a Linux machine will suffice. It’s kind of the problem with trying to be everything to everybody — you generally are second-best (if that) across the board. The biggest cost of moving away from Windows is getting used to a new interface, but given how often Microsoft revamps their interfaces, it’s a lower cost than you might think.
In any event, save yourself money by using the OpenOffice suite instead of MS Office, regardless of platform. For 99+% of the users, it does everything you need.
Thanks....and esp for your last statement....I took a 3 part class in EXCEL a few years back....I do NOT NEED ALL THAT STUFF!
I would suggest that it's 99% of home users. For some of us (even at home), the capabilities available via macros and functions in VBA are worth the expense.