[B Knotts]

Certainly, if you find that productivity gains are greater than the ongoing licensing fees and licensing compliance costs (often overlooked, but significant if done right), then it may make sense to pay for the proprietary option.

For the majority of office software users, I seriously doubt that they are going to realize a significant productivity advantage from Microsoft Office vs. OpenOffice.org.

There is the retraining cost, but Microsoft, in their wisdom, made Office 2007 significantly different from previous versions of Office, so the Microsoft retraining cost advantage largely disappears.

[microgood]

For the majority of office software users, I seriously doubt that they are going to realize a significant productivity advantage from Microsoft Office vs. OpenOffice.org.

I agree that most people use about 5% of Word or Excel capabilities, but what is strange is that the users seem to want the software anyway. For example, Works is kind of a featured down version of Office, but nobody wants it. They want Office, just in case, I guess.

There is the retraining cost, but Microsoft, in their wisdom, made Office 2007 significantly different from previous versions of Office, so the Microsoft retraining cost advantage largely disappears.

I know what you mean. I was cursing those ribbons for some time.