Alternatives to Microsoft Office
For what many people do, Office is not only very expensive but overkill. Sure, Office has a raft of features but how many do you use? In fact, how many do you even know about? Do you use spread sheets with pivot points? There are some alternatives to Office that will cost you a lot less (maybe nothing) and PC Magazine has an article discussing some possibilities.
Naturally, home users and business offices have different needs so that may be why the article does not mention Microsoft Works, which is more than adequate for many home users.