Mac Office compatibility with Windows Office.

I'm starting an accountancy degree this month and will be doing some pretty advanced stuff in excel as part of the course.

I know that for simple things documents produced on Mac Office are compatible with the Windows version, but what about the more complex formulas and data interrogation?

I'm concerned that if i produce something on my mac and electronically submit it to the tutor/lecturer there may be some compatibility issues.

Can anyone shed any light on this please?

Thanks.

I use Open Office on both systems and have so far had no problems.

Someone else will have to answer about complex formulas and sheets for Excel, but Word documents and Powerpoint documents are usually 100% compatible.

If necessary, you can always run Office 2010 in a virtual machine on your Mac. VirtualBox is free from Oracle. If you already have a copy of Office 2010, that's what I would recommend.

I had considered the option of running a VM, but i think it's going to get tiresome. Especially as i'm in the market for a new computer and from what i've been researching there's going to be no retina optimised version of Office be it Mac or Windows expected anytime soon, so that rules out me buying the retina MBP at this juncture. The other option is a 13" loaded MBA, but the heat issues with that are putting me off running a VM as a long term solution.

I am (sadly) thinking a Window Ultrabook may actually be my best option.

I am (sadly) thinking a Window Ultrabook may actually be my best option.

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I've looked at some nice ultra book PCs from HP and Sony. I was surprised at how much they were - in both cases approaching the cost of the MBA. If I have to pay that much for a PC, I'll choose the Air.