NeoOffice or OpenOffice?

Well after forking out 1.6k on a new MacBook Pro, I don't have any money left to purchase Microsoft Office. NeoOffice and OpenOffice are both free, and I have read they are great alternatives to Microsoft Office. But which one should I go for?

Also, I don't think I will ever get Microsoft Office because why pay out for a version of it when you could have a perfectly fine free version? Or am I completely missing something?

I prefer MS Office - and as I own a copy for Windows - I'll not be replacing it with a free version (on Windows) - however when I way up the costs of purchasing what is indeed a good piece of software for the Mac - not interested - those free variants are great and highly recommended. (now if I was offered a good price on MS Office for OS X - then maybe I'd change my mind...)

There 'used to be a difference' between the system requirements of OpenOffice and NeoOffice - Neo will run natively in OS X where as OpenOffice needed x11 to be installed on the mac as well for it to work. Oh and NeoOffice blends in with OS X a little better.

However the latest version (still in Beta I believe) of OpenOffice now supports OS X without the installation of x11 which wasn't exactly a hard thing anyway but still an un-needed step.

Personally I'd recommend NeoOffice for OS X, it looks ok and does what I need from an Office application - so far I've been very happy with my installation of NeoOffice.

NeoOffice is the better one (for now anyways). They're basically the same application, but NeoOffice runs natively on OS X's UI, and OpenOffice uses X11. There is an Aqua version in the works for OpenOffice, but for the time being, stick with NeoOffice.

NeoOffice lacks a few features though, most notably the track changes thingy, and the solver in the spreadsheet program is really slow. Other than that, it's good.

Sorry for my stupidity, but I own a licensed Windows version, so if I install it on my Mac can I use the Windows key? If so were can I download Microsoft Office in .DMG?

NeoOffice has been great for my admittedly simple needs. As a bonus, it runs natively rather than through X11.

Mactopia.com is Microsoft's Mac-app site. Office info is here, with a link to download it.

I doubt you'd be able to use your Windows key, but it wouldn't cost anything to try. The version linked above is a demo, so you could probably try the key with it.

Some companies offer discounts on prices when their app users switch to another platform. I don't know whether MS does.

Neo Office is a great "instead of" program. It is fast, it is pretty compatable with most formats and it is free. It will fill the bill for probably 90 to 95 percent of the people needing an office suite.

However, if you are going to be opening lots of Ms office files, especially if they have a lot of macros, then you will probably need Office in order to open those files. If they are just normal Office files then Neo Office will do the job just fine.

As for your other question about your winders key, i really doubt that will work with a Mac version. Microsoft is known for many things but being completely stupid is not one of them.