>>>We've never bought or isntalled Office at ARS. We've never "HAD" to buy any proprietary software.
>>
>>What do you use instead?
>
>One option I find very attractive is StarOffice. The basic version is free. This one uses its own proprietary format, but it can open (and write to) most versions of MS-Office, up to Office 2000.

I tried it a few years ago. I would probably use it but it tries to become your desktop. That turned me off, so I uninstalled and deleted it.