WordPerfect
Just personal opinion here, but I've been a very happy WordPerfect user since DOS version 5.1.
Some of the features I find attractive in WP over MS's bloat-ware (though I will grant that current versions of WP are pretty bloated as well) are: Extensive support of specialized fonts and characters used in technical writing (such as Greek letters), the 'equation editor' (used to correctly write math formulas into a document), ease of creating and editing tables, pre-designed (and editable) templates for invoices, purchase orders, and stationery, and a general feeling of "easier to use" than anything Office has ever thrown at me.
There are a couple of base units on offer from a third party at the=20 Dimension 3100 P4 3.0Ghz, 512MB RAM, 160GB HD =A3299 Dimension 5100 P4 3.0GHz, 512MB RAM, 160GB HD =A3229...
One other nice feature that recent versions of WP picked up is the ability to output a document as a .PDF. I don't think Office has that.
I guess it's also related to what you're used to. I tried several packages early on in the DOS-Windows 3.11 days, including ABI, MS Word, and WP. Of everything I tried, WP gave me the best overall 'feel' in terms of day-to-day use, so I simply stuck with it (even after Corel got their grubby mitts into them... grr!)
Star Office is very much in force, and still free for the downloading. I plan to give that one to my dad when I take his computer to him in September. I've not used it extensively, but I've heard many good things from people that, apparently, have.
OK thanks friends. I have installed the w98se on a separate fat32 parbreastiton. naturaly I have also separte data parbreastiopn in fat32 format...
I like it. Never had to edit the default template other than changing the left and right margins from one inch to 3-4" just because I prefer it that way.
Happy tweaking.
-- Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Insbreastute (Known to some as Bruce Lane, KC7GR) "Salvadore Dali's computer has surreal ports..."