to all the open office comments, like i said i agree that it's great, and maybe even better than those older versions of Word that it's comparable. also john is right about the Ed versions being WAY cheaper, and it's pretty easy to come by them most of the time - to the point where if you just straight up buy a copy of Office, you're almost getting suckered.
@ Perchik - i think you're right about that in large part - I think that's what I was vaguely trying to get at by saying that it was more accessible. But at the same time I would make sure to differentiate between advanced controls, and advanced features: meaning i don't think 07 necessarily has any fewer features, only less advanced styles of control.
.
also.. as far as a flaw in their design ideas, i can understand you're perspective but i have to play the devil's advocate, i think. when it comes to the more common products like Word (as opposed to Publisher, or Access), I think that there are probably an exponentially greater number of begining to mid-range or moderate users than there are advanced users.. in fact it might almost be classified as one of the most common programs around. Given this fact, don't you think that with this set of products at least, that it makes more sense for Microsoft to finally pay attention to the needs of their largest consumer base??
.
And I know what you mean about Vista, and even XP, but consider that Exchange server only got MORE complicated and advanced, not less.. Windows Server didn't take the Vista route.. nor did Publisher, or Access, or a lot of the more technical/advanced programs that they have. To me this seems like it could be suggestive of a change in Microsoft's attitude toward how they view their customer base(s)... don't you think?