The other thing to keep in mind is that basic knowledge transfers. I
started on MS Excel and then move to Linux. So any knowledge you pick up
will help on either Open Office or MS Office. My work uses MS Office
exclusively. There is no funding right now for color laser toner. My boss's
monthly schedule for our unit is multicolored and shaded coded on an Excel
spreadheet. It is a nightmare to read in black and white. She emails it to
me. I open it on an Ubuntu 10.04 system. I have to do minor adjustments to
the formating. She has her defaults set to legal. I shrink it to letter.
Some columns need an extra space for best legibility. And then I print
copies for the bosses and units on my color laser. Easy peasy. No worries.
Just stay away from macros and all is golden.