joex444 :
At this point what does Word/Excel from Office 2003 do that OpenOffice, LibreOffice, or Google Docs doesn't do?
Outlook only makes sense in context with an Outlook Exchange Server, which almost always implies a corporate account. Outside of that, webmail or Thunderbird are sane alternatives.
Can't comment on open source PowerPoint alternatives. If I need to make slides, I use Beamer and LaTeX which I admit is a niche situation.
1 - The templates and some functionality and of course NO MAIL client is the big difference between O2003 and Open Office. ** side note: I disregard the Libre Office fork as many folks went back to Open when Oracle gave it to Apache. Oracle really caused headaches with Open, glad their nose is out of it. OpenOffice is an excellent suite for the price. **
This is something that the OOO community never got through their heads. OOO should included email client - that interfaces with part of the suite. Google Docs... its okay... maybe it better, but I prefer my software running native, than in a browser tab.
2 - Exchange : right, this is why MS removed Outlook from the home & student version as many of us simply use webmail and they want to have a different price point. My Office 2003 was the H&S for $110. O2007/10 = $170 to include Outlook. Good for MS... not so for others.
3 - OpenOffice presentation is decent... it works.
Now, for my clients, friends and family who want a no-cost office suite, I recommend either or both - Open Office and WPS Office. Open Office = for every thing under the sun, as its full featured (minus email client, again) for business. It would cost $300 for MSO2013). WPS for home users is excellent... its free and it comes with UI choices. It can look like Office 2000, 2003, 2013 (They have stupidly removed the 2010 skin)
*update: Latest FREE version of WPS office now includes a watermark when you print. I no longer recommend WPS for free-use. A lot of people are pissed and either go back to the 2013 version (which includes better Office 2010 style skin and O2000 skin) or switch to Open Office. Man, that sucks. How stupid.
PS: Office 2016 looks like the fixed the blindness UI of O2013.