[Falling Down]

I've packed up my Windows laptop and sent it back to work so I'm currently without word processor and spreadsheet.  Does anyone have any recommendations for open source office utilities for the Mac that can edit/save in Microsoft .doc and .xls format?

Any assistance greatly appreciated....

[slackline]

What about OpenOffice?

Completely Free Open Source Software, works pretty well with M$ .doc and .xls (although my wife has been complaining that some of the docs she wrote and saved can't be opened by her colleagues, but I suspect thats down to user errors at their end).

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Yup, Openoffice is good. Alternatively Google Docs can be used offline with Google Gears.

Or Zoho writer is another online Office suite. Both good and useful if you need to share/collaborate on stuff.

If it's a longer term alternative, check out/buy/acquire iWork. I really like it, much nicer to use than most bits of MSOffice.

[Falling Down]

Thanks Slackers and Obi-wan. - I'll give Open Office a whirl and see how I get on.  I'll be getting a new PC with my new job so this is just an interim measure so I can do some prep before I start. It'll be interesting to road test these apps though.

Cheers