Am glad to hear that you paid for Office. Most people don't.
I disagree on Open Office, I have used it successfully for years on home machines to save MS licensing costs. It's met my basic needs.
Google docs is also good for those basic tasks and it's online collaboration ability. Plus nothing to install.
Office Web Apps are great at that and better, and don't have to deal with .doc or .docx formatting issues.
Yes, but late to party after people started using alternatives.
We don't use Google apps for a lot, but I have a domain registered with Google, have emails for all family members, a shared calendar we all use, and a control panel where I can easily set up restrictions and allow features. And it's all for $10 a year. Very reasonable.
When has Microsoft never been fashionably late to the party? What usually happens five years on? Generally clear success or indirect success. The Xbox was WAY late, but is the top console of choice. Windows was late after the mac in 1985, five years later become more used, five years further with 95 it cemented itself as the top used OS for years and years and years to this day. Office was late to the game competing against an industry standard, and is the standard today. Zune was late to the game, but with crappy support behind it and little effort as well against a cemented societal standard of digital music. Bing is way late to the game, but that's iffy if it's doing well. Arguably not, but arguably something to be seen in two years. Windows Phone technically was late to the game, but they already had Windows Mobile before android and ios competing against the Blackberry. Except unlike RIM's case, they rebuilt an enterprise geared product better for consumers, then again better for the enterprise and improved for consumers.
That feature you described sounds like something on Windows Phone, I've yet to tinker around with it, but the concept is very similar and more or less a fleshed out Groups feature. All free too, with a Microsoft account. One can share calendars and I believe some files with non Windows Phone users or Windows 8 users. Haven't checked it out though.
To me, it seems like the older the person is, the more likely they'd go for an alternative. I've found it interesting these past couple years how experienced Windows users and IT people are more inclined for alternatives that aren't Microsoft, maybe it's their image of Microsoft of the '90s, maybe it's the cost, maybe they don't need advanced features, or all of the above, or something else suits their needs that isn't from Microsoft. Choice is good though.
I personally only know a very few people that do use google docs or open office that are under 25-30 years old, might be because the schools all taught them Microsoft Office and Windows.... It's all Windows, Office, Xbox with the exceptions of PS3, iphone, or android being used. I know a couple of people with ipads, but they only use it as large ipods than anything, nothing serious or otherwise they use their laptop.
