Yes, just like that I'm back to MS. They're necessary to get my work done

Does anyone have a good lead on inexpensive copies of older MS software? I'm looking for Windows older than 8 or even 7, and Office older than 2013. I'm trying to keep the cost down to under $100 for each piece of software.

I'd even go back to XP and Office 2003. Heck, the client I'm helping out is just replacing a computer that had Office 2000 and I think he was happy with that.

There's no reason not to be happy with 2000. It was their best effort.

I just upgraded my computer from W7 to XP. Way faster, software just installs with no 4 hour battle, in general things just work.

While I like office 97 best, 2003 was their last good version.

Ebay has originals for sale. Watch out for the oem versions, which most will be. Go for the "retail" cds. Of course, avoid the myriad copies...

Good idea with ebay. I'll look there in the future. I have a more immediate need that I don't think can be satisfied with ebay shipping, but I'll keep it in mind. I do worry a little that what I get will be legit. I guess the usual ebay cautions apply though.

I personally favor Windows 7 over all other versions of Windows (though I liked 2000 quite a bit). I could mostly take or leave every version of Office, but I agree that the ribbon was a downturn. I liked 2010 pretty well, but 2007 was pretty bad and I hate 2013.

I think the main thing I dislike about the ribbon is the absurd amount of space devoted to "Styles" on the main tab. None of my clients have ever used those styles, yet it doesn't seem possible to remove them or devote the space to something else. Dumb.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to be putting together a very cheap system for a client who just wants something really inexpensive. In the end, it's going to be around $300 for a [refurb] Core 2 Duo PC with 2GB of RAM and 80GB hard drive.