Works vs Office for a beginers practice

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Somebody i know has just finished a basic computing course where they learned Word and Excel Skills. Now they dont want to just not use the software and forget all they have learned so they have asked me about microsoft office.

Now i know that Office is expensive, the cheapest its sold for here is about £135. All they want it for is to practice using Word & Excel so would Works be enough for them?

I know Works has Word on it, but what sort of spreadsheet package does it have? Would it be comparable to what this person i know would be using Excel for?

OcUK have Works 8.5 for ther tiny price of £11.69! or £43 for Works 2006. Can anyone make any recomendations?

 

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Really that bad? Even the £45 version?

 

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Dont suppose it will be much use to someone trying to build up their office skills though. I dont think many employers will be interested in openoffice skills. It still may come in handy in the future though, i didnt know about it until now.

Still though, it dosnt look like Works will be any good for practising office either.