Should I buy Microsoft office or use OpenOffice?

Depends on your specific requirements.  Generally speaking, if you just need a word processor, spreadsheet, create presentations, etc. I would go with OpenOffice.  It is free because it is open source.  I used to use MS Office, but switched over to OpenOffice since I like their spreadsheet program better and find their word processor to be on-par for my needs.

But, if your work requires special features only available in MS Office, well - there you have it.

Microsoft products are attacked and hacked more often than freeware or shareware. Open Office takes less memory than Microsoft Word. I know offices that use OpenOffice and prefer it. The Office versions of 2007 and 2010 cannot be opened by older WORD versions. Though you can use FreeViewer to read them. Open Office is free software that does what Microsoft Office does. It can open and read Office files. It is free,too, because software developers rely on you to use (or test) the software and report any glitches, but also some developers who use it also write updated code.  It is used by many persons, including Linux users. Linux is considered green. Most green developers prefer transparency on the net whereas Microsoft is shrouded in secrecy and restriction that are issued to make users dependent on it and to constantly have to purchase new versions, new upgrades. They felt that users, esp. non-commercial should not have to buy new versions of software all the time or b unable to use software every time Microsoft came out with a new version. Besides, Microsoft is not only pricey, but has so many glitches we can't keep up with the patches and they can't do the se timely enough. 

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Love and Peace, Maat