Re: Too expensive
"There's Open Office / Libre Office, but they just don't work with Microsoft Documents..."
From the Libre Office web site:
"Compatible with all major competitors' file formats. You can easily import files from Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and many other formats, and can easily save to Microsoft Office and other formats when needed."
That's very true from my own experience. I don't think there is 100% compatibility, heck, there isn't even between versions of Office, but it's pretty good, you should at least try it! If nothing else you would be more educated in your posts.
And, I agree, it's unlikely that MS would include Office in Windows, sadly.