Information from here: http://social.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/genuineoffice/thread/39cee7a1-b5f8-4c91-8223-c661e9361496/ How to troubleshoot problems that you may experience when you try to activate a 2007 Office product @: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919895, and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/903275/en-us for Office Suites 2003 and below. The links will provide resolutions supporting Office Suites. However if the issue persists I would recommend you contact Microsoft Office support at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/assistsupport and choosing your product to create a support incident. There are two methods for activating Office; telephone and the Internet which is the easier of the two methods. To activate the product by using the Internet, follow these steps: For Microsoft Office 2007, follow these steps: Start any office program. 2) In the Office Activation Wizard, click the "Activate by using Internet" option, and then click "Next". 3) Click "Submit" to send your information to the Microsoft licensing servers. NOTE: When your information is validated, the "Activation Complete" page appears. Then, you can use the Office programs. You will not have to activate Office in the future. 4) Click "Finish" Please follow the below guidance for telephone activation for your version of Office: 1) Start any Office program. 2) In the "Office Activation Wizard", click the "Activate by using the telephone" option, and then click Next 3) Read the "Microsoft Office Privacy Policy" page, and then click "Next". Note You are not required to read the Microsoft Office Privacy Policy to continue these steps in Microsoft Office 2007. A link to the Microsoft Office Privacy Policy is provided so that you can read it at any time. 4) In the "Select your location" list, select a country or region. Call the telephone number that is listed on line 2. The customer service agent will ask you for the installation ID and will give you a confirmation ID in return. Type the confirmation ID in the boxes provided. 5) Click "Next". 6) On the "Activation Complete" page, click "Finish".

from the seven forums I found this possible fix "there could be a timing issue if you shut down your PC with outlook running or shut outlook and immediate shut down. Outlook does take some time to shut down fully so you can sometimes get this. If you run task manager and watch the outlook entry when you shut it down you will be able to gauge the shut down time for your system" data file did not close properly the last time it was used and is being checked for problems. you can check some of the many links from google.

Microsoft's main market for Office is employers, public and private sector. The historical investment most places have made in things like forms, macro-driven apps, interfaces with other systems, etc., as well as what happens as new hires come in, make it much cheaper to continue with widely used MS software. Software license costs are small change compared to infrastructure and support expenses. For employers of any size, the fees paid for Office are a small fraction of the retail price an individual would face. For individuals, a free choice should serve most purposes. For a workplace other than very small, or an employee of a fair sized place who wants work compatibility in using a personal machine, MS is most frequently the choice.

I don't run Macs in general but looking on Amazon where today you can buy MS Office Home for $114, there are 1645 reviews with an average of 4 out of 5 stars. So it seems that people generally like it. How much is the sale price ? You probably know that there is LibreOffice as a free alternative, but indeed it is slightly different. Yet for general use it works pretty darn well.