<p>When it comes to Word Processors, you will find you have more choices than you know what to do with!</p>
<p>There are free office suites available for the Mac that are compatible with MS Word (such as NeoOffice and ThinkFree). So no, you don’t NEED to buy the MS Office software in order to get a word processor.</p>
<p>Also, included with every Mac is a 30 day trial of MS Office 2004 (which of course is compatible with itself :P) and a 30 day trial of Apple’s own iWork '06 (which can open and save MS Word files).</p>
<p>If you want to buy them, Apple’s iWork is $39.99 and MS Office 2004 is $99.99 (gotta love student discounts).</p>