Can I use Word for Mac 2004 to write basic solver/Macros programs?

Question

I just bought the new macbook aluminum unibody. I am in college and am taking computer programming in fall, I need to be able to write basic programs that utilize macros and solver. I spoke with one mac person who told me I would need to buy parallels, the microsoft OS and then microsoft word for Microsoft OS.
However, that costs upwards of 200$ for a class I am only going to be taking for 2 months. Someone else has told me that the 2004 version of Word for Mac has macros abilities on it (those that are not on the current version, but that the 2011 version will have). Can I just use the 2004 version? Or does anyone have other suggestions?

Answer 1

Office 2004 and Other Applications Don't Work in Lion/Mountain Lion
If you have Office 2004 which is a PPC-only suite, it will not work in Lion/Mountain Lion. You need to upgrade to Office 2011 - Mactopia - or you can try the freeware suite, Libre Office, that is functionally similar to Office 2007 for Windows except it works on Lion/Mountain Lion.
You may want to consider as well:
These two suites are similar to Libre Office but not as current or as well-supported:
NeoOffice
Open Office
And, then there is Apple's iWork suite:
Pages - word processing and layout
Keynote - presentation
Numbers - spreadsheet
Each can open and save Office compatible files. They may be purchased separately via the Mac App Store for $19.99 each.
As for other software, any PPC-based software will not run in Lion or Mountain Lion because Rosetta is no longer part of OS X. You will need to upgrade to Intel versions of the software.
(Access to the Mac App Store requires Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or higher and an Apple ID.)