Who's going to save a duplicate of everything as text, really?

The re-install option is obvious, but as many systems come with Windows and Office pre-installed and there's no installation CD, this may not be an option. I'd never buy a PC that had software I needed and no means of re-installing it.

One of the less frequently proclaimed benefits of Libre Office (and free software generally) is that you never have to deal with that kind of nonsense. Just download and install the latest version at no cost (unless you're charged for bandwidth or connect time), and optionally save to CD (but I never bother)

Not that I've ever had to re-install LibreOffice or (prior to that) Open Office because of it breaking.