Home Forums Mac Software Mac Applications Office 2011 vs. Office 2016

I currently use MS Office 2008, which I installed when I had an old Mac Pro running Snow Leopard. The only apps that I use are Word and Entourage. Both work in El Capitan, with some minor glitches, but I foresee the day that a future OS update will break them.

I am considering being proactive and buying either Office 2011 or Office 2016. My questions:

1. Which version of Word works better? My needs are simple in that I do very rudimentary word processing. I don't use the various formatting options at all. I have tried Pages but I don't like it.

2. I would have to buy the more expensive version of Office because the Home and Student edition does not include an email program. Each one can be had with Outlook, which is similar to Entourage. I could learn to use Outlook but my wife doesn't like to be forced into learning a new program. I have tried Mail (and it's OK) but I'm accustomed to Entourage and it does what I want. Can Outlook be configured so that it looks like Entourage? How does Outlook 2011 compare with Outlook 2016?

Any comments will be greatly appreciated.