DodgerKing,
I think that Thunderbird or Evolution will work with Exchange if IMAP is turned on in Exchange.
I don't know what the computer folks are like at your work, but they may not be sympathetic to connecting non-approved systems to your network. So, be careful, particularly with trifling around trying to connect to Exchange. If you've checked and they're fine, all the better, of course.
The specialized software you're mentioning is a classic example of why Windows is needed. I live on a boat, and my navigation software (Nobeltec) is Windows-only. It uses Microsoft's class libraries, so there's not an easy way to port to Linux. There is hope with software that runs on Mac, however. Internally, Mac is Unix (some BSD, don't remember which). It would be "Easy" (TM) to port from BSD to Linux. In the case of OpenOffice.org, it will not do some corner-case things, like you have mentioned. It's just a question of the right tool for the job. I don't do anything exotic with my computers, so it works fine for me.
As many folks have discovered, some hardware lacks support on Linux. In many cases, much of the smarts in the hardware is actually in the driver or firmware that's loaded into the device at startup. This makes it easier to fix problems and add capabilities without changing the hardware. Manufacturers keep the specifications to their hardware secret for many reasons, not the least of which is competitive advantage. That keeps Linux developers from writing a driver, because they don't know what the hardware does. The driver for the hardware must be written specifically for the operating system that the hardware is running. Some vendors are better than others when it comes to supporting Linux. In my personal experience, add-on hardware is less well supported than what comes with the laptop or desktop motherboard. That is, the on-board sound and video will probably work fine, but add-on cards may not.
One other thing to keep an eye out for, is Microsoft Internet Explorer specific websites. I only have a couple that I need Internet Explorer for, but they absolutely will not work with Firefox, regardless of running it on Linux or Windows. My cellular phone company's website goes into a loop using Firefox, and keeps redisplaying the same page. My power company only displays one tab out of ten on their customer service page. It's amazing that they've set their sites up to not work in Firefox, since I visit scores of other sites regularly that DO work.
