An absolutely fascinating thread, - thanks for starting it, OP - and I've enjoyed reading the entire thread.
Reading the thread, I've learned quite a bit, (especially about Scrivener, is it really that good? If so, it may merit a closer look...), and also have some thoughts and experiences that may be worth airing.
I'm an academic (and published author of history books), who has strayed, in recent years, into public service. In all of my jobs for the past twenty years, writing (and editing) have played a huge role; in my current position I write reports most days.
Re the thread itself, I would like to make a few general points. Personally, I use Macs. My first Mac was a 15" MBP which I replaced with a 13" MBA in late 2010 and which is now my sole personal computer. I love it, the form factor, the ease of use, the weight, (I travel a lot and weight matters), the blazing speed of the SSD, and the sharp screen, which was the best screen Apple had in a laptop prior to the introduction of the retina screen in the past year or so. In fact, the MBA is easily the best computer I have ever had.
However, for writers who have to interact with the big, bad, real world, firstly, most of the working world still uses Windows computers (as did all of the universities in which I worked - though they also had Apple) - as did the Government, when I worked for them, and as did all of the international organisations I have ever worked for.
Thus, despite the use of the adjective 'dinosaur' (and the other adjective, 'clunky'), secondly, Word, however slow and out of date it may be, is still the industry standard, and is still what every organisation I have ever worked for uses to this day. So, on each and every Mac I have owned, I have had Office for Mac, because Word is a must for me.
However, for my own writing, and when I am writing something detailed which requires a lot of thought, I work from my MBA, rather than the sluggish (and much abused office machines).
