There will always be some who say one is better than the other. I use Openoffice and it has (mostly) served my needs. Not as good as MS office though.
I reckon you should just try them and see. You won't lose anything.
MS office actually is quite popular I think from apple there is Pages.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.