highflyer40,
Its Microsoft's fault, not Apple's, but I will say that the current version of Office for Mac is not the best. Its lagging behind the Windows version a bit (well, it is called Office for Mac 2011 afterall ). I believe Microsoft (finally) have a new version coming out very soon !
So if you need all the bells and whisles, until the new version comes out, you'll need to be prepared to use a virtual machine with Windows and the windows version of office.
But my last Macbook survived about 4 years of heavy usage (including multiple drops off tables). Current one is about 2 and a bit years old and still going strong. But I know other people who are well into the 5th year.