yellowtriumph,
Your posts make me think that you are quite computer literate, so I think David Pogue's book would be ideal for you. Just get the right one for your current OS.
As ExXB said, the Apple website contains a lot of useful information. Here is a good starting point:
OS X - Apple Support
One thing I have found when coaching people in making the change from Windows to Mac OS X, is that they have a "Windows mindset" - not surprising really. Once they get over that, they find that the Mac way of doing things is usually (but not always) simpler and more intuitive than the Windows way.
One example is the built-in Print to PDF functionality, in the bottom left of the Print dialog. I use this frequently.
Another example of Apple's thinking, is that if my iPhone rings, a dialog pops up on my Mac, that I can use to answer the call, using the Mac microphone and speakers.
Regarding Office for Mac. If your usage is not heavy-duty and if you are not constantly switching between Windows and Mac OS, I think you will find, once you have got used to the slightly different User Interface, that it will be adequate for your purposes.
Concerning email, I would recommend staying away from Outlook, which comes with Office and use the Mac 'Mail' app. It's not perfect, but it is well integrated with the OS and with iPhones and iPads if you have any.
PS Two add-in applications that I use and recommend are Little Snitch (
https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html) and Spam Sieve (
http://c-command.com/spamsieve/ ) - only works with the Mail app.