I am with you on that Alex. MS office will never be killed. Office has it's niche and too many people are used to it.
Microsoft already has an Office Business Server product,
Sharepoint Server. It actually works pretty well.
I really like the new version of Open Office for the Mac. I can't wait till it is no longer a beta, and then I can dump all my MS stuff.
I also like NeoOffice for an alternative.
As for the 60's infrastructure, it is amazing how many mainframes etc.. are still there and being ported because what they have "still works."
It can make integration with newer technologies harder though.