I'm stuck with Microsoft office at work too but thats their choice, their data, their risk. When Excel crashes and looses the last hour of changes thats on them.

You should not be working on work documents on your personal systems and vice versa. Even if the companies risk management doesn't forbid it you should not take the risk yourself.

I was experimenting with Linux anyway a few years ago when I first got XP and its many problems. I setup a dual boot and then would test out converting documents into the native Linux apps until i was able to use Linux more and Windows less. Eventually as I upgraded hdd's I quit installing the windows partition.

You can download a gpartd bootdisk nd repartition your drive for a dual boot but any time I make a major change I follow my normal backup routine then put a new drive in my system and clean setup what I want then plug my old drive into a usb enclosure and copy my data over.