Do I just have to make do without Mavericks? I don't want to lose access to a decade plus of work, and I can't afford new versions of MS Word, Powerpoint, and Excel.
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
Word 2004 is not compatible with Mavericks, so don't update until you've tried the alternatives, OpenOffice and LibreOffice. Also might want to try iWorks.
But if your Mac is running 10.4 as stated in your specs, I wonder if you can update at all on your Mac. Read the specs to be sure...
Have you checked the requirements to upgrade? You must be running at least OS X 10.6.8 on an Intel Mac to even be able to run Mavericks.
ss http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5842
MS Office 2004 was MS's last PowerPC version of Office and will not run under Mavericks. Support for PowerPC code and the emulation layer, Rosetta were officially completely dropped with the release of OS X 10.7 (Lion). You would not be able to use your Office 2004 in OS X 10.7, 10.8 or 10.9 or any future OS X - you would have to purchase an updated version of MS Office for Mac (Office 2008 and higher runs fine on OS X 10.9).
Make sure your Mac can even run Mavericks - from your post tagline, it looks like you are running OS X 10.4.11 so are you also still using a PowerPC (G4 or G5) Apple computer?.
<edit> also note in the specs in the link I posted say a minimum of 2GB, but IMO, 4GB is a better true minimum for decent performance with OS X 10.9
I have the same issue as the OP - I am currently running 10.6.8 and want to update but when I do so, I get a message that says it will delete my MS Office - very very bad! Lot's of work using MS Office that I don't want to lose.
You won't loose the work (files) It will remove the Applications because Mavericks can not run such old versions of Office.
Your files should remain untouched, however its always a good idea to backup important files before updating operating systems.
You can download free alternatives such as Libre Office or even try Apple's own Pages if you don't mind paying for it.
Both of them can open and edit Word and Excel files just fine.
Libre Office
http://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-fresh/?type=mac-x86&version=4.3& lang=en-US
Pages
I want to install Mavericks, but when I try to it says that it will delete my 2004 versions of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. I have years of work that I can't afford to lose access to, and I also can't afford the new MS Office. What should I do?
