Best word processor for a MAC

I'm with Apple's iWork. The suite has a word processor called Pages, which is compatible with Word. It's only US$99.

Great timing on your part - new MacBooks coming out ... just announced today. I admit to using Word, whatever the latest version of MS Office for Mac is. I used to use WordPerfect but went to Word when I took an office job and that's what I got used to there.

I've heard iWork is a good package and mostly compatible, so you might look at that. I also use Google docs for stuff I want to get to wherever I am, or stuff I want others to have access to.

... writing this on my MacBook, traveling several states away from where I live ...

I like Open Office because it runs well on all platforms (I mostly use Linux) and that makes it easy to share files around. NeoOffice is a version made especially for the Mac; some say it's better, but I can't really tell the difference.

If I used my MacBook more than just occasionally, though, I'd consider iWork.

I use Pages from iWork. I love it. Prefer it to MS Office, which I've never installed on my MacBook since switching three years ago. Plus it's cheaper.

Keeping OpenOffice around is always good for compatibility's sake. And since it's free, you can try it and see if it's enough for you already. I've never had any real problems with compatibility.