"The end result of this is, 1) you produced an MS Office file 2) you paid almost nothing 3) you're legal"

Or you could use OpenOffice and the end result would be:
1) You produced an MS Office file, 2) You paid EXACTLY nothing 3) You're legal so MS can complain all they like but it won't help them.

Steam really need to sort their shit out. TFA has a long list of legitimate complaints about Steam. In particular, Steam really should sell their downloads for less than the box price. If it undercuts the retailers, I don't care. I don't need another middleman in my supply chain.

When you buy a game from Steam:

1. You can't re-sell it. Customers should be compensated for this by paying less up-front.

2. You run the risk of never being allowed to play your game again if Valve go bankrupt and shut down their servers. This is simply unacceptable.

3. You pay for the megabytes to have the game delivered to you. You should be compensated for this.

4. You don't get any printed material, so your purchase is worth less. Again, this should result in a lower price.

Meh. It's helping yourself to something without paying for it. "Stealing", while not technically accurate, is a pretty good shorthand.