Word has destroyed lots of work for my ex-colleagues.
Also it was such a major pain when I had work with two other students on my final project that I ended up doing the last major changes in Open Office writer before reopening in Word to finish off the last details. Admittedly I guess this had a lot to do with how some people don't want to learn how to use styles but Word didn't help either.
Word was fine for my PhD. My supervisor from those times - now 80 and still collaborating with scientists from around the world - has written hundreds of papers with it. I think I can speak for him when I say that over the last 30 years he has found it a far more reliable option than the typewriter and carbon paper he used to write his own PhD in the 1960s.
I frequently use Excel for calculations. Just the simplest way to check I have entered the correct numbers.
Also it was such a major pain when I had work with two other students on my final project that I ended up doing the last major changes in Open Office writer before reopening in Word to finish off the last details. Admittedly I guess this had a lot to do with how some people don't want to learn how to use styles but Word didn't help either.