[alatkins]

I would highly recommend taking the time to learn LyX [http://www.lyx.org] rather than LaTeX itself unless your dissertation will contain a lot of equations. LyX is now a pretty mature piece of software that makes working with LaTeX very easy while still giving you access to all of its advantages.

In any regard, for the love of god, please don't use Word or OO.org, you WILL regret it :-)