if appleworks is working for you, i'd say stick with it. it starts up in a flash, has most of the features you need for moderate tasks, and is native (although not as native as we'd like). but there's no harm in installing ooo as well. it probably has a few more features than aw. for the very very brave, there's
I've played around with both a good deal. When I was using a windows computer, Org was what I used. Now that I've got the iBook I use AW.
AW does run and load faster, is more responsive, and is a cleaner product. You also have your full printing options.
Org has more features. I LOVE their outlining ability far more than AW and MS. But, having to run it through X11 or FINK was just too much for me. I'm using AW until they develop a native version of Org for OS X.