Hi,
I have a similar setup. I use ntfs-3g to be able to read and write to my NTFS drive, but instead of using MS office, I use Openoffice to read and write my Word/Excel documents. I've had very little trouble in the way of import/formatting problems and most of those were easy to rectify. Maybe this will work for you.
What version of Openoffice are you using ? I think FC5 by default has version 1.X, which does have some problems with certain MS documents. However, the latest versions, 2.X, are much improved. I've not had any compatibility problems since updating.
If you are using 1.X, I would consider updating to 2.X (the latest is 2.2 - There are rpms available from the main openoffice web site site). You may find you don't need MS office at all ;)
Chris
