Which is better for a MacBook pro microsoft office 2008 or iWork 09?

The Microsoft Product has a lot more in it than iWork. Just check the table of contents for the Office for Dummies book at Amazon.com (link below) and you'll see just how much more you get with the Microsoft product. That said, iWork isn't bad, but if you want a complete Office suite you really do need the Microsoft product.

Office 2008 for Mac All-in-One For Dummies

http://tinyurl.com/Office-2008-for-Dummies

I'd be a little suspicious of the price, especially with all those pro apps listed on there. If you can, run each program before hand just in case they might be trial versions. Also ask for the original Install Disks as part of the package.

I use Office because it's more compatible with other machines. So if you need to share files ever I'd recommend Office.