[Discuss] OS and application scanning options w/OCR?

[srehrlich at gmail.com (Scott Ehrlich)]

I have a textbook I want to scan in OCR.    All software I have thus
far on the system is free - OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Acrobat Reader X,
etc.

This scanning project will likely be just one-time.

What scanner do people recommend for textbook OCR?    What supportive
software?   Will OpenOffice do the OCR job for me?

I am thinking of going to newegg to buy a cheap scanner.

Options for me are:

Windows XP or Windows 7

Mac OS w/Snow Leopard

Linux (any flavor)

I want to spend as little money as possible doing this.    The
textbook is 500 pages, and I retyped most of the chapters from 1 - 10
(250 pages).   If I can get OCR to do the rest between now and the
first week of December, I'd be thrilled.

Thanks for leads/hints/experiences/etc.

Scott