# Free Word Processing software **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2003, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-word-processing-software/205527 "2003-10-04T08:15:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-word-processing-software/205527/1 "2003-10-04T08:15:27Z")
I need a good freeware word processing program… I don’t like MS Word and really don’t wanna pay for it. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-word-processing-software/205527/2 "2003-10-04T08:21:49Z")
OpenOffice. ---
**Author:** ![fezpp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fezpp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fezpp)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-word-processing-software/205527/3 "2003-10-04T08:25:16Z")
[OpenOffice](http://www.openoffice.org/) is an open source office suite including word processing (think MSWord), spreadsheet (think MSExcel) and presentation manager (think Powerpoint). It handles MS file types and is totally free to download. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-word-processing-software/205527/4 "2003-10-04T09:18:40Z")
For something more lightweight you could try [Abiword](http://abiword.com/). I wanna mention it, but I can’t really recommend it, as I haven’t used it recently, and the last time I tried it it was a bit crashy. Coulda been a bad build. I thought [KOffice](http://www.koffice.org/) had a Win32 build for some reason, but I guess not. Hrm - What a useless comment I’ve made here. But it’s 3 minutes of my life, so I’m hitting Submit anyhow! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-word-processing-software/205527/5 "2003-10-04T10:01:58Z")
Depending on your application, it might be worth learning LaTeX. It’s a typesetting program designed primarily for technical and scientific writing, so if that’s your primary use it’s well worth the effort. If you want a more standard word processor, I second the recommendation for **[OpenOffice.org](http://OpenOffice.org)**. (I believe the **.org** is part of the name of the software.) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-word-processing-software/205527/6 "2003-10-04T17:11:46Z")
A big hand for all four of you! ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-word-processing-software/205527/7 "2003-10-04T17:14:49Z")
I just wanted to say thanks for the suggestions too. I’m too tight to fork out for Microsoft Office, so I tried OpenOffice today and it seems to be a reasonable, if imperfect, replacement for everything I need. Cheers!