I don’t actually have a real word processor on my PC. Always used my work computer. But as I write more and more, I’d like a real word processor on the better of the two computers. So I went to the Microsoft web site, figured I’d load in and get the basic Office and HOLY SHIT A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS FOR THE CHEAPEST VERSION JESUS CHRIST IN A CHICKEN BASKET!
So I’ve got some .doc files. Is there a good, inexpensive word processor out there that’ll let me keep working on them?
available for free at www.openoffice.org. I’ve never used it on super-complex Word docs, but it’s been a lifesaver when I’ve had to quickly look up something in a Word doc on a machine with no Office installed.
Open Office handles word files and has most word functionality. I don’t do much word processing so I can’t give you a detailed comparison but it’s GPL freeware so you can try it and find out if you like it.
Yeah, OpenOffice. If it was a few years ago I’d have also mentioned Abiword (still useful if your PC is classed as ‘underpowered’), but OO is really the thing to get.
With the two latest computers I’ve bought, I’ve immediately uninstalled the time-limited Office and installed Open Office, and I’ve never regretted it. And you really can’t beat the price.
Another vote for OpenOffice. The only caveat is that if you do a lot of collaborative editing with your co-workers (using the track changes and comments features), OpenOffice isn’t entirely compatible with Word’s implementation of those functions. That’s why I ended up springing for MS Office.
This was one of the things that Microsquish took away as Windows evolved. W3.x shipped with a nice little lightweight word processor called Write, that could justify and paginate, and do about 90% of what Word can do, but that stopped with Windows 95.
Write has shipped with every version of Windows, up to, and including, Vista. It’s now called WordPad in the Accessories menu, although the executable is still named write.exe.
Yet another Open Office user here. I find it dead easy to swap between OO at home and Office at work. Though the menus are organised differently, it’s easy enough to search for any function that’s in a different place.
The only thing I have to add is that Office doesn’t seem to handle .sxw files (That may have changed in the last 4 years), but OpenOffice will handle .doc files, I just save then save as .doc if I’m going to export anything.
I think a beta is coming out that will. I use both, Open Office exclusively at work, and both at home. There are some subtle issues with complex documents, especially when diagrams or equations are imported, but no problems for standard ones.
The new version can edit pdfs, but a review I read says that this capability is still fairly primitive.
Look into Open Office, Word Perfect or look to pick up a used copy of Word 2000 or XP. It works as well as the newer versions for 99% of users and I think is actually easier to use than Word 2007 anyway.
Seconded. Computing in “the cloud” really is convenient once you’re at the point where every computer you use is connected. And I’ve been finding the convenience more compelling than many of the checklist features, even the ones I’ve come to appreciate (like Property Painter). All of them will eventually show up on Google docs. And the price (free) and convenience is compelling, for me.
I don’t think the OO version I have is good for, say, creating pdfs that have fillable fields, but all I need it to do is create pdf files that other people can read but not edit. That works fine (it’s how I bill my customers and I’m being paid, so it works ;))
The problem with google is that it needs internet access, which isn’t always available. I often stay in hotels which charge extra for crappy internet; my house in Spain is in the mountains so the only internet access is via radio and goes down every time it rains. It’s great if you do have good access, but if you know you may lose access you still need a way to open the document locally.
Google is one of the current sponsors of OO, they offer it with their software packs installer.