# Older versions of MSword free? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 9, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-versions-of-msword-free/781810 "2017-03-09T22:15:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-versions-of-msword-free/781810/1 "2017-03-09T22:15:40Z")
I need to get Microsoft 3 to open some important files and I was wondering if there was any place to get it free on the net anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-versions-of-msword-free/781810/2 "2017-03-09T22:26:34Z")
Have you tried opening them in Wordpad? (As suggested [here](http://windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread.php/124342-Word-wont-let-me-open-old-%28Word-2-0%29-documents).) ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-versions-of-msword-free/781810/3 "2017-03-09T22:34:11Z")
You could try uploading it to [drive.google.com](http://drive.google.com). It has a MSWord document viewer built in. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-versions-of-msword-free/781810/4 "2017-03-09T22:43:33Z")
Try [Abiword](https://www.abisource.com/download/). It’s free. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-versions-of-msword-free/781810/5 "2017-03-09T22:48:13Z")
You can also download a free Microsoft Word Viewer from Microsoft’s website. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-versions-of-msword-free/781810/6 "2017-03-09T23:24:52Z")
What is “Microsoft 3”? Do you mean Windows 3.0? What sort of file is it? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-versions-of-msword-free/781810/7 "2017-03-09T23:35:10Z")
There was a [Word 3 released](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Word#Release_history) for the Mac in 1987. Is that what you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-versions-of-msword-free/781810/8 "2017-03-09T23:42:37Z")
[https://www.openoffice.org/](https://www.openoffice.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-versions-of-msword-free/781810/9 "2017-03-10T02:06:26Z")
Word 5.5 for MS-DOS is [available for free](http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?15238-MS-Word-5-5-for-DOS-for-FREE-(legally)) from Microsoft. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-versions-of-msword-free/781810/10 "2017-03-10T11:37:28Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > Word 5.5 for MS-DOS is [available for free](http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?15238-MS-Word-5-5-for-DOS-for-FREE-(legally)) from Microsoft. Snagged it just for the heck of it. When CD-R technology first became cheap enough (only $500 for a burner, not including SCSI card, only $10 for a blank CD-R) I archived all of my old program floppies on several CDs, then when DVD-R became cheap enough (that time I waited for a $200 drive and a $2.00 blank) I backed those CDs on to a single DVD. I have lots of programs dating to the early 90s on there (for example, a font manipulation program called “Typestry” by some obscure software publisher named “Pixar”), but I don’t think a Word for DOS is one of them.