# Question regarding Windows XP **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 3, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521 "2004-01-03T21:08:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scantilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Scantilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scantilly)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/1 "2004-01-03T21:08:11Z")
I recently purchased a Dell 600m notebook which I adore! The computer came with Windows XP which I am still learning to navigate. Please forgive me if my question seems obvious but I have scoured the help tools and cannot find answers. Does windows XP come with microsoft word? What is the difference between a word pad document, a rich text document, and a text document? I am used to windows 98 where I would use a simple microsoft word documents for writing letters and articles etc. Do I need extra microsoft software or am I just seriously technologically challenged and missing something obvious? Thank you in advance for your help Scantilly ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/2 "2004-01-03T21:14:00Z")
XP does not come with word as standard, but often third party sellers (such as Dell) will include word anyway. (Our dell laptop does) Word pad and rich text documents are capable of containing extra formatting (underlines, italics, bolds, different fonts, page layout etc. Text documents can contain only plain text with no formatting. ---
**Author:** ![Scantilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Scantilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scantilly)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/3 "2004-01-03T21:18:34Z")
So then is there any reason why I should not just use a rich text document to write a letter? Is it important to have Microsoft Word on my computer? Why? ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/4 "2004-01-03T21:20:54Z")
Neither Windows 98 nor Windows XP came with Word. Microsoft Word is an application that comes as part of one of the standard Microsoft packages, either MS Works, or one of the “flavors” of MS Office (standard, small business edition, or pro). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/5 "2004-01-03T21:26:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scantilly \* > So then is there any reason why I should not just use a rich text document to write a letter? > > Is it important to have Microsoft Word on my computer? Why? MS Word is the defacto standard right now, and if you need to exchange docs with others, this is probably the best choice. (And if exchanging is that important, you might want to save your docs in a format that is NOT the newest version to increase compatibility.) RTF is quite universal, too, and I have always felt it has been overlooked. Either one should work fine for almost any word-processing application. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/6 "2004-01-03T21:33:10Z")
Well, Rich text documents can made to be pretty nice but Word has every bell and whistle known to man[#1]. If you are receiving or downloading a lot of documents you will probably want Word as it is the standard word processor out there these days. Since almost everyone uses it for business purposes it can be important to have. While Word Pad can open MS Word documents the formatting will not be as the writer intended. It works, it’s just ugly. Slee #1. A big complaint, at least with people I’ve worked with, is that Word has **TOO MANY** features and it makes it hard to find what you want. I never had that problem but I hear people bitch about it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Scantilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Scantilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scantilly)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/7 "2004-01-03T21:42:46Z")
Ahhhhhh…that explans why I have had so much trouble opening sent documents! Thank you ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/8 "2004-01-03T23:26:35Z")
If you just need MS Word, it’s included in MS Works 7.0, which will run under Win98. The list price is $55, with a $15 rebate, and I’ve seen it advertised down in the $30 range. MS Works will also handle a lot of Excel spreadsheets, but its spreadsheet lacks a lot of the features of Excel, so if you really need Excel, as well as Word, you’re stuck buying one of the MS Office packages, which cost a lot more! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/9 "2004-01-04T01:14:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scantilly \* > Ahhhhhh…that explans why I have had so much trouble opening sent documents! Right…let’s say you are the first nerd on your block to install Word version X.Y, and you create a new document and send it to someone else, who doesn’t have version X.Y. – bummer, dude, he probably can’t read it, and he blames you! So unless there is some _fantastic_ new feature that you MUST use (not bloody likely in a typical document), save your bon mots in a more generic or older version, then send that. You’ll thank me in the end. Conversely, it pays for you to have the latest version of any software if you expect to be sent data from others. Later versions can usually read older ones but not vice-versa. (Personally, right now, I’d say Word 97 version is pretty safe, Word 2000 coming up fast.) ---
**Author:** ![leenmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@leenmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leenmi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/10 "2004-01-04T01:28:00Z")
If you just need simple documents (the extent of your formatting is bolding, italicizing, underlining, etc…) WordPad should be good enough. However, if you want more advanced features, you would need a word processor. Microsoft Word is one option, for a lot of money. Another is [OpenOffice.org](http://OpenOffice.org). OpenOffice is a free, full-featured office suite that includes, among other things, a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation (slideshow) tool and drawing creator. It’s nice. I use it every day for work to create large documents, spreadsheets and slideshows. OpenOffice can, as well as anyone is able, import/export Microsoft formats like .doc and .xls. Yes, it definitely can do .rtf. The most notable problem importing/exporting Microsoft formats is the table alignment. The left and right edges of the tables like to shift. Until Microsoft makes it easier for other people to interact with their products, this is not likely to be fixed. Not a dig at Microsoft. It’s how they make their money. OpenOffice is a wonderful product. If you need something more feature-rich than .rtf, give it a shot before you drop hundreds of dollars on Microsoft Office. [OpenOffice.org](http://openoffice.org) ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/11 "2004-01-04T07:35:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by leenmi \* > **Microsoft Word is one option, for a lot of money.** Only if you think that $40 or less is a lot of money! Remember, MS Works includes MS Word, so if that’s all you need, Works is good enough. I tried [OpenOffice.org](http://OpenOffice.org), and within the first fifteen minutes, ran into half a dozen bugs, glitches, and missing features that I needed (more in the spreadsheet than in the word processor, but still…). IMO, it’s a wine that’s not quite ready for drinking. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/12 "2004-01-04T07:43:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Musicat \* > **Later versions can usually read older ones but not vice-versa.** This used to be strictly true, but I’ve found that it ain’t necessarily so, these days. It all depends upon whether the new version uses a different file format than the old version. For example, I believe that Word 2002 (part of the Office XP package) uses the same file format as Word 2000 (part of the Office 2000 package). As a result, files created by Word 2002 can, in fact, be read by Word 2000 without any difficulty. I’ll stick my neck out, and say that I’m pretty sure that Word 2002 files can even be read by Word97. It seems that the newer versions give you new ways of _producing_ certain features in documents, but once those things have been created, the saved file isn’t any different than it would be if it had been created under one of the older versions. I keep some records for my homeowner’s association, and make them available to other homeowners as Word documents. I use Word 2002, and I’ve never had anyone say that they had any difficulty opening one of my documents (other than one person who was using an ancient version of WordPerfect - having a problem with that combination isn’t a surprise). ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/13 "2004-01-04T08:39:13Z")
Do you still have the old windows 98 computer? Still have the disks that came with it? If your old 'puter had Word preinstalled, you should probably have the install disks somewhere, unless they used the dreaded “recovery disc”. ---
**Author:** ![Scantilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Scantilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scantilly)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/14 "2004-01-04T16:59:29Z")
I have the windows 98 disc, but can I install it onto a computer that already has XP? Thank you so much for the help. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/15 "2004-01-04T17:24:49Z")
No, no, no!!! Windows 98 and Windows XP are both _operating systems_. An operating system is what turns the PC from a dumb hunk of iron into a machine that’s ready to be told what to do. Ignoring the dual-boot option (for hard-core techies only), you can only install one operating system on the computer. If it’s got WinXP on there, leave it there! Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, etc., are not operating systems - those are _applications_ that run on the computer. They run under the control of the operating system. What you would be looking for is a CD that has some version of MS Works or MS Office on it. It would be labeled as such, not as “Windows 98.” If you find an MS Works or MS Office CD, you could pop that in, run the setup program that’s on there (it would probably start itself automatically when the PC read the CD), and install the applications (Word, Excel, whatever is on there). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/16 "2004-01-04T17:27:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Early Out \* > **Remember, MS Works includes MS Word** Hey, waitaminute! Are you sure this is true? MS Works does include a word processor, but that word processor is _not_ MS Word. (For one thing, it saves its files in a different format—.WPS instead of .DOC.) (At least, that’s how it is on my computer!) As I understand it, neither Works nor Word is officially part of any version of Windows, but Windows computers often come with one or the other of them pre-installed. Windows _does_ come with WordPad, a comparatively bare-bones word processor that can, IIRC, be used to open and view Word documents, but it doesn’t have nearly as many features as Word or the Works Word Processor. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/17 "2004-01-04T17:48:11Z")
The MS Works Suite 2004 does include MS Works and MS Word. I just checked the MS website. > [@](#): > > Works Suite 2004 gives you six popular Microsoft home products in one: Microsoft Works, Microsoft Word, and the latest versions of Microsoft Money Standard, Encarta standard, Streets & Trips, and Picture It! Photo Premium. The fun way to be more productive! For earlier versions of MS Works it might be different. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/18 "2004-01-04T17:50:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thudlow Boink \* > \*\*Hey, waitaminute! Are you sure this is true? \*\* I’ve oversimplified a bit. Works Suite 2004 includes the complete Word 2002 package. Absolutely identical. Works 7.0 has a dumbed-down version of Word 2002. It can save documents as Word files (.doc), and it can read Word files, but there are some features that it lacks, so there are some things in a Word document that wouldn’t operate properly when you bring that document into Works (I’m just guessing, here, but I’ll wager that something like a table of contents created with field codes wouldn’t update properly if you edited the document in Works, that kind of thing). I don’t remember offhand when they started including the full-blown Word application in the Works Suite, but I’m pretty sure I remember reading this at least a few years ago, so it’s probably been true for a couple of versions, anyway. Here’s [some info from Microsoft](http://www.microsoft.com/products/works/tips/article8.asp) on the subject. It’s sketchy, but you get the idea. I note, with interest, that the option to save a document in Word format indicates that Word97 through Word 2002 have the same file format, confirming one of my neck-sticking-out speculations earlier in this thread! ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-windows-xp/222521/19 "2004-01-04T18:32:01Z")
You might want to go here: [http://www.openoffice.org/](http://www.openoffice.org/) They put out a free Office suite that does just about all that MS Office does. It even looks a lot like Office. It uses its own file formats, but can read just about any office file you may get (unless someone got carried away with the formating.) It can also be set to save all of your work in MS formats so that you don’t have to think about it when you send a file to a friend. The latest versions also let you export and e-mail PDF files so that pretty much anyone can read the finished doc even if they can’t modify it anymore. It is FREE. You can download it and use it and give copies to anyone who wants it. If you are so inclined, you can get the source code and modify it and give that away, too. If you go this way, make sure to get the dictionaries. They are a seperate download.