Microsoft Word alternative?

I stupidly uninstalled my starter pack of office so does anyone have some good recommendations for free programs that can open .doc files properly and nice to use?

(wordpad is the worst)

@ItBeStefYo said:

I stupidly uninstalled my starter pack of office so does anyone have some good recommendations for free programs that can open .doc files properly and nice to use?

(wordpad is the worst)

http://www.openoffice.org/

You can get the live suite for free from microsoft, it comes with a word processor. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/essentials-other-programs

Google docs and open office are probably the two most popular alternatives for a full office suite though.

@Fattony12000 said:

@ItBeStefYo said:

I stupidly uninstalled my starter pack of office so does anyone have some good recommendations for free programs that can open .doc files properly and nice to use?

(wordpad is the worst)

http://www.openoffice.org/

@Kidavenger said:

You can get the live suite for free from microsoft, it comes with a word processor. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/essentials-other-programs

Google docs and open office are probably the two most popular alternatives for a full office suite though.

/thread

Google Docs fool...

I use Open Office.

@Fattony12000 said:

@ItBeStefYo said:

I stupidly uninstalled my starter pack of office so does anyone have some good recommendations for free programs that can open .doc files properly and nice to use?

(wordpad is the worst)

http://www.openoffice.org/

Came in here to say this. Open Office is what I use for everything I do. It's so much more functional and usable then Microsoft Office ever was for me.

Google Docs or Microsoft's online version of Word?

You can use Google Docs offline too, kinda. If you really want an offline solution then I guess your best bet is OpenOffice, I believe a new contender to the free Office suite space entered the fray recently but I forgot the name.

edit: I'm kinda dealing with this myself for my work/uni laptop, it's a toss up between the Mac version of Word (which is kind of gross) or Google Docs. I think I'll use Docs but worried about assignments not playing nice when my lecturers open them in Word for marking.

If you use Open Office remember to ALWAYS SAVE AS .DOC format.

@Sooty said:

edit: I'm kinda dealing with this myself for my work/uni laptop, it's a toss up between the Mac version of Word (which is kind of gross) or Google Docs. I think I'll use Docs but worried about assignments not playing nice when my lecturers open them in Word for marking.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/openofficeorg.mirror/files/localized/en-GB/3.4.1/Apache_OpenOffice_incubating_3.4.1_MacOS_x86_install_en-GB.dmg/download

Just... google docs, dude. Never email a document to yourself again.

Google Docs, if you have constant internet access. Its by far the best (though it has its share of quirky issues).

If you use OpenOffice, you should be using LibreOffice. Oracle has practically given up on OpenOffice after major contributors forked the project to become LibreOffice. Oracle started pissing off the community that actually make the product and so they split.

OpenOffice is great, but I personally prefer Google Docs.

On Windows I use Google Docs or old Microsoft Word 2003. On Mac I use IA Writer. I love minimalist text editors.

LibreOffice: https://www.libreoffice.org/

Why you shouldn't say "alternative": https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Alternative

Why you shouldn't use Google Docs: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html

I use Write Room on the mac. I believe the windows equivalent is called Kill The Lights. Other than that I use Pages or Goggle Docs. I really hate Open Office.

@predator said:

LibreOffice: https://www.libreoffice.org/

Why you shouldn't say "alternative": https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Alternative

Why you shouldn't use Google Docs: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html

+1 to LibreOffice. OpenOffice seems a little dead.

I use Write Room on the mac. I believe the windows equivalent is called Kill The Lights.

OpenOffice.

I'm in the Google Docs camp, but I've used Open Office, which is okay.

AbiWord isn't bad if you just want the word processor, used to use it to write professionally (freelancing all over the world!).

I also now teach courses in IT where students can use OpenOffice, it's capable of doing what you'll likely need from it. Though LibreOffice is the jazzier option.

Google Docs, LibreOffice

As I understand it, LibreOffice is the new jam as far as free office suites go, at least until Apache graduates the incubator project they are basing off of OpenOffice. I haven't actually used it myself though.

I used Open Office for a few months, but I noticed that the formatting of a document gets all screwed up when you save it as a Word compatible file. It was a bit of an inconvenience to my professors when they analyzed my assignments, so I switched to Google Docs. I eventually caved and got Office with the student discount.

I have OpenOffice on my computer, but I never use it because it is terrible, especially if you are somebody who uses word processors a lot.

@mosespippy said:

I use Write Room on the mac. I believe the windows equivalent is called Kill The Lights.

It's called DarkRoom, actually.

@Jrinswand said:

I have OpenOffice on my computer, but I never use it because it is terrible, especially if you are somebody who uses word processors a lot.

Yeah that shits fucking awful. I actually like Google Docs quite a bit and its useful for school as I do a lot of work at home then at the library or whatever. Also good for group work when that comes up.

Everyone suggestiong Open Office, no argument coming from this direction.