A reader wants to find a new Word Processor:
“The tech guy I had install the new hard drive wasn’t able to retrieve the old Word program I was using. I loved it but it was old. Any suggestions for a good one (don’t like WordPad)?”
If you don’t mind using word online in a browser, you can use it for free. All you need is a browser and an Internet connection. You can use it on PCs, Macs, Linux, or Chromebooks and it works with just about every browser.
If you you have a Microsoft email address (outlook.com, hotmail.com, msn.com, livemail.com) just open your Outlook inbox on line and click that square of squares in the upper left corner.
The apps will pop out in a side panel.
Or go to http://www.office.com. Log in with your Microsoft account or quickly create a free Microsoft account.
Here’s what the interface for Office looks like.
You have Word, Excel, PowerPoint, online Outlook, OneDrive, and OneNote. Just click any app to open.
You an create new documents, spreadsheets, and presentaitons.
Or upload existing ones from your computer to edit.
Documents will be saved in your OneDrive but you can always download them.
Plus, you can access documents from any computer you happen to be using. If you don’t have a home computer, you could use online Office at the library or at a friend’s house.
You can also use Office for free on your iPhone, iPad, Android phone, or Android tablet.
If you prefer a program that you download and install, I suggest OpenOffice or LibreOffice.
OpenOfficeand LibreOffice. Both programs are free, open source, and offer features comparable to Microsoft Office. Not only can you create new documents and spreadsheets, both of these programs will also allow you to open and edit Office documents.
Since all of these programs are free, it can’t hurt to give them a try to see which one works best for you.