# Microsoft Word



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I had this program Microsoft Word on my XP and used it a lot. I can find nothing similar on my Windows 10; thus, I'm attempting to find it and download it.

What I'm finding for this program on the net is confusing. Can anyone direct me as to where I can get the "free" download of this "Microsoft Word" for Windows 10?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

motdaugrnds said:


> I had this program Microsoft Word on my XP and used it a lot. I can find nothing similar on my Windows 10; thus, I'm attempting to find it and download it.
> 
> What I'm finding for this program on the net is confusing. Can anyone direct me as to where I can get the "free" download of this "Microsoft Word" for Windows 10?


MS Word is a commercial product that's pretty expensive. There is no free version. That's why so many people settle for open source office products like OpenOffice and LibreOffice.

Of course there are always hot copies available by torrent download.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

motdaugrnds said:


> I had this program Microsoft Word on my XP and used it a lot. I can find nothing similar on my Windows 10; thus, I'm attempting to find it and download it.


Word or office is a payed product. If you work for a larger company that uses microsoft office you might be able to get an employee version for MUCH less than you can get it from a vendor. I dont use windows but my company has a deal for MS office for $25. If you have a kid in college you can get similar deals.

Or as Nevada says you cant a very similar free product such as openoffice, libreoffice.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

On Windows10 its called Office365, Word will be under it, however as other have said you have to pay for it.
Use OpenOffice or LibreOffice very similar and free!


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## Clem (Apr 12, 2016)

If you are referring to "WordPad" here are the directions to get to it in Windows 10.

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/wordpad-windows-10


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Clem said:


> If you are referring to "WordPad" here are the directions to get to it in Windows 10.
> 
> http://www.thewindowsclub.com/wordpad-windows-10


Feels like deja vu all over again. Didnt we cover this topic before? As Clem points out WordPad is in every version Windows including win10. They just hide it on win10 to encourage you to use their cloud/metro apps. Microsoft seems to have bet the farm on getting people into the cloud. Also with WordPad you can just make a shortcut on your windows desktop to call it up. Right click on desktop, choose to create shortcut, blah, blah, blah...

My suggestion is if you like WordPad, go here http://www.jarte.com/ and download the free version of Jarte. No spyware or trials or virus or anything. Use it forever for free. Install it. 

Jarte is a frontend for WordPad that adds quite a bit of functionality. Yes it uses the WordPad that is already installed on your computer only makes it into a more friendly and functional word processing program. If you dont need a full blown office suite, this actually works quite well without lot bloat. When installed you get icon on desktop, etc. If you dont like it, its simple to uninstall, doesnt put up any kind of fight or anything and leaves WordPad completely intact.

Oh and even with Jarte installed, you can still use WordPad per Clem's instructions just as Microsoft created it.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> My suggestion is if you like WordPad, go here http://www.jarte.com/ and download the free version of Jarte. No spyware or trials or virus or anything. Use it forever for free. Install it.


Not to be outdone my anyone else, Google has created Docs, Sheets, and Slides, which are three applications intended to provide the functionality of Word, Excel and PowerPoint respectively. They are free and automatically download to your computer when you install Google Drive, which is also free with your free gmail account. Those applications can also be accessed as web apps through a web browser.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Docs,_Sheets,_and_Slides

What do I use? Being the wicked backslider that I am, I use a pirated copy of Microsoft Office.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Nevada said:


> Google has created Docs, Sheets, and Slides


But those are web-based, which is a big step backward unless one actually needs to have their documents available online from anywhere, besides adding complexity the OP doesn't want or need. So, not really a viable solution for her.

@motdaugrnds, I'd second what others have already suggested: Just use Wordpad if it meets your needs; if it doesn't, then give Jarte a try.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

backwoodsman7 said:


> But those are web-based, which is a big step backward unless one actually needs to have their documents available online from anywhere, besides adding complexity the OP doesn't want or need. So, not really a viable solution for her.


Even when using the web version of Docs, you can always save your documents locally in your own computer. I don't know why web based applications are a step backwards. There are some business models that propose rudimentary internet appliances instead of a PC, where all applications are web apps. That approach hasn't gained much traction so far, but if it comes to pass then web apps could become a step forward.



backwoodsman7 said:


> @motdaugrnds, I'd second what others have already suggested: Just use Wordpad if it meets your needs; if it doesn't, then give Jarte a try.


Wordpad might make an acceptable replacement for Word, but it needs a spell checker. You can get a free spell checker for Wordpad here:

http://hcidesign.com/freespell/download.html


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Google docs also use up a lot of resources even when you're not using them. I always go in and turn them off. Stick with one of the freebies you download.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

mnn2501 said:


> Google docs also use up a lot of resources even when you're not using them. I always go in and turn them off. Stick with one of the freebies you download.


I never got that far. I already had MS Office, but when I installed Google Drive it automatically synced Docs, Sheets & Slides into my shared folder. Since I had no use for them and they were large, I deleted them.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Nevada said:


> Wordpad might make an acceptable replacement for Word, but it needs a spell checker. You can get a free spell checker for Wordpad here:
> 
> http://hcidesign.com/freespell/download.html


Jarte includes dictionaries and spell check, though auto correct as you type only available in paid version. Try it you might like it. In other words it makes WordPad into a true small word processing program.



> *General Features*
> 
> Fully compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10
> Tabbed interface to provide easy access to open documents
> ...





Also there is no such thing as "the Cloud", its just somebody else's computer. Having your info on somebody else's computer is inherently less secure. Makes you dependent on their security precautions and their hardware/software stability and ALWAYS having a secure fast connection to access it. In other words the downside of a Chromebook where your laptop is basically a dumb terminal (or thin client) for a mainframe.


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## Steve_S (Feb 25, 2015)

Also, any application that comes from the cloud will not serve you if your not connected to the internet. Having the application / programs installed on the local machine will ensure you can always use it whether you have the web or not.

IF you need an office suite with all the goodies, compatible with everything that won't hit your wallet, I suggest LibreOffice which is a branch of OpenOffice (just with extras & some advances). You can find out more about it here: https://www.libreoffice.org/


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Well I do appreciate all the information I'm getting here; however, my inquiry was about "Microsoft Word" not Wordpad, which I do have on this PC.

I did go over and download "Open Office" as it shows much of what I was using in Microsoft Word. So I'm guessing this need has been met, though I've not had much time to play with it...Will do so soon.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> Also there is no such thing as "the Cloud", its just somebody else's computer. Having your info on somebody else's computer is inherently less secure. Makes you dependent on their security precautions and their hardware/software stability and ALWAYS having a secure fast connection to access it.


I couldn't disagree more. I'm a HUGE advocate of keeping important files on a remote server. I'll go so far as to say that it's foolish not to.

I use Google Drive for all of my user files. I have even edited the default path in MS Word to automatically save to the \documents folder on Google Drive. The objective is to have a way to recover my user files in the event of a drive failure, which happens to all of us eventually. With user files on Google Drive, simply reinstalling Google Drive will download all of your user files onto the new drive or computer. With 15gb of free cloud storage at Google Drive, there's no reason to not do it.

Of course some of your files will be sensitive, or at least private. Probably the most sensitive file I maintain is my passwords file, which contains login information for dozens of websites, including bank and credit card accounts. It would be a disaster for that information to be compromised, but it would also be a disaster for me to lose that file. To protect sensitive data on Google Drive I encrypt it (it's actually "hashed" to be precise) using a free application called AxCrypt. The encryption is strong to the point where there is no computer in existence today that could break the encryption within a human lifetime, making it virtually impossible to break.

https://www.axcrypt.net/

It's simple to use. After installing, simply right-click on a file you wish to encrypt and select AxCrypt. Enter a password and you're done. You can also require an encryption key file to open an AxCrypt file, but password protection is usually satisfactory for personal use.

To make my passwords file unattractive to compromise I don't call it passwords.txt. Instead I call it warranty.txt. A warranty seems important enough to encrypt, but not interesting enough for a hacker to waste his time on.

Not having Internet service isn't really an issue. Since files reside in both your computer and at Google Drive, you have full access to your user files when Internet service is down. Your changes will be automatically duplicated at Google Drive when Internet service is restored.

If you lose your hard drive drive and didn't keep your user files at Google Drive, don't come crying to me. You've been warned. Honestly, this topic is important enough that it deserves it's own thread.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

If you make all your password = Password1 you wouldn't have to worry about that file ------ just kidding.

I have a spreadsheet with my important passwords, I print it out, then delete it from my computer. Its also in a code only my wife and I know. I redo it every year or so.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

mnn2501 said:


> If you make all your password = Password1 you wouldn't have to worry about that file ------ just kidding.
> 
> I have a spreadsheet with my important passwords, I print it out, then delete it from my computer. Its also in a code only my wife and I know. I redo it every year or so.


But there's still the issue of user files. That's all of your documents and photos, and a lot more. Most of us feel as though our entire lives are on a hard drive. If it's all lost, it's a dark day in our lives. But it doesn't have to be that way. Simply store your user files in a cloud folder, like Google Drive.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

I use an external hard drive for my storage of important files, 3 TB.


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

What Microsoft did to its office products in the last few years makes them almost unusable. Just when you get into a pattern of how you do things and become efficient, they didn't just change it, they actually SCRAMBLED the menu's so you can't find anything.
The internet has complaints all over it.. 

What used to take one or two clicks, now takes five or six clicks. Common menu items have been buried under menu's and sub menus and camouflaged within endless and useless options.

I stopped using Microsoft office for this reason alone.. If they want to make one tiny change here and there, I have no problems.. but what they did cost me thousands of dollars in lost productivity.

Find something else to use..


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

no really said:


> I use an external hard drive for my storage of important files, 3 TB.


Sure, you can do that. I just find it easier to work in the shared Google Drive folder that's automatically duplicated. I don't think about it, and it's all saved.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Nevada said:


> Sure, you can do that. I just find it easier to work in the shared Google Drive folder that's automatically duplicated. I don't think about it, and it's all saved.


I don't think about it either, I just do it and it's saved. Usable on any computer as it's portable. No muss, no fuss. Using any cloud program is to time consuming on a slow connection and if it's metered it can get interesting.


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## Pschmidt (Dec 31, 2017)

Since I went back college, I've had to download their Office365 to do some of the things required. I hate it! Turns on all the time and bogs down my computer. When school is out, I delete the program because it's annoying to always having to turn it off. Multiple times I have went it and set the program to disable, it turns on anyways. Plus, as others have said, they changed it so much that I spend my time looking for things in the program that it just makes me angry. Why can't they keep something that works and leave it alone? (rant off)

I have LibraOffice downloaded on both my desktop and laptop and prefer using that when all possible. Way more user friendly, and I don't have to constantly turn off programs Office turned on (hello, I'm talking to you Microsoft Office Click-to-run and Runtime Broker! you jerk that freezes my computer the most). I would be less angry at it if it was running ONLY when I was actually using that product. Shouldn't complain if it was free from the university, but gonna anyways.

I've got a year left of school and will do everything within my power to NOT have to download that mess that is Office365. Big votes for LibraOffice!


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Pschmidt said:


> I've had to download their Office365 to do some of the things required. I hate it!


In the interest of full disclosure, I still use Office 2007. I could get any version I want, but 2007 agrees with me. While not officially supported, when I first install Office 2007, Windows updates pulls in about 3GB of service packs, security updates, and compatibility upgrades. It can handle docx files from the newest releases.

Office 2007 just agrees with me.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Absolutely nothing to do with much of anything anybody has posted. But I got curious how well Jarte would work under WINE on linux. This since it is so robust and friendly on windows. WINE comes with its version WordPad included so Jarte uses that. Actually I got interested in the PORTABLE version of Jarte on the PORTABLE version of WINE. Yes it can work without installing a thing. There are some tricks such as setting it to wrap to window rather than wrap to page. Jarte 6.2 portable works ok. But somebody had posted older Jarte 3.0 is more stable in WINE. Couldnt find portable version of 3.0, so fully installed it in WINE. It is more stable, same need to wrap to window if you want to see what you are typing.

This was just curiosity, my version of Puppy Linux came with LibreOffice which is really way to go in Linux, and has its own Geany word processing program, lighter duty, like WordPad with Jarte, maybe not quite as complete as Jarte. And there is even Leafpad that that is pretty much like bare bones WordPad. Only difference, LibreOffice takes just wee bit longer to load. So for most people sure thats enough. LibreOffice is quite nice, linux or windows version.

The only real possible reason to want to run Jarte in WINE would be if both are portable versions and you keep them on something like usb key. Done like this, you could run same portable Jarte on nearly any Windows or Linux computer with no pain.


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