A free word process program?

DKM · Jan 24, 2011

Okay, I'm biased against Bill Gates.

I brought a lap top for not much more than what Mr. Gates wants for his MS Word program. I hate to admit it, but MS Word (2007 version) is a nice program. I've been unemployed for way to long to go out and fork over the dough to Bill. Does he really need it that bad? I don't think so.

For a couple of months I was using Open Office. During this time I loved Open Office. It worked just fine, but now seems unstable - the spell check goes and come back on while I'm writing somethin. Yes, I've clicked the spell check boxes at the top & will intentionally misspell a word. Nothin.

Now, Open Office doesn't want to save a document; it will disappear or say not in the file - there's a ghost of what I did write.

MS Works is okay, but I've found issues w/ sending MS Work attachments over the internet. It's more stable, thou.

Am I stuck w/ MS Works?

All comments welcome.

DKM

Summonere · Jan 24, 2011

You could try AbiWord.

It's free, can be run in Windows, Linux, and Mac, seems to offer a reasonable set of tools, though it's prone to unexpectedly crashing in Linux, at least my version of it.

Drice · Jan 24, 2011

Reinstall Windows and/or Open Office. If OO worked before, seems that something has become corrupt. Reinstalling could fix the problem.

Disclaimer: I use a Mac but that's often what I did to "fix" problems on PCs when I worked in IT.

monkey see monkey do · Jan 24, 2011

Yes, Abiword. There's also LibreOffice (RC).

RJK · Jan 24, 2011

I'd be looking at your hardware, too. If you paid much less than $200 for a laptop, It is either used (read old), or suspiciously cheap. I've always found that you get what you pay for in this world. Try running some diagnostics on your hard drive, chkdsk, Defrag, etc.

Downloading a new version of Open Office wouldn't hurt either.

muddy_shoes · Jan 24, 2011

I agree with the suggestions to try a reinstall if you're happy with OpenOffice.

Other options are Lotus Symphony if you want the full-blown office suite, or FocusWriter if you want most of the Word functions, or there are more streamlined "no bells and whistles" alternatives like ImmersEd and WriteMonkey. Oh, and Google Docs if you like the idea of writing wherever there's a browser.

Moonbase · Jan 24, 2011

If you are used to and happy with »full-fledged« word processors, I’d also recommend OpenOffice (3.2.0 or 3.2.1). Contrary to your experience, OO runs quite stable in most installations. As has been said, by all means check your OS installation, maybe do some cleanup and run a virus scanner on it. Installing a recent version of Oracle’s Java Runtime might also be a good thing (Version 6, Update 23 is the current version).

AbiWord is about the next step below OO—a pure word processing application with all needed features. Also quite stable, small footprint, and free.

Personally, I try out lots of other stuff, but usually also come back to OO Writer. Partly because I also use the OO suite for other business work, partly because I also run OO on two of my Linux machines. It’s great if you can swap machines and just work on, same look and feel all over. I also have a portable OO installation (plus my WIP) on my USB stick, so I can even work on friends’ computers without having to install stuff or modifying their registry.

Then again, it’s all about writing content, right? Many fellow writers are very happy with minimalist text writing applications like Notepad++, WordPad, FocusWriter, The Guide, Keynote NF, yWriter, or the like. Those are less error-prone and less distractive. All a matter of personal preference, I guess.

Good luck in getting you back to successful writing!

fireluxlou · Jan 24, 2011

If you like Open Office I'd get Star Office it's pay for counterpart. I get it free due to going to the Open University but it is much more stable and less laggy than Open Office.

Williebee · Jan 24, 2011

And, there's always Google Docs.

muddy_shoes · Jan 24, 2011

fireluxlou said:
If you like Open Office I'd get Star Office it's pay for counterpart. I get it free due to going to the Open University but it is much more stable and less laggy than Open Office.

Star Office is now Oracle Open Office. I'm not sure what versions you were comparing, but both Star Office and Oracle Open Office are the same underlying code with some additional features and commercial packaging and support. I've never heard any claim that they've made any performance improvements and Oracle actually says that "At the core, binary level, there are no differences."

fireluxlou · Jan 24, 2011

muddy_shoes said:
Star Office is now Oracle Open Office. I'm not sure what versions you were comparing, but both Star Office and Oracle Open Office are the same underlying code with some additional features and commercial packaging and support. I've never heard any claim that they've made any performance improvements and Oracle actually says that "At the core, binary level, there are no differences."

I have 9.0 Weird 'cause I always thought Open Office was slightly slower compared to Star Office.

DKM · Jan 25, 2011

Excellent posts all of em. Thanks everyone. I now have some options.

Matera the Mad · Jan 26, 2011

One more option -- not a recommendation, because I haven't tried it, but an option, anyway -- http://www.libreoffice.org/

Close relative of OO, I think.

ETA: System requirements and Installation info

Moonbase · Jan 26, 2011

Thanks for mentioning it, Matera the Mad!

As per release 3.3.0 (2011-01-25), LibreOffice is actually »the better OpenOffice«. Most of the original OpenOffice development team have changed over to the Document Foundation, forked OpenOffice, and keep on developing and improving it, thereby freeing it from Oracle’s influence.

As of now, I recommend LibreOffice over OpenOffice, and actually start training it. The new release has more features and bugfixes than the current OO release candidate. All your OO documents as well as extensions and plug-ins can be interchanged without problem. LibreOffice is backed by many »Big Ones« of the industry and included in many Linux distros now.

BradCarsten · Jan 26, 2011

I agree with the above posts, if openoffice is unstable its got something to do with your pc, not oo. If you really want to stick it to bill, (or should I say steve ballmer), you should switch to ubuntu It just works- I installed it 3 years ago and have not looked back. Its stable, easier to use, no worry about viruses and free

PinkAmy · Jan 27, 2011

I love Bill Gates--he's given so much to charity.

I hate PC's, which is why I got a mac when my PC died last year. It's true what they say, once you go mac, you never go back. I use BEAN. I wish it had better spell check, but other than that the price is right.

BradCarsten · Jan 27, 2011

PinkAmy said:
I love Bill Gates--he's given so much to charity.
.

I agree, Bill Gates is great. micro$oft on the other hand, I have no time for

JimmyB27 · Jan 27, 2011

yWriter rocks. And it's made by an AWer.

BradCarsten · Jan 27, 2011

JimmyB27 said:
yWriter rocks. And it's made by an AWer.

Iv never heard of ywriter before... but if an Awer wrote it, it must be good

JimmyB27 · Jan 27, 2011

ave said:
Iv never heard of ywriter before... but if an Awer wrote it, it must be good

Created by our Aussie friend Spacejock. Designed for writers, by a writer. Lets you split up your work by chapter and by scene, but still export it as one document. I really like it. Some people don't. You can get it here

BradCarsten · Jan 27, 2011

looks interesting- can you export it as .doc, or does it use its own native format.

JimmyB27 · Jan 27, 2011

It exports to .rtf, which is universal - pretty much anything can read an rtf file. It's what all the smart agents and editors ask for.

fireluxlou · Jan 27, 2011

Something that is not free but is a very good program is http://www.mynovel.biz/ I used to use it a lot. Reviews: http://download.cnet.com/MyNovel/3000-2279_4-10726651.html

ejket · Jan 27, 2011

Moonbase said:
As of now, I recommend LibreOffice over OpenOffice

So do I. I've been using LibreOffice quite often on both Mac and Linux for a month or so, and I'm happy with it.

BradCarsten · Jan 27, 2011

ejket said:
So do I. I've been using LibreOffice quite often on both Mac and Linux for a month or so, and I'm happy with it.

Librioffice is still a relatively new break away of OO, so im surprised there is any difference?

A free word process program?

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