I need a word processor...

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My macbook that I purchased around a month ago didn't come with a comprehensive word processor, only TextEdit, which would be sufficient in theory, (I'm a college student and just need it for typing papers, notes, and maybe some light graphing) but it's just too small and I don't like it. I've tried all of the free word processors that I could find: NeoOffice, OpenOffice, Bean, Abiword, etc. I didn't like any of them.

So my question is, which word processor do you use? What do you like about it? Is it free, or did you buy it? I'm considering purchasing one, but can't fathom laying down 200 bucks for Word or buying the entire iWork package. What are your thoughts and recommendations?
 
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If you have any older Mac OS's around, you could try Appleworks. (Panther and older) If not, check Ebay for iWork. Might be the cheapest way to go.
 
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batsy
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If you have any older Mac OS's around, you could try Appleworks. (Panther and older) If not, check Ebay for iWork. Might be the cheapest way to go.

I don't have any copies of Appleworks, but I could probably find it on eBay. What's the latest version of it, and do you recommend it?

I don't think I'd want to buy iWork...way too many programs I'd never use.
 
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I use iWork.

Appleworks is a collection of software just like iWork and MS Office. It's discontinued so you won't find any new updates or anything.
 
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batsy
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I use iWork.

Appleworks is a collection of software just like iWork and MS Office. It's discontinued so you won't find any new updates or anything.

Oh, I didn't know that.

Guess I'll try to find a cheaper iWork somewhere. I wish Word wasn't so expensive.
 
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I'd warmly recommend AppleWorks. The fact that it's been discontinued in no way makes it unworkable. There are a lot of formatting options available. My only minor reservation is that it seems a trifle 'clunky' in comparison to Word. AppleWorks 6.2.9 was the last edition. Apple - Support - Search
 

cwa107


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May I ask what features you found lacking in NeoOffice/OpenOffice? I've yet to find anything that I use in Office 2003 (for Windows) that are lacking in those suites. In fact, the look and feel of OpenOffice's Wordprocessor is much closer to what I'm used to with Word 2003 than the Mac versions of Microsoft Office (both 2003 and 2008).
 
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May I ask what features you found lacking in NeoOffice/OpenOffice? I've yet to find anything that I use in Office 2003 (for Windows) that are lacking in those suites. In fact, the look and feel of OpenOffice's Wordprocessor is much closer to what I'm used to with Word 2003 than the Mac versions of Microsoft Office (both 2003 and 2008).

I agree. The latest OpenOffice is stellar in my opinion!
 
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Oh, I didn't know that.

Guess I'll try to find a cheaper iWork somewhere. I wish Word wasn't so expensive.
we paid $70 for Office at my wifes university.
 
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I use NeoOffice (even became a fan of them on Facebook lol) and the awesome program has not failed me yet!
 
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I use OpenOffice 3.0, which is now native, and similar to NeoOffice.

For a couple of other choices (not free, but very powerful and user friendly), consider:

Nisus Writer Pro

or the cheaper version, Nisus Writer Express

and for the best in terms of multiple-language (especially RLF) support, superb styles, and multiple note streams.
Mellel
 
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batsy
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May I ask what features you found lacking in NeoOffice/OpenOffice? I've yet to find anything that I use in Office 2003 (for Windows) that are lacking in those suites. In fact, the look and feel of OpenOffice's Wordprocessor is much closer to what I'm used to with Word 2003 than the Mac versions of Microsoft Office (both 2003 and 2008).

It's not that I found any features lacking, the program just didn't seem to work right on my machine. When I would change the default font to say, Times New Roman, that font wouldn't show up until I restarted the program and instead, the words would be in a strange unknown machine-like font. It seemed to be full of bugs and was also very slow to work with.

That was NeoOffice. I'm going to try OpenOffice again (it didn't work the first time I tried to open it).
 

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