New MBP, how do I type a Word document without having Word

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I made the switch to a MBP and all is well apart from one issue.

Here is the problem, I have a essay I need to type then print on my MBP as I would of done previously in Word on my old PC. I did not get the Office applications when I purchased my laptop

As I am a complete newbie to the world of Apple (but would now never look back ;P I have no idea how or if I have an application I can use to finish my essay then print it off.

As this is due in tomorrow:Angry: and im now getting desperate is there any applications in the Mac OS X software that I can use as Word or notepad even???

Thanks for your help x
 

vansmith

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You can use OpenOffice, which comes highly recommended by others and myself. It's free and should get the job done for you (I should know, I went through 4 years of undergrad using it).

Note that by default, it doesn't save in the Office format and saves in the OpenDocument format. So, if you want to send this to someone else, you will have to explicitly choose the MS Office format when you save the document.
 
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You can use OpenOffice, which comes highly recommended by others and myself. It's free and should get the job done for you (I should know, I went through 4 years of undergrad using it).

Note that by default, it doesn't save in the Office format and saves in the OpenDocument format. So, if you want to send this to someone else, you will have to explicitly choose the MS Office format when you save the document.

Vansmith, you have saved my life, many thanks, now where is that red bull as Its going to be a long night :Blushing:
 
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Yeah I use OpenOffice too. Thank God, I didn't spend so much on Microsoft Office as it works good enough for me :)
 
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Or Neo Office. Just as good.
 
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OpenOffice.org will certainly work, but I also think it's worth mentioning that TextEdit (in your Applications folder) is capable of doing what you'd like. It's perhaps not quite as good for writing long papers, but it can save files in Word format (both .doc and .docx) and OpenDocument Text format (.odt), the standard used by OpenOffice Writer. Even though it looks pretty simple when you open it–just a step up from Notepad–it's actually quite powerful, with many basic formatting options as well as some more advanced text-editing features like kerning and ligature. I recommend learning to use it. It might help you out in the future: you could finish writing a quick note for yourself in the time it takes for OpenOffice Writer or Microsoft Word to open.
 

chscag

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To nabl:

Could you explain how you can save a file as *.DOC, *.DOCX, and *.ODT with TextEdit? As far as I know, it can only save in text format (.txt) and rich text (.rtf).

Regards.
 

vansmith

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Could you explain how you can save a file as *.DOC, *.DOCX, and *.ODT with TextEdit? As far as I know, it can only save in text format (.txt) and rich text (.rtf).
(S)he's right. TextEdit lists rtf, rtfd, html, web archives, odt, docx, doc and "Word 2003 XML Format" as types that a document can be saved as. Now, whether each format is fully supported is beyond me.
 

chscag

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(S)he's right. TextEdit lists rtf, rtfd, html, web archives, odt, docx, doc and "Word 2003 XML Format" as types that a document can be saved as. Now, whether each format is fully supported is beyond me.

Interesting. The help file indeed says that the above is true. That's what I get for not reading the help! :) I just read through the preferences which only list text and rtf as formats for saving. :(

I guess when you open a *.DOC with TextEdit and edit it, you will then be given a choice of saving it as *.DOC. Handy to know. Looks like TextEdit can do quite a bit. Kind of reminds me of the original WordPad WP processor that MS included with some versions of Windows.

Thanks for the info.

Regards.
 
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Neo office is also very good too , it's like open office but with a mac look & feel , and it's a Nativ application so much faster !!
 
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I guess when you open a *.DOC with TextEdit and edit it, you will then be given a choice of saving it as *.DOC. Handy to know. Looks like TextEdit can do quite a bit. Kind of reminds me of the original WordPad WP processor that MS included with some versions of Windows.

In addition to opening and saving existing .doc files and the like, you should be able to choose the format of your choice for any new document. Just use the File→Save As... menu command (or ⇧⌘S), and there will be a drop-down menu to choose from.

textedit_saveas.png
 

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