Free Word Processing Application?

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i'm about to start school tomorrow, and i realized i don't have a decent word processing application.

i also don't have money to throw away on one...
help?

what's a good word processing application that i can get for free?
i'm planning on using it for taking notes in my classes.

all help is very much appreciated.
-Loren
 
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TextEdit comes with OS X. If all you are doing is taking notes with it, it would work fine.
You could also type a paper with it and it would turn out fine... I've done it several times before.
 
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NeoOffice is almost exactly like MS Office and its free, check it out
 

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Like DB said you can use Textedit for basic word processing. If you need more there is NeoOffice like was posted and AbiWord. AbiWord is just a Word Processor and not a full office suite like NeoOffice. Give them all a try and see what you like.
 
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NeoOffice is great. That's what I use. It's a free, open-source office suite with its own versions of MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, in case you need any of those, too. Also, it's completely compatible with MS Office formats (like .doc and even the new .docx).

Like mentioned above, if you don't want a full office program, and just a word processor, AbiWord is pretty good.
 
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i also don't have money to throw away on one...
Although there are good, free word processors out there, I have to wonder...if you're in school, shouldn't a good word processor be worth the $100 or so it costs? I mean, you already spent a thousand bucks or so on the computer, you're probably spending thousands more on tuition...how would it be "throwing away" money to buy something basic like a word processor?

Kids these days....
 
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Although there are good, free word processors out there, I have to wonder...if you're in school, shouldn't a good word processor be worth the $100 or so it costs? I mean, you already spent a thousand bucks or so on the computer, you're probably spending thousands more on tuition...how would it be "throwing away" money to buy something basic like a word processor?

Kids these days....

Because unless it's really necessary for compatibility reasons (which is most often true only in a corporate business setting) a product like Microsoft Office can replaced by a free alternative that's just as good. So if you really don't need to spend the money, why should you? I've used MS Office for Mac before, and I can say I much prefer NeoOffice. I'm glad it's around, because I found MS Office for Mac slow to load, laggy, and as bug-ridden as any Microsoft product. Any open-source program will generally be of very high quality, and--though not necessarily as feature-ridden--more stable than the commercial product, because the source code is there for millions of programmers across the globe to scan through and assure its doing what its supposed to do the best it can. I'm a university student, and NeoOffice has met and surpassed my needs. I have high hopes for OpenOffice.org's native Mac release when it's ready, as well as Lotus Symphony. I have no need for MS Office again, and until iWork offers me a lot more for the dollar, I'll stick with my free, open-source alternatives.

If I were in a corporate setting where complete compatibility was a necessity, then my needs would be different, but being able save as .doc is really all the compatibility I need right now. So don't chalk it up to being cheap by saying "kids these days..." Honestly, it's not like illegally downloading music or movies; we're talking about quality, open-source applications that offer just as much as the commercial product (for most people's needs) and just happen to be free. What's the problem? Should I spend the $100 anyway?
 
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Kuwisdelu makes an excellent point. I work in an office, using Pages to create my reports. Saving them in .Doc format, and my email recipients don't even know I am not using Office.

NeoOffice is also a great program, if you need a standard office suite.

If you feel the need to get Microsoft Office, you won't be disappointed either. In your case, it is not necessity.

iWork 08 has a trial download for thirty-days, give it a try, and see if you like it.
NeoOffice is free, download it, and give it a try.
 
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I prefer NeoOffice over iWork as it is free, and very good too.
 
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Because unless it's really necessary for compatibility reasons (which is most often true only in a corporate business setting) a product like Microsoft Office can replaced by a free alternative that's just as good. So if you really don't need to spend the money, why should you? I've used MS Office for Mac before, and I can say I much prefer NeoOffice. I'm glad it's around, because I found MS Office for Mac slow to load, laggy, and as bug-ridden as any Microsoft product. Any open-source program will generally be of very high quality, and--though not necessarily as feature-ridden--more stable than the commercial product, because the source code is there for millions of programmers across the globe to scan through and assure its doing what its supposed to do the best it can. I'm a university student, and NeoOffice has met and surpassed my needs. I have high hopes for OpenOffice.org's native Mac release when it's ready, as well as Lotus Symphony. I have no need for MS Office again, and until iWork offers me a lot more for the dollar, I'll stick with my free, open-source alternatives.

If I were in a corporate setting where complete compatibility was a necessity, then my needs would be different, but being able save as .doc is really all the compatibility I need right now. So don't chalk it up to being cheap by saying "kids these days..." Honestly, it's not like illegally downloading music or movies; we're talking about quality, open-source applications that offer just as much as the commercial product (for most people's needs) and just happen to be free. What's the problem? Should I spend the $100 anyway?

I am not advocating the purchase of MS Word or any other individual product. There are many other products, including Pages and NisusWriter, that are worthy of consideration, as well.

I would not have any objection to a student who said, "I'm a student and would prefer to spend as little as possible." I do question the priorities of someone who considers paying for something as basic as a word processor to be "throwing money away."

As it happens, I have both NeoOffice and MS Office 2004 on my Mac at the moment. In my experience, these two products compete vigorously for the titles of "Slowest load time," "Buggiest software" and "most non-standard UI." Usually, NeoOffice wins all three (but at least it's free.)
 
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I am not advocating the purchase of MS Word or any other individual product. There are many other products, including Pages and NisusWriter, that are worthy of consideration, as well.

I would not have any objection to a student who said, "I'm a student and would prefer to spend as little as possible." I do question the priorities of someone who considers paying for something as basic as a word processor to be "throwing money away."

As it happens, I have both NeoOffice and MS Office 2004 on my Mac at the moment. In my experience, these two products compete vigorously for the titles of "Slowest load time," "Buggiest software" and "most non-standard UI." Usually, NeoOffice wins all three (but at least it's free.)

I see what you mean as far as semantics go, but to me spending money on something that's unnecessary (or made unnecessary by the availability of an alternative) seems quite equivalent to throwing it away.

NeoOffice has loaded faster for me always, and maybe my use just differs, but I've yet to experience any bugs, so it works for me, and I prefer it. When something offers me a much better experience than the free alternatives, then I won't see it as throwing money away anymore. For example, I'd have no problem buying iWork if it supported OpenDocument formats, the world was on an OpenDocument standard, and provided much better functionality than NeoOffice, but it's not quite there yet for me.
 
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you guys are fun.

i said throwing money away in a hurry.
it's obviously not getting thrown away,
but i would still hold firm the idea that with plenty of free (and perfectly legal) applications out there, it is wasteful.

technologist, i'm operating on an extremely tight budget.
i'm at a community college, i'm a 19 year old independent,
and i was lucky enough to get a fee waiver from my school.
my tuition is literally $35 for the semester.

the macbook that i'm typing this out on right now was a present.
a hundred dollar program means eating even less ramen noodles, potatoes, and plain rice than i already have the pleasure of enduring.
(thank god for my orange tree!)

i'll take the free app any day.
;P

but seriously, thank you, everyone, for all of your suggestions.
i'm going to try them all out.
 
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Definately try out neooffice, you won't need anything else...
 
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You should also check out Abiword, a free open source word processor. Abiword is a mature stable product offering, originally from the Linux world (it is part of Gnome Office). There is a native Mac port.

Get Abiword at:

www.abisource.org

I have used Abiword for some time, on and off. It is not as MS-Word compatible as NeoOffice, but it is MUCH faster! Abiword DOES read and write MS-Word format however.
 

eric


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Kids these days....

when i went to school i got my word processor for free.

it was called my parents' IBM typewriter. ;)

although i did have to purchase my notepad "apps" one at a time for between about 1 and 5 bucks. ;P
 
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when i went to school i got my word processor for free.

it was called my parents' IBM typewriter. ;)

although i did have to purchase my notepad "apps" one at a time for between about 1 and 5 bucks. ;P
When I was in school, I didn't have an electronic typewriter. I had to use my Dad's 50 year old Smith-Corona manual typewriter that weighed like 500 lbs if I needed to type a paper at home.
I didn't actually have a computer at home until I graduated from high-school.
 
OP
Loricybin
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i'll buy your ancient typewriter.
typewriters are fun.
 

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