Cheap word processing software

[thirdcrank]

It's very rare these days that I need to send a word processed letter. In the past, I've used MS WordPad but now it wants me to buy MS Word before it will let me print it.

Can anybody recommend cheap basic word processing software? (Notepad is too basic.) Or a legal way to print from WordPad that I've missed?

[Si]

I use Open Office - it's free, and mostly works OK.

[al_yrpal]

Google Docs? Freebie…

Al

[thirdcrank]

To save me from downloading a dodgy version, safe links would be handy.

[bovlomov]

I use LibreOffice on Linux, but it is also available for Windows. Open Source and free. Of course they ask for a donation.

This is a link. There might be others.

I'm reasonably happy with it, but I couldn't say how it compares with the other free options.

[thirdcrank]

I use Open Office - it's free, and mostly works OK.

I'e successfully downloaded and used this on the basis that it was the first reply. I'm grateful to everybody who has replied. I'm experiencing a fair amount of stress just now, and in that situation, the toast always lands maramalade down, so the response here has been very helpful

[bovlomov]

I use Open Office - it's free, and mostly works OK.

I'e successfully downloaded and used this on the basis that it was the first reply. I'm grateful to everybody who has replied. I'm experiencing a fair amount of stress just now, and in that situation, the toast always lands maramalade down, so the response here has been very helpful

Installing new software is usually guaranteed to add stress to any situation. I hope, in this case, it has all gone smoothly.

[thirdcrank]

.... Installing new software is usually guaranteed to add stress to any situation. I hope, in this case, it has all gone smoothly.

Eventually. Just as the first attempt at downloading was getting there, I received a call from the company that triggered the stress. I was so busy dealing with that that the anti virus decided to block the download so I had to try again. All's well that ends well. Thanks for your concern.

[mercalia]

these people -Softmaker

https://www.freeoffice.com/en/freeoffice-textmaker for a free suite and their paid version dont cost much either

Softmaker is a German company and I have in the past bought their nice office packages that are very compatible with MS Office.

if you want to buy ( £60-90 for a whole suite)

https://www.softmaker.com/en/

A very nice company - they took overeeing the Thunderbird email client ( used to be Mozilla Firefox ) that is even more important now that Windows 10 email client is so naff

[al_yrpal]

I used to use Open Office, then Libre Office but since my main device has become an Android tablet with Google Office suite and Google Drive its all become simpler and less hassle. Everything I write immediately becomes accessible on my phone and Chromebook. Its all free too.

[661-Pete]

I believe Libre Office was an offshoot of Open Office designed for more recent OS's (Windows 7 and up). We have both: I use OpenOffice on my creaky old XP, whilst Mrs P (who does a lot more writing than I do) uses LibreOffice on the Win10 machine. I can strongly recommend both of them.

One big plus for OpenOffice: you can see at once if you've modified an open file (look for the 'save' button on the toolbar - if it's greyed-out you haven't made any changes yet). A useful feature which wasn't in MS Office - at least not last time I used that (before I retired).