Current Events > How to use Microsoft Word for free?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I thought it was free. My computer is asking me to sign in or sign up. Maybe something changed in all the time I haven't used it. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong.

I can't even type on a new blank document.

I don't think it was ever free.

IF you want a free alternative, Google Docs is a pretty safe bet.

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they let you use it free of charge after you pay the subscription fee

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buddhamonster posted...

IF you want a free alternative, Google Docs is a pretty safe bet.

Lmfao, no it isn't. If you're happy to work online-only ("with limited offline support that requires actively preparing for it every time") then you may as well go with the free online-only version of MS Office. Even then, the interface is different enough that - as someone who's competent enough with computing to develop my own games - I found Google Docs confusing to use at first.

If you want something that works the same way as traditional MS Office, but is free, look up LibreOffice. And if you're used to MS Office, you should have very little trouble adjusting to it.

Alternatively, if you have cloud storage with Dropbox or Google Drive or similar, consider a switch to OneDrive. OneDrive and MS Office subscriptions come as a package deal on most tiers. (Personally I also find OneDrive to be the best option in and of itself for cloud storage, but that's another discussion and many of my reasons are subjective.)

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There's MS Office online through Onedrive but it's really, really limited. If you want to do anything more than plain text like an essay it's not very helpful. I found Google Docs a lot better. Still not anywhere near as good as actual MS Office though.

But if you just want it for essays or something, Office online should be fine.

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I ended up using Google Docs. It's for a data sheet I have to fill out. This works fine.

I miss Word though.