May I have a Word with you techies here?

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by AX17609

The Home and Student version of Office is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. That’s the whole point. Pages is fine, but I find Numbers unsatisfactory.

I stand corrected. However, it’s still $100+ that I found I didn’t need to spend.

[renoslim]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Another possibility is the Open Source (free) Libre Office:

https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help...l-howto/macos/

I have used it on my PC for years, done college term papers with it, various professional documents, etc. It can read and write MS Office format for Word and Excel. If there are macros involved in the MS Office documents, it likely won't handle those, but for general use it works fine.

The link is for the Mac version since that is what the OP asked about.

Tony

I recommend this...

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by dirkronk

my version of Microsoft Word (which is probably from 2011 or 2013).

Well, I think you got your money's worth, then. Even back when buying "static" software was the model, there was still an expectation that it wouldn't last forever and you'd have to upgrade at some point. So it shouldn't be a surprise that you might have to spend a bit now.

Lots here have pointed out good low/one-time/free options. I use Open Office on Windows and Google Docs myself. All should handle basic Word docs. If you don't have macros, complicated formatting etc. you should be fine, and if you need to fix up any mangled formatting, well, consider that as part of the price.

[dirkronk]

Wow! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!

Posted this yesterday afternoon, got busy with making dinner and then NBA playoffs, and I return to find a LOT of info...all of it good to know. I will dive into the various options.

Google might be a good fit, since I've used Gmail for about a decade and have some other Google interface thingies on both iMac and iPhone. But the Pages option may also be an easy transition.

Truth is, I'm mainly concerned with text, not formatting...with a couple of exceptions:
1. A fair number of my Word documents hold embedded images (photos, layouts of old ads I've done) that I don't want to lose. As long as an alternative word processing program doesn't drop those, I'd be 90% home.
2. Most text is in Times New Roman, which is pretty common, but a few documents (e.g., my corporate invoices and memos, as well as a lot of lyrics/chords in song files) utilize fonts that are native to Word but may not be supported by other word processing software (American Typewriter, Copperplate Gothic, etc.). Not a huge factor: I'm used to the look, spacing, etc., but I could probably adapt to other options pretty easily.
3. Not very many documents with complex charts. Most old radio and TV spots are written in side-by-side cell formats that I imagine most of the freebie options would support.

I mention the above to clarify my main concerns with a switch. If you see something that warrants concern, let me know please.

You've given me a lot to research. Again, thanks to everyone who posted. Your help is much appreciated. (I do love this forum...)

Cheers,
Dirk

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by dirkronk

Wow! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!

Posted this yesterday afternoon, got busy with making dinner and then NBA playoffs, and I return to find a LOT of info...all of it good to know. I will dive into the various options.

Google might be a good fit, since I've used Gmail for about a decade and have some other Google interface thingies on both iMac and iPhone. But the Pages option may also be an easy transition.

Truth is, I'm mainly concerned with text, not formatting...with a couple of exceptions:
1. A fair number of my Word documents hold embedded images (photos, layouts of old ads I've done) that I don't want to lose. As long as an alternative word processing program doesn't drop those, I'd be 90% home.
2. Most text is in Times New Roman, which is pretty common, but a few documents (e.g., my corporate invoices and memos, as well as a lot of lyrics/chords in song files) utilize fonts that are native to Word but may not be supported by other word processing software (American Typewriter, Copperplate Gothic, etc.). Not a huge factor: I'm used to the look, spacing, etc., but I could probably adapt to other options pretty easily.
3. Not very many documents with complex charts. Most old radio and TV spots are written in side-by-side cell formats that I imagine most of the freebie options would support.

I mention the above to clarify my main concerns with a switch. If you see something that warrants concern, let me know please.

You've given me a lot to research. Again, thanks to everyone who posted. Your help is much appreciated. (I do love this forum...)

Cheers,
Dirk

You can purchase Microsoft 365 licensing by the month so keep that in mind if only to use it to open an older file format type and save as a new type or different type of file.

Between administering Google and Microsoft tenants and investor news I get some interesting facts. A few hundred million people do find the commercial subscriptions both firms offer to be worth it. A monthly subscription could help you know if you'd like that and which product you want to settle on.

There are trials for Apple's paid tier too. That for example could sync those open source (and other) file types and be great for the music player or reader in you.

To update what reads like a lot of old files make sure you have sound backups and consider working on copies of important files.

[tbeltrans]

Well, since this IS AGF...

Forget the word processor and get another guitar. You certainly can't go wrong there.

Tony

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Another possibility is the Open Source (free) Libre Office:

https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help...l-howto/macos/

I have used it on my PC for years, done college term papers with it, various professional documents, etc. It can read and write MS Office format for Word and Excel. If there are macros involved in the MS Office documents, it likely won't handle those, but for general use it works fine.

The link is for the Mac version since that is what the OP asked about.

Tony

Hey Tony, thanks for the info. I'm going to look into this for Windows. I have had MS Office for 20 years but as of 2 weeks ago I no longer have it and was contemplating purchasing Office but it's too expensive for the amount I'll be using Word and Excel.

I used Google Docs/Sheets for the first time last week and it was able to edit my Word/Excel docs so I know I'm good there but I prefer an installed version of code rather than internet based.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by imwjl

Google Suite has a notes program too but it is very basic compared to others.

Google Docs is free and a pro level word processor, which you never have to update. Not sure Notes would have similar functionality? It’s more like Evernote, no?

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

Google Docs is free and a pro level word processor, which you never have to update. Not sure Notes would have similar functionality? It’s more like Evernote, no?

I feel Google Docs is good for most use but do caution or warn someone who's known a local hierarchical folder and file structure to take time to understand "Drive" and the cloud nature of it all. One should know Docs will open the old Microsoft files once in "Drive".

The Google notes app is Keep is totally stable and works but just lacks the strong features others have added. One could say simple is good too!

Google is improving privacy. If someone doesn't like the model that made them and Facebook rich they should know the paid tier of their suite has the privacy to meet several compliance standards.

[Dru Edwards]

To all those who recommended LibreOffice, Thank-You. I installed it yesterday and was able to use my existing MS Word docs and a simple Excel worksheet. I simply renamed them with the recommended file extensions.

I have yet to open up my Excel financial spreadsheet but hopefully all the existing formulas following through. I don't have any macros.

[dirkronk]

Originally Posted by FLRon

Just saw yesterday that Microsoft was selling a lifetime subscription to MS Office for $49.99. No affiliation just passing along the info.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/micr...100005088.html

I'm finally resurfacing on this thread to say thanks to all of you who offered expertise...but especially to FLRon for posting this link. I followed it a couple of weeks back, found that it was still valid, and popped for the deal. While "free" is never anything to sneeze at, fifty bucks seemed like a good deal to avoid having to do any relearning for the next several years. MS has changed the formatting of Word a bit, and that has taken a bit of getting used to, but at least I can rest easy knowing that all my ancient files should be accessible as long as I'm likely to want 'em.

Cheers to all. Very grateful to have such a knowledgeable community available online.

Dirk

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Hey Tony, thanks for the info. I'm going to look into this for Windows. I have had MS Office for 20 years but as of 2 weeks ago I no longer have it and was contemplating purchasing Office but it's too expensive for the amount I'll be using Word and Excel.

I used Google Docs/Sheets for the first time last week and it was able to edit my Word/Excel docs so I know I'm good there but I prefer an installed version of code rather than internet based.

You are most welcome. Recently, I completely replaced Windows on my laptop with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Linux). I feel much more at home now.

I can do everything I need with Open Source software - even slow down and loop audio with Sonic Visualizer. Truefire even has a version of their application for Linux that works great. There is also a zoon client for Linux that likewise works fine, and this is the tip of the iceberg.

As for LibreOffice in Windows, I installed that on the office computer for our condo association and it has been working fine.

Tony