As a writer, I have a very large number of Word files, but with Microsoft moving to an annual subscription model, the cost of remaining with Word is looking prohibitive.How to use Microsoft Word for free on Windows 10, Mac, Chrome OS, and Linux The easiest way to use Microsoft Word for free is right in your web browser. The guide is a simulation of the old menu version of Word.I chose Microsoft Word for Mac when I switched to a MacBook Pro some years ago. Use this interactive tutorial to find commands in Word 2010.
![]() ![]() Ms Word Code Marked OnIf you lose the DVDs, you can download the software. Boxed copies have more or less disappeared, but if you own one, you need to keep the code marked on the box to reinstall it. Boxed OfficeThe traditional advantages of buying boxed copies of Office were that you could use it on two PCs (a desktop and a laptop, but not at the same time) and that you could transfer it to a new PC. But even if you switch to a free alternative, you’ll spend time learning a new interface and handling your old documents.![]() It will be more than the usual £12 a year. You can divide the price by the number of years you expect your 2012 MacBook Pro to last. I suspect Microsoft will support it until 14 October 2025, which is the end of support date for Office 2016, and that Office 2022 (yes, there will be one) will only get five years.A further complication is that Microsoft only supports the last three versions of MacOS.Office Home & Student 2019 looks like a bargain at £119.99 or less, but that’s a single-installation version. That means you’re unlikely to get the full 10 years we used to get by moving Office to new PCs, and perhaps explains Microsoft’s attempts to reduce its 10-year support lifecycle.In fact, Microsoft has only announced mainstream support for Office Home & Student 2019 for the five years up to 10 October 2023, with extended support marked “Not Applicable”. Windows users also get Microsoft Publisher and the Access database.It’s not a bad deal for £59.99 a year – or £49.75 if you get the activation code by email – if you use the storage. Extra features over the Home & Student edition include Outlook, the desktop email and organisation program, 60 minutes of Skype calls, apps for Android and Apple iOS smartphones and tablets, and 1TB of online storage instead of 15GB. Photograph: MicrosoftOffice 365, launched in 2013, is the cloud-based version of Office, but usually provides access to the full desktop programs as well. For a family of four, it’s only £20 per year each. Everyone gets their own terabyte of storage, up to 6TB in all. This costs £79.99 a year for up to six users, including friends. It’s not clear how useful most of these are to solitary users, apart from instant translation. Second, Office 365 has various collaborative and AI-based cloud features. The Office 2019 versions are fixed. First, the 365 programs have more and better features, because they are continuously updated. There’s no need to buy three or more single-machine copies to install them on a desktop, laptop, 2-in-1 tablet and so on.Also, Microsoft claims that Office 365 is better than Office 2019. Flip for mac 2018 free downloadIf you only write plain texts, you should be fine. You will need to load and “save as” a few of your most complex documents to see how much of the formatting survives. As mentioned, the success rate generally depends on the Word features you use. Docx formats, and some can also write or export them. Of course, nothing stops you from using both.I was also going to suggest WPS Office, the suite owned by China’s Kingsoft, but it only has Windows, Linux, Android and iOS versions, not MacOS. It has a free version and a subscription version (£49.90 a year), but you can buy the full SoftMaker Office Professional 2018 for Mac, Windows or Linux for £89.99, after a 30-day free trial.I don’t regard Google Docs as an alternative because it’s online only, and you’d mostly be better off using the free version of Word online. LibreOffice is both open source and free, so it will only cost you the time needed to try it.The less-well-known German suite SoftMaker Office has a ribbon interface and uses Microsoft Office file formats by default, without conversion. Otherwise, your best bet is LibreOffice 6.2.2, which now has its own optional ribbon interface. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that third-party cookies will be set. Users who like it could consider a “lifetime” purchase for $79.99 (individuals) or $119.99 (businesses), but try SoftMaker first.Have you got a question? Email it to article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through andMakes a purchase. Unfortunately, the free version includes advertising, which I found unbearable, and the Premium version isn’t worth $29.99 a year.
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