FINDING WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE ON WINDOWS

Most Windows systems have several Microsoft word processing software packages available. Which ones depend on the make up of a particular computer?

They are:

Notepad

WordPad

Works word processor

Word

THE FREE WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE

All windows computer have two word processors built into windows itself. These are identified as Notepad and WordPad. Notepad is very basic and probably should not be called a word process rather a text editor. WordPad is much more like normal word processing software but it has one big difference from MS Works and MS Word word processing software and that is that it lacks a built in speller.

These programs can be found by clicking on the Start button then opening Programs or All Programs, then sliding up to Accessories and then you will see them on the Accessory pop out menu.

The suffix for Notepad is .txt

The suffix for WordPad is RTF (Rich Text Format - but will have a Word identification Icon on a storage device)

WORKS WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE

Microsoft Works Word Processor software comes free with many new computers, however if not, the cost of Works software is about $50.00.

Works Word Processor is a very good package and is useful for all but the most powerful users. It has a built in speller, you can imbed a graphics, and you can link to web sites directly from an open word processing document. For the average user it is a perfect substitute for Microsoft Word that is included in Microsoft Office and the price is right.

Works has a .wps suffix

WORD WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE

Microsoft Word word processing software comes in many different packages, but the usual way is that it is bundled with Microsoft Office. The best deal for the average person is to purchase the Student/Faculty version for about $130.00. the regular version of Microsoft Office is in the neighborhood of $300.00.

Word now comes in two versions 2003 that was popular on Windows XP and the newest version 2007 that is for Windows Vista.

Both versions are very powerful but the 2007 version exceeds anything I have seen to date. Many of the popular features of 2003 are changed in 2007 so it appears that we will be way back on the learning curve again.

Some of the features of 2007 are that the familiar Menu bar is absent; it has been replaced by seven Tabs across the top of the screen. When clicking on each of the tabs a different tool bar is presented with almost endless possibilities.

Word 2003 has a .doc suffix

Word 2007 has a .docx suffix, but it is possible to save Word 2007 documents with a .doc suffix.