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Good Word Processor for iMac?
- Thread starter 2012Tony2012
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Bean or Google Docs
You know, there's nothing different about the iMac operating system that would require you to post this in the iMac sub-forum.
The Mac Applications forum would probably be better:
https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/2/
You know, there's nothing different about the iMac operating system that would require you to post this in the iMac sub-forum.
The Mac Applications forum would probably be better:
https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/2/
Open Office
http://www.openoffice.org/ is probably the only free Word Processor / Spreadsheet / MS Office replacement you could ever need. Google Docs is a close second but I think it lacks a PowerPoint clone if that is needed.... TextEdit also may have enough power for most users to use as a word processor . But not a spreadsheet.
http://www.openoffice.org/ is probably the only free Word Processor / Spreadsheet / MS Office replacement you could ever need. Google Docs is a close second but I think it lacks a PowerPoint clone if that is needed.... TextEdit also may have enough power for most users to use as a word processor . But not a spreadsheet.
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Freeware? Nothing really better than Google's (if you don't mind them reading all your stuff). They've got a full suite of compatibility.
Otherwise just grab Pages, it's $20 bucks and works fantastically by stripping down all the buttons and crap into a simple interface and logical approach. Give it a try...
In addition to Open Office, I'd look at Libre Office. I've not used either but wanted to throw that out there.
Word is great, provided you back up everything every few seconds. I still manage to lose things via the odd microsoft crash.
I have also bought "Scrivener" which is a project/book oriented WP from I think there's a trial version here
The kids have always got great homework marks by doing projects in Pages - but when I emailed some Pages produced text to my colleagues in Windows world, that Pages '09 (4.2) had exported as .doc - they were quote "unable to open in Word 2008 or even in Wordpad" unquote.
I'm not sure if that was Pages or the fact that I emailed a Mac created .doc via Gmail - which might have warped the document somehow. Or the ancient Word that my business uses corporately?
I just throw raw text documents (sometimes with an additional rtf attached) at people NOT using an iMac now.
I have also bought "Scrivener" which is a project/book oriented WP from I think there's a trial version here
The kids have always got great homework marks by doing projects in Pages - but when I emailed some Pages produced text to my colleagues in Windows world, that Pages '09 (4.2) had exported as .doc - they were quote "unable to open in Word 2008 or even in Wordpad" unquote.
I'm not sure if that was Pages or the fact that I emailed a Mac created .doc via Gmail - which might have warped the document somehow. Or the ancient Word that my business uses corporately?
I just throw raw text documents (sometimes with an additional rtf attached) at people NOT using an iMac now.
Thank you everyone, I installed OpenOffice, looks good. 
Anyone know if its possible to get OO to open up each time and automatically open all files I had previously opened?
Anyone know if its possible to get OO to open up each time and automatically open all files I had previously opened?
I totally hate Pages. It just does not work the way that my mind thinks. I miss Word Perfect 3.5 for Mac, the last version made by Novell.
I have MS Office for Mac, but I don't actually use it anymore.
I prefer Google Docs.
Google Docs, on the other hand, is nowhere near as powerful as MS Office, but the way it syncs is so simple.
I really hope to see Google improve on Google Docs, because it is actually quite weak compared to Office, but like I said, it's the syncing that grabs me.
I prefer Google Docs.
Google Docs, on the other hand, is nowhere near as powerful as MS Office, but the way it syncs is so simple.
I really hope to see Google improve on Google Docs, because it is actually quite weak compared to Office, but like I said, it's the syncing that grabs me.
I thought that Open office lets you save as .doc or .xls and not just in the open office format... also i don't think that you can save files as .docx, .xlsx, etc. yet, but it's been a while since i used OO.O. I can also say that it allowed me to edit a Word file that Mac Word was choking on, and then save that back to Word. (it had some crazy embedded graphic on a flier my youth sports organization was re-using for year 2 and we needed the graphic that was only appropriate the first year) I tried for days to remove the object using Mac Office (Word) and did it in 5 minutes using OpenOffice.Org
If you use NeoOffice, that has support for Versions, AutoSave and Resume built-in. NeoOffice is a fork of OpenOffice specifically to include OS X features.
You will have to pay $10 to use it. For some people, that's too much for software they need.
If you work in a corporation
Seriously, if you're working in a Corporation you have to use MS office. I tried OpenOffice Google Docs all that stuff but no matter what there's compatibility format issues and MS office in the only way to avoid those. Independently those are all great and I would prefer to use those but it just is not possible at this time.
Seriously, if you're working in a Corporation you have to use MS office. I tried OpenOffice Google Docs all that stuff but no matter what there's compatibility format issues and MS office in the only way to avoid those. Independently those are all great and I would prefer to use those but it just is not possible at this time.
My experience is that office suites other than word can save to word, but the formatting gets messed up a lot. So if you need to share documents and you want to be sure they look professional Word is worth the money, otherwise free ones work well enough.
I use Pages. If I have have compatibility issues - usually with downloading school documents from Professors - I use Google Drive to upload and then download it again.
There's not one answer. There are several answers, depending on your needs and personal preferences.
If you need/want full MS Word compatibility, then the obvious choice is Microsoft Office Word 2011. It is a full-featured word processor that can handle any task.
If you don't need all the advanced word processing features of Word, but you want some degree of compatibility while being more elegant and designed towards desktop publishing and the creation of stylish documents, then you should try Apple Pages.
If you want a Mac-only full featured word processor with Word compatibility, then you may like Nisus Writer Pro.
If you wish to write long and complex documents seamlessly, and do not need full compatibility with Word, then Mellel might be for you.
If price is a concern, but you don't want to give up the whole set of features or compatibility with Microsoft Office, then you should download OpenOffice or LibreOffice (well, you should download both anyway, as they are free).