Microsoft Word or Pages?

[irishusa]

I use Microsoft Word on my Mac - which presently runs 32 bit encryption. Once I update to Catalina I won't be able to use Word anymore, as Catalina requires 64 bit encryption. I use MS Word for documents and recipes - only personal use, so I don't want to purchase Word again and was thinking of using Google Pages. From what I've seen, though, each Word document will need to be converted. Is there an easier option or another program I could use? I know enough to get along fairly easily, but I'm far from tech savvy, so please keep it simple.
Thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

[S.B.G]

Libre Office

 

[adrianlondon]

Word uses 32-bit encryption? Google Pages? I don't understand.

And as this is in the Windows/Linux forum, what OS are you running?

 

[Altis]

Microsoft has an online version of office similar to the way Google Docs is done. If you make a free Outlook account, you can use Word Online, which might be an easier transition for your documents. You can even "Open in Word" from the document to do more advanced stuff, but it remains accessible when you return to the browser version.

Libre Office is a nice free suite. It depends a bit on the complexity of your documents and how often you need other users to work with it as MS Word is the standard.

 

[Shirasaki]

A couple things first.
Those “32 bit” “64 bit” encryption mean 32bit and 64bit apps. And Google Pages is actually Google Docs.

For simple home need, Google Docs should do the job. If you want a bit of offline editing, Pages, OpenOffice or Libre Office should do the job. Also, you don’t need to upgrade to Catalina.

 

[MrRabuf]

Google docs or MS Office online. Both are free and have iOS apps as well.

 

[jeremiah256]

1. Create or log into your Google Drive account.

2. Drag each folder you want to transfer from your Mac to your Google Drive.

3. You can now open everything in Google Drive. No need for you to manually convert anything.

4. Use Google Docs going forward and you’ll be good to go.

 

[irishusa]

1. Create or log into your Google Drive account.

2. Drag each folder you want to transfer from your Mac to your Google Drive.

3. You can now open everything in Google Drive. No need for you to manually convert anything.

4. Use Google Docs going forward and you’ll be good to go.

Thank you. This was very helpful!

 

[jeremiah256]

Thank you. This was very helpful!

Glad to help.