e-book how-to - looking for MS Word & etc.

[bit]

Are older versions of MS Word available as legal free downloads?
If so, where can I find a legit MS Word download freebie from a safe site?
Tnx.

[techidave]

I doubt that you could find a legal copy of an older version of MS Word.  But an excellent, free alternative to Word is AbiWord which is available here

[tomos]

You'll get older MS Office software on ebay FWIW. Not free though...

On the free front:
LibreOffice/Writer looks nice - just installed it this week.

[40hz]

Short answer is no. Microsoft never gives any version of their office apps away unless it's part of some special deal they're offering somebody. Anybody who claims otherwise is mistaken.

There are plenty of good and free alternatives to Word available for download. A Google search will spot you several if the above suggestions don't work for you.

[bit]

I would be happy to oblige and go for a cheaper alternate, but someone I'm working with uses MS Word.
Okay, at this link;
MS Word 2013

...Customer Review by... By Steven K. Hovland
Platform for Display:PC Download
They've done it again. Screwed around with the interface for no good reason, made it hard to read and hard to use. You can't find the settings to get rid of the pale pastel print that is a usability nightmare. I'm going to download a trial of Word Perfect. We don't like the mail program that comes with Windows 8, and I'm absolutely not going to pay for 2013 Outlook on the assumption that it will have the same problems. We're presently trying Mozilla Thunderbird for email. I bought the key from one of the office places.

After several calls and emails, this is MS's response:

"I have tried to contact you over the phone but I was unable to talk to you and have left couple of voicemails. As you have mentioned that you and your wife didn't like the user interface of Word 2013. I respect your feedback but this was an attempt to make it more user friendly. Changes made in this version include a sleek appearance that reflects the look of Windows 8, functional improvements, and tie-ins to SharePoint and SkyDrive for storing documents online. In addition, the various components of Office Web Apps improve productivity in the cloud.

In keeping with the Modern style interface that you see in Windows 8, Office 2013 is getting a new look. Gone are the multiple shades of color that decorated the older interface, as well as the shadows and shading that suggested three dimensions. Instead, everything is minimalist, flat, and stark--mimicking the tiles on the Windows 8 start screen. The idea is that the new look will help you focus on your work rather than being distracted by the objects decorating your screen. This redesign have achieved the goal --most of the customers liked the crisper look."
..........

So...I wonder what the earlier version was, that the customer liked so much.
Being an older version, it would hopefully be cheaper, maybe on ebay.

[Target]

that's not an issue, several of the free suites will work with word (.doc) documents.

FWIW MS has attracted the ire of many users for the 'radical' interface changes between versions (most notably 'the ribbon'...)

[40hz]

So...I wonder what the earlier version was, that the customer liked so much.

Most likely a version prior to Office 2007 which introduced the "ribbon interface" many people don't like. If I had to guess, it was probably Word 2003 he had.

[40hz]

You might try TextMaker which is part of the free edition of Softmaker Office. It works very well with Microsoft Office files and it has the more traditional menu-style interface.

[attachthumb=#]

It's pretty much what I use for word processing since it's available for both Windows and Linux.

Download link and info here.

[bit]

So...I wonder what the earlier version was, that the customer liked so much.

Most likely a version prior to Office 2007 which introduced the "ribbon interface" many people don't like. If I had to guess, it was probably Word 2003 he had.

My eyes can't take white screens, and I've posted elsewhere how insanely in love I am with DimScreen.
Found MS Word 2003 on ebay for $30.

Would there be an 'Office' version that includes MS Word 2003 that I should think about instead, or is that more headaches than it's worth?
I don't want to spend a lot on this, and I really only need a word processor, not a Suite.

Yeah, here's MS Office Pro 2003 for two offers and great prices; First offer $20.50, Second offer $34.99.

If it doesn't goof me up somehow, maybe the Office version includes MS Word 2003 and is a better package deal, you think?
There's usually more to these deals than meets the eye, is why I'm running this past everybody here in case someone has a head's-up for me I'm not aware of.

[Target]

libreoffice portable is only 230M for the entire suite, which is probably less than MS word alone (I have it on a usb key), and it's free...

plus you can set it to have a white on black workspace (you can actually choose whatever colours you like)

[tomos]

Compatability is not generally a problem. But you never know. Depends on what you're doing and how fussy you are.
I'd try a free suite first, you'll probably be fine with it.

Another aspect:
I presume that older versions of Word will not be able to open the docx files created by the newest versions - you'd be better off with LibreOffice from that POV (I presume AbiWord can handle them too - not sure about Softmaker's free version though).

[bit]

Compatability is not generally a problem. But you never know. Depends on what you're doing and how fussy you are.
I'd try a free suite first, you'll probably be fine with it.

Another aspect:
I presume that older versions of Word will not be able to open the docx files created by the newest versions - you'd be better off with LibreOffice from that POV (I presume AbiWord can handle them too - not sure about Softmaker's free version though).

Well, I need to create an e-text for a project, complete with clickable dynamic Table of Contents, suitable for upload to Kindle.
Tried ePubIt, which seemed unable to do the job.
InfoHesivePE won't work, due to this issue.
...in which its own creators say it can't make a TOC, and is no longer supported by bug fix updates.
They say to use MobiPocket Creator, but I tried that and could not figure out heads or tails of it.

Supposedly MS Word can do it, but MS Word 2007 is about $180 on ebay, and I'm not a student or employee for the $10 version.
I see MS Word 2003 is a lot cheaper on ebay, but you say it may not be able to open the docx files created by the newest versions.

The text file and TOC is all written up and laid out in simple text format, and just needs that clickable TOC with some kind of anchors, or bookmarks, or hyperlinks, or whatever it is, and then to figure out how to do the Kindle sidebar TOC as well.

[Scott_Y]

I presume that older versions of Word will not be able to open the docx files created by the newest versions

This is not a problem. The free MS Office Compatibility Pack enables older versions of Word to open the newer docx format. Likewise for Excel and Powerpoint. I've used it many times myself in Word 2003. Download from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3

[bit]

I presume that older versions of Word will not be able to open the docx files created by the newest versions

This is not a problem. The MS Office Compatibility Pack enables older versions of Word to open the newer docx format. Likewise for Excel and Powerpoint. I've used it many times myself in Word 2003. Download from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3

MS Word 2003 isn't as cheap as I thought. The ebay seller wants $30 for the product, but then I discovered it's gimmicked with $30 for shipping. I'm not quite ready to spring that much for it. Tnx just the same. :)

update- Found a nice deal here on Amazon for $4.91 used + $3.99 s/h, but not sure if it will demand to 'phone home' and make me prove if I'm a student or something which I'm not.
However one reviewer seems to say it works for him/her just fine while implying they're not a student, and it self-activated and did not have to be authenticated by a key.

update- Okay, picked one up from Amazon for about $9.98 grand total, and I'll be happy to report on the outcome when it arrives in a few days. Tnx.

[tomos]

update- Okay, picked one up from Amazon for about $9.98 grand total, and I'll be happy to report on the outcome when it arrives in a few days. Tnx.

Good.
I was just going to say that it might be worth starting a new thread asking specifically about e-book creation. Hopefully Word can do that...

[bit]

update- Okay, picked one up from Amazon for about $9.98 grand total, and I'll be happy to report on the outcome when it arrives in a few days. Tnx.

Good.
I was just going to say that it might be worth starting a new thread asking specifically about e-book creation. Hopefully Word can do that...

That's a nice idea. Maybe once an e-book thread starts, the link could be posted here to give a little continuity.
My main problem is that pure white screens burn my eyes out, which would be the retinas I suppose.
That's why I'm such a big fan of DimScreen; 'better a DimScreen than a dim brain'.

[bit]

I just retitled the thread to make it for e-books.
This thread can address the subject from the POV of donationcoder users.
But just to round out the discussion, here are a few places that also handle this subject.

http://www.kboards.com/ is an e-book forum for Kindle, which is the subsidiary of Amazon.com that handles do-it-yourself e-book uploads, and is free to join, and Amazon's Kindle is free to join & use.

http://www.guru.com/ is a go-between site where people who know how to do stuff can be hired by people who want stuff done, such as e-book prep, and guru oversees and moderates everything (think of an ebay for creative thinkers), and is free to join.

There are tutorials on youtube for how to prepare e-books, and you just have to sift through them because some are just come-ons to buy unposted how-to vids, while others are complete, open-post tutorials and free to watch.

I might mention that if you discover that someone has posted an unauthorized pirate copy of your book to Amazon.com, and is ripping your book, there is a way to deal with this.
Just contact Amazon's Legal Department, or...just contact Amazon's complaint department, and tell them the book is infringing on your rights.
Amazon's Legal Department will contact you, and ask you to clarify the problem in writing, and to show some kind of written proof you own the rights to your book.
So you would send Amazon a photocopy of your copyright certificate, and explain politely what your complaint is.
There may be a little more back and forth dialogue, but if you are patient and just keep answering Amazon's questions, they can decide to banish the infringing book from Amazon's entire global domain.
This won't get you 'damages', or extend beyond Amazon's domain, but within the huge Amazon domain, the infringing copy of your book will be shut down.
It may remain 'posted' on Amazon, but it will not be 'available', and you will have a clear field to sell your own book.
And if anyone else tries to infringe on you, just keep telling Amazon.
It's free, and you don't need a lawyer or Literary Attorney.
But you do need to have a Certificate of Copyright.
That song & dance that "Your rights are protected the moment you set pen to paper..." may be true, but get a Certificate anyways ASAP.
In fact, if you omitted getting a Certificate of Copyright and were infringed, just apply to the LOC (Library of Congress) for a Certificate anyways, as it might go through even if you end up having to explain that it's late.

Mailing a copy of your Work to yourself by Registered/Certified Mail as a poor-man's substitute for a Certificate of Copyright is a false idea so don't waste your time or money on it, just get a Certificate from the LOC.

Publishing through Amazon, using CreateSpace for 'real paper', or Kindle for e-book, you'll be given a free copyright and bar code number by Amazon, so you can either use that, or also file one separately with the LOC, and the wait for a Certificate to be mailed to you from the LOC for USPS 'real paper' submissions is 2 1/2 years (been there, done that, don't ask), whereas e-filing can be just a couple of months.

[Debian]

My recommendation is SoftMaker FreeOffice. It's a free, full-fledged office suite that only needs 58 MB of space on your hard disc. It has the best compatibility with Microsoft Office of all alternative office suites, you can open and save doc/docx faithfully.  Interface is similar / familiar to that of MS Office 2003 (no ribbons), with several modern extensions, so there's not too much of a learning curve. It's very fast, and, even more important, also very reliable. Give it a try, it's free: freeoffice.com/en