Microsoft Office is one of the most common productivity applications, so you will likely find it installed on a workstation at any employer location. You can use Word for any kind of textual content stored in document form. PowerPoint provides a way to create presentations, Excel is for creating spreadsheets, Access is a personal database tool, and Word is the word processor used to store textual content. Microsoft Office has several productivity tools that you can install should you purchase the latest version. Microsoft Word is used to create documentation or any content where you need to store text.

You need software to perform any activity that you want whether it's creating spreadsheets, presentations, email, or documentation. Just having an operating system installed on your computer isn't enough to be productive. With each version, Microsoft adds more tools to its software and changes the look and feel. It's by far one of the most advanced tools for writing business communication or storing content on your computer. Most businesses that run on a productivity suite of tools use Microsoft Office, and this suite contains Word as the word processor. You can also take a look at CNET's list of the best Windows laptops.Whether you're an individual or part of a business, Microsoft Word is one of the most common word processing tools on the market. If you're looking for basic versions of each of these apps, the free version should work well for you.įor more productivity coverage, check out what Microsoft 365 Basic offers customers, all of the best features in Windows 11 and how to take screenshots in Windows 10 or 11. There are still benefits to the free version, including the ability to share links to your work and collaborate in real time, similar to what the Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) productivity tools allow.

They also have fewer features than the full Microsoft 365 versions. You might be saying, 'Wait a minute, if I can get all of those apps for free, why pay for Microsoft 365 in the first place?' The functionality of the free apps is limited, so they only run in your web browser and you can only use them while you're actively connected to the internet. Screenshot by Alison DeNisco Rayome/CNET So what's the catch for the free version? Use the browser-based version of the Microsoft Word app for free.

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