best low-profile word processing software other than MS Word?

[iskim86]

i'm thinking about openoffice...

it just has to be bloat-free and take as little RAM and disk space as possible.

it's gonna be for my slowass laptop

thanks for any suggestions

 

[bwatson283]

Notepad

 

[fleabag]

Originally posted by: iskim86
i'm thinking about openoffice...

it just has to be bloat-free and take as little RAM and disk space as possible.

it's gonna be for my slowass laptop

thanks for any suggestions

Unfortunately openoffice isn't bloat free, and it isn't so much about bloat than it's about it being on java only. Openoffice uses java which is why it's pretty slow compared to Office.

Just load up Office 95/97/2000 on there and you'll be set really.. These programs can be EASILY obtained, for free if you know where to look.

 

[Fike]

Open Office Writer is just fine. It runs plenty fast, and I can't imagine it would be any worse than any of the MSWord versions. It handles any MS doc formats too. For general home use, I can't imagine that you need any more. I have been using it without incident for over a year. At work I use Word, at home I seamlessly transition to Writer.

 

[Schadenfroh]

it just has to be bloat-free and take as little RAM and disk space as possible.

it's gonna be for my slowass laptop

thanks for any suggestions

I would suggest against using Open Office then. Have you tried abiword?

 

[fleabag]

Originally posted by: Fike
Open Office Writer is just fine. It runs plenty fast, and I can't imagine it would be any worse than any of the MSWord versions. It handles any MS doc formats too. For general home use, I can't imagine that you need any more. I have been using it without incident for over a year. At work I use Word, at home I seamlessly transition to Writer.

Have you even LOOKED at how much ram open office uses? Next time you open up open office, run task manager and you'll see at least 128MB worth of ram being used, compare that with the 20-40MB from microsoft word.

 

[episodic]

Who cares how much ram it uses - isn't that why you buy the ram? To get used?. . .I'll never understand why people get upset about apps using ram.



***EDIT - I DIDNT READ THE SLOW LAPTOP PART TILL LATER**** my bad.

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

it just has to be bloat-free and take as little RAM and disk space as possible.

it's gonna be for my slowass laptop

thanks for any suggestions

I would suggest against using Open Office then. Have you tried abiword?

i would guess abiword would be the preferred choice if bloat is to be avoided.

 

[episodic]

Of course I miss the slow underpowered laptop part
My bad. . .

 

[episodic]

Atlantis Nova is really nice. Don't be turned off by the name. Google it.

 

[wazzledoozle]

IBM has their own free office suite, Lotus Symphony. I dont know much about it...

http://symphony.lotus.com/soft...tus/symphony/home.jspa

 

[Shmalls]

I like textpad, its a good basic editor, plus it is a nice Java and HTML editor.
http://www.textpad.com/

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: wazzledoozle
IBM has their own free office suite, Lotus Symphony. I dont know much about it...

http://symphony.lotus.com/soft...tus/symphony/home.jspa

It's essentially a branded version of OpenOffice.

 

[htne]

Originally posted by: fleabag
Unfortunately openoffice isn't bloat free, and it isn't so much about bloat than it's about it being on java only. Openoffice uses java which is why it's pretty slow compared to Office.

Just load up Office 95/97/2000 on there and you'll be set really.. These programs can be EASILY obtained, for free if you know where to look.

I have to agree totally. Openoffice is S-L--O---W if you're used to Microsoft Office. Older versions of MS WinWord, as found in Office 97, are very nice. I have no idea about how you would find them for free, but there should be a LOT of older versions floating around out there.

 

[redbeard1]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

I would suggest against using Open Office then. Have you tried abiword?

In the faqs there is a way to change the default save to a .doc.

 

[oogabooga]

I second abiword, I like using it so far, though I use it for base text editing, nothing more than typing in text. IT doesn't consume your system in the name of features, it just sits there and puts in what you type.

 

[Brazen]

Personally, I do use OpenOffice because the java slowness is not bad on my system. I would definately choose Abiword if I wanted something faster though (and it is incredibly fast for as full-featured as it is).

 

[Pretty Cool]

AbiWord did not impress me much. For some reason, the program seems to choke on documents more than a few pages long on my system.

Another program you might consider is Ashampoo's freebie offer for their Office 2006 program (word processor & spreadsheet). Though the offer will only be up for a limited time, I have been too lazy to test the program.

Ashampoo Office 2006 (29MB)