As I'm suddenly in the position of job-hunting, I need to upload Microsoft Word (and possibly Excel) onto the home computer, to among other things keep resume formatting intact. I have WindowsXP Version 5.1 SP3. Isn't 5.1 a bit old...???

I hate to spend $150+ to purchase the software, especially at this time. But don't really trust the 'Free' download links that seem to be popping up. Will buy the software if I have to, it's probably a good investment anyway.

Any suggestions?

Microsoft legitmately offers a 30 day free trial download of MS Office 2010. After the 30 days I believe if you don't purchase it , it won't allow you to save documents.

I got MS Office 2010 free as part of my company's agreement with MS. I'm not a big fan of the updated MS Word. Too many changes and too many clicks required to do the same thing you could do in older versions.

If there's no one in your immediate circle of friends/family/colleagues who can provide a MS word disk to install on your system, I'd bite the bullet and get the updated 2010 version. It will likely take 30 days to get comfortable with the new MS Word anyway. it's something that OBVIOUSLY didn't get a lot of end-user testing.

I haven't tried it yet, but OpenOffice is totally free and full-featured. Can't hurt to try that first before dumping all that cash...

PS - I'm downloading it now so will see...

PPS - FWIW, it seems just fine. It will read .doc files and presumably other MS formats (excel, pp, etc). Give it a shot!

Thanks, JGeoff!!!

Apple, are you familar with CNET? If not, its site is loaded with all kinds of software including free word processing software. Don't be afraid to click on the WP ads on the site for software that's similar to MSword. I download some of the software listed there all the time.

OpenOffice is great.

Spread the word - no pun.