Microsoft Word and Windows XP

[marine02]

Recently got a laptop with Windows XP (but have not yet connected it to the internet) and I saw that it is supplied for word processing with Microsoft WordPad but not Microsoft Word that I had on my old computer; does anyone know if I can buy or download the Microsoft Word software as it has more functions that I need such as word count device, etc. Can anyone help me with information?

[IndieSinger]

Microsoft Word doesn't come "as standard" with computers unless it specifically says so (and I've never seen a computer for sale with Word already on it). Microsoft Word is part of the Microsoft Office suite (which includes, amongst others, Microsoft Exel, Microsoft Front Page, Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft PowerPoint. It can be bought in practically ANY computer shop anywhere or ordered online. Many people find a nice friend and borrow their copy of Office (it can get very expensive) but I wouldn't guarantee it would work on XP - there are more measures in place to stop the (illegal!) swapping of software!

[IndieSinger]

Assuming you're in the UK and you want to order the product directly from Microsoft, you'll need this page: http://www.microsoft.com/uk/homepc/buy.asp

[lisaj]

... and assuming you don't want to spend close to �400 on Office, you can download the open source (and excellent) OpenOffice from openoffice.org. It's fully compatible with MS Office, it's smaller, faster, just as reliable, and has some neat extras (like PDF generation) built right in. Of course, it's free, so there's almost 400 reasons right there :-)

[lisaj]

Oh, and if you're on a modem and a 70Mb download seems too big, write back. I could always stick a CD-R in the post with a little persuasion :-)

[marine02]

Thanks for the answers everyone. :) lisaj it is really kind of you to offer; I might take you up on it, it depends on what kind of internet connection I eventually get when my laptop is set up, whether it is broadband or modem. Thanks for the offer though and I will try and let you know one way or the other soon!