
My recommendation is to skip these programs and pay for the real thing. As with NeoOffice/J, the word processor is the most powerful part of ThinkFree Office and the spreadsheet and presentation software are not up to Microsoft's level. Get the original suite from Another Java application is ThinkFree Office, a suite with a friendly look and feel. Apple has an X11 system of its own and there are others that work fine on modern Macs, too. If (and only if) you've used the X11 windowing interface in Unix or Linux, you could choose the original OpenOffice software suite, written for X11. (Don't confuse Java with JavaScript the latter is used mainly by Web browsers to handle certain tasks.) It's been quite slow in gaining ground against normal programming methods.

Java is a cross-platform programming language that works on just about any operating system. If you've never run a Java app, try this one out. The word processor is especially well designed, but the other NeoOffice/J components - particularly the Excel-compatible spreadsheet application and the PowerPoint clone - are a little weak.

NeoOffice/J can be downloaded from It's easy to set up and use. (The official name of the software is "," a needlessly confusing name.) Considering the discounted price of the real thing - Microsoft Office 2004 for the Macintosh sells for as little as $130 for the student-teacher edition - these three competitors are not likely to take much market share from Microsoft's flagship suite.īut if you don't want to spend a cent on Office-compatible software, you might want to try NeoOffice/J, an Open Source (and therefore free) set of programs based on the highly regarded suite called OpenOffice. Two of them are free and the other is inexpensive, but all three have technical drawbacks of one kind or another.
#Free word processor for mac os x mac os x#
Mac OS X users who want to own an "office suite" but don't want to buy Microsoft Office have three software suites to choose from. 'Office' software suites (free and cheap) for OS X computers

Microsoft has an inexpensive version of Office 2004 for anyone who is a student or a teacher or who has one in the family.Īl Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983
#Free word processor for mac os x for mac os x#
'Office' software suites (free and cheap) for Mac OS X computers
