PixlBit

LibreOffice!  It's free and handles MSWord documents damn near flawlessly.  Don't give any more money to Microsoft, it's not like they'll be able to do much with it after Windows 8 drives them into the ground.

Thanks I'll have to check it out.

Open Office is a free alternative to Word, and it worked well for me when I downloaded it after having to reformat one of my laptops.

LibreOffice is a splinter from OpenOffice :) They're both fantastic.

Thanks for the tip.

you do know that Bill Gates no longer runs Microsoft, right? I would call this a case of misplaced anger.

He still collects a check though.

I have thought the same thing for years. Linux forever!

Actually, I've had computers, laptops, and whatnot that used everything from XP, to Vista, to 7, up to 8. I've got to say out of all four, Windows 8 has been my favorite operating system.

The gesture-based elements work great on tablets, I have to say I think Windows 8 makes for the best tablet ecosystem. In regard to desktops, Windows 8 has a ton of background efficiency increases. Substantial ones. The simplest one I can express is that transfer speeds using Windows 8 don't take foooooooreeeeeverrrr.

That said, the new start menu is an actual improvement, just because you can finally really put programs and start menu items where you want them very easily. The removal of the old start button provides a little more space, and the menu that you can bring out of the right side of the screen is very quick for all its uses, on a PC or on a tablet.

I found that XP was a simple enough Windows OS. Ignoring security issues and back-end inefficiencies, it worked well enough for just about anything. When I moved to Vista, things were annoying. Frustrating, stupid, tough to find, tough to manage, all of that sort of stuff. Every process had an extra step, but I learned to deal with it. Then came Windows 7. Honestly, I never understood all the fuss about Windows 7. To me, Windows 7 felt like Windows Vista. In fact, if you were to put both in front of me, and have me use them for five or ten minutes without being able to check which is which, I probably couldn't pick out one or the other. That's a pretty sorry upgrade, but for whatever reason, a lot of people liked Windows 7, so good for them.

Anyway, the issue you have with Word is a little odd, in one sense: Shouldn't it be possible for you to transfer or upgrade your old Word license? I'm not sure how to do that, but I think it may be an option. You'd still be using an outdated version of Word, don't get me wrong, but it would be functional. Regardless, you should be able to open up Word documents using WordPad, I believe. And, like the people above me, those open office suites listed above work well. I've never used LibreOffice, but OpenOffice has worked well enough for me.

the upgrade tactic would have been nice but it would not let me leap frog from XP to 7, and I would have still had to come out of pocket for one of the two. The problem with 8 is it obviously geared toward tablets. they should have just made a completely different version for trablet and made 8 just for PC. Despite all the hype about tablet most people still have and use PC's. I'll just have to figure it out. Thanks for hittin me up.

That's not entirely true. I've used Windows 8 on a PC, using just a mouse and keyboard, and I've found it works great. On the PC, I just ignore the apps and use typical programs. The only real change considering all that is to shut down the computer, you have to learn that one gesture where you move the mouse from the right side of the screen a little to the left. That's really it for changes made to normal use patterns.

Beyond that, the file browser is more advanced, the media sharing options are incredibly simple compared to what they've been in the past, and the start menu is more versatile than it's ever been before. All tablet-geared elements can be ignored really easily in my experience.

I hate Microsoft. Other than their operating systems, I don't bother buying their products. Greedy bastards! That sucks you had to go through that. At least there are some free alternatives to Word out there. I use Notepad lol.

Yeah I'm not technologicaly impaired, but I'm no guru either so this whole thing just got under my skin. But I think it will all work out.

The number of versions of windows is ridiculous. It seems as if each operating system isn't even an "improvement", it's just an excuse to milk more consumer dollars.

Forget milkin, they go straight for the jugular!lol