A writer is only as good as his or her tools. And when it comes to writing tools, Mac often leads the way. A Macbook is the dream system if your work involves anything to do with graphics and images. It is often the goal for anyone with a creative streak, but Apple Pages isn’t a one-size fit all tool for writers. As a result, many Mac owners end up using third-party word processors. MS Word in particular is a popular choice.

Each of these programs is superior to Word, but you can go even further. Be bold: quit word processing altogether. Or at the very least, quit using word processors for composition. You see, word processors, especially ones like Microsoft Word, aren’t actually good tools for composition. The act of composing is about ordering and structuring. Apr 12, 2018 - Throughout history, writers have found many ways to get their words down for posterity: typewriters, pen and paper, styluses on clay tablets.

It has long dominated the field of word processors and what they’re good at, which is producing documents. The expensive licensing fees and the almost annual new versions, bugs, and fixes means a lot of MS Word writers are trapped in a love/hate relationship. Our stories, our writing, our creative results—they’re like our babies.

Better Time for Writers In recent years the pendulum is swinging. Writers have made an impact on the world, or maybe it’s just that technology and software developers have finally reached beyond a one size fit all approach to software. Distraction-free software and customizing your experience when writing, whether it’s a text editor or a free word processor for Mac, is trending. And since we all know the story of the struggling writer, it doesn’t hurt to cut out those fees either. So, if you’ve been waiting for the day when you’d have a choice between more than just two or three tools for your writing, or the day that you could cut the purse strings between you and recurring licensing fees, this could be it.

Below are just some of the free word processors for Mac. Pick a couple of these that you like but do some additional in-depth research. Choose the best tool to help you focus on telling your story. You may simply find a better tool to help you release your creative side, or you may find the motivation needed to finally make the big switch from PC to Mac. Microsoft Word for Mac Word for Mac is now available. It’s not a for Mac users, of course, but it’s worth mentioning. So, if you do happen to be an MS Word lover, you can subscribe to Office 365 for a low monthly fee of $9.99 month.

Reviewers are raving that looks and acts like MS Word for the PC. So, if MS Word is what you’ve been pining for, your wait is over. For the rest of us, below are some free word processors for Mac that will get the job done for writers: WPS Writer by Kingsoft by Kingsoft is a free suite of software available for multiple platforms including Windows, iOS, Linux, and Android. Part of the WPS Office 2016 suite is WPS Writer, the word processing component of the Office suite. WPS Writer supports multiple languages in addition to English, including French, Portuguese, Polish, German, and Russian and its mobile apps boast registered users of more than 400 million. It’s free, and you can import and export from a wide range of file formats. However, exported files will include a watermark, and printing is only available to paid subscribers.

LibreOffice Writer LibreOffice Writer is open source software, which means it’s available for Mac OS, Windows, and Linux operating systems. There’s also LibreViewer for Android. LibreOffice Writer supports for over 100 languages. For those who have been using MSWord, you’ll find the interface for MS Word very similar. If you prefer to get a head start, LibreOffice offers a variety of great built-in templates to choose from.

One of the things you’ll like about LibreOffice is that it can handle different document types, so you’ll have no trouble at all opening those MS Word files. To learn more about how this stacks up against Word, read our article. AbiWord Another pick of free word processors for Mac users is AbiWord. Available for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux users, its easy to use interface is one that former WordPerfect users will love.

Some users report that the scrolling is not ideal, so it’s probably better suited for keyboard warriors who are used to scrolling using the arrow keys. You can edit and save in multiple formats including encoded and rich text, Open document, text files and more. Is included, and there are easy to install plugins.

Steps from: Open an administrative command prompt, then run one of these commands based on your version: For an Office installation in a 32-bit version of Windows: cd%programfiles% Microsoft Office 15 ClientX86 For an Office installation in a 64-bit version of Windows: cd%programfiles% Microsoft Office 15 ClientX64 Then run the following command: officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=15.0.4623.1003 When the repair dialog box appears, click Online Repair, then Click Repair, and then click Repair again. Microsoft word crashes when saving.

Support is via email, so it’s not lightning fast. There is an option to hide menus for writers looking for distraction-free writing sessions. Google Docs Google Docs is free and cloud-based, so it works well on any system.

It’s become a popular option for many small businesses and consultants who need to work collaboratively on documents. Google Docs saves your changes as you type and you can even look at revision history and see who made changes to your document. As a writer, the biggest draw to Google Docs is the ability to work collaboratively in real-time with someone else, perhaps a co-author, contributor, or even an editor. You can install a Chrome app that lets you open, edit, and save MS Word files. Personally, I could never get past the panic of not knowing for sure that my changes were saved. But if you can be comfortable with never having to save a document again, or if you have a need to work collaboratively in real-time, then Google Docs may be a good fit. Lyx Another free word processor for Mac you may not have heard of is.