Let’s face it, Microsoft Word is showing its age. Add to this the fact that its not cheap and I can see why you might be thinking of looking for an alternative to Microsoft Word. Below is a list of alternatives to Microsoft Word that I have either tried or seen in action. I am sure I have missed some real humdingers. If you know of any free alternatives to Microsoft Word I’ve missed please add them to the comments.

Alternatives to Microsoft Word

• Google Docs: Create basic documents from scratch or start from a template.
• Open Office (Win, Max, Linux) : OpenOffice.org 3 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more.
• Zoho: Zoho.com offers a comprehensive suite of on-line business, productivity & collaboration applications.
• Adobe Buzzword: Adobe® Buzzword® is a proven and robust online word processor.
• Etherpad: EtherPad is the first web-based word processor that allows people to work together in really real-time.
• ThinkFree: ThinkFree online services provide a free web office suites with 1GB of online storage.
• KOffice (Win, Mac, Linux): KOffice is free Office suite software, meaning it’s open for anyone to improve and does not cost anything.
• IBM Lotus Symphony (Win): IBM Lotus Symphony documents is a great alternative to Microsoft Office Suite that allows its users to create, edit, share and save word documents and others too such as presentations, spreadsheet etc.
• SSuite Office Software (Win): SSuite Office is all about you… the first time computer-user as well as the more experienced or general computer-user, who needs more functional applications and office software than just the basic ones that are shipped as standard with current operating systems.
• NeoOffice (Mac): NeoOffice is a full-featured set of office applications (including word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation programs) for Mac OS X.
• SoftMaker Office Suite (Win): The Microsoft Word-compatible word processor that is so easy to use that you will wonder why you bothered with Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.org for so long.
• Jarte (Win): A free word processor based on the Microsoft WordPad word processing engine built into Windows.
• Ommwriter A simple text processor that firmly believes in making writing a pleasure once again, vindicating the close relationship between writer and paper. The more intimate the relation, the smoother the flow of inspiration.
• Bean (Mac): Bean is a small, easy-to-use word processor (or more precisely, a rich text editor), designed to make writing convenient, efficient and comfortable.

I would love to collect a more comprehensive list of free alternatives to Microsoft Word. So, like I said, if you have any expedience with other word processing software please share your thoughts in the comments.