Microsoft Word is included in all of the Microsoft Office application suites. The most basic (and least expensive) suites also include Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel. Additional suites exist and include other Office programs, such as Microsoft Outlook and Skype for Business.
Do you need Microsoft Word?
If you only want to create simple documents, consisting of paragraphs with bulleted and numbered lists with very little formatting, you don’t need to purchase Microsoft Word. You can use the WordPad application included with Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10. If you need to do more than that though, you’ll need a more powerful word processing program. With Microsoft Word you can choose from a variety of preconfigured styles and designs, which provides an easy way to format long documents with just a single click. You can also insert pictures and videos from your computer and the internet, draw shapes, and create an insert all kinds of charts. If you’re writing a book or creating a brochure, which you can’t do effectively (or at all) in WordPad or an application like Abiword, you can use the features in Microsoft Word to set margins and tabs, insert page breaks, create columns, and even configure the spacing between lines. There are also features that let you create a table of contents with a single click. You can insert footnotes too, as well as headers and footers. There are options to create bibliographies, captions, a table of figures, and even cross-references. If any of these things sound like what you’d like to do with your next writing project, then you’re going to need Microsoft Word.
Do You Have Microsoft Word?
You might already have a version of Microsoft Word on your computer, tablet, or even your phone. Before you make a purchase you should find out. To see if you have Microsoft Word installed on your Windows device: To find out if you have a version of Word on your Mac, look for it in the Finder sidebar, under Applications.
Where to Get Microsoft Word
If you are sure you don’t already have a Microsoft Office suite, you can get the latest version of Microsoft Word with Microsoft 365. Microsoft 365 is a subscription though, something you pay for monthly. If you’re not interested in paying monthly, consider purchasing Office outright. You can compare and purchase all of the available editions and suites at the Microsoft Store. If you want to wait though, you can get Microsoft Word 2019 during the latter part of 2018 by purchasing the Microsoft Office 2019 suite.
The History of Microsoft Word
Over the years there have been many versions of the Microsoft Office suite. Most of these versions came with lower-priced suites that only included the most basic apps (often Word, PowerPoint, and Excel), to higher priced suites that included some or all of them (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, SharePoint, Exchange, Skype, and more). These suite editions had names like “Home and Student” or “Personal”, or “Professional”. There are too many combinations to list here, but what’s important to note is that Word is included with any suite you can buy. Here are the recent Microsoft Office Suites that also contain Word:
Microsoft Word 365) is available and updated regularly in Microsoft 365Word Online is a free limited version.Word 2019 is available in Office 2019Word 2016 is available in Office 2016Word 2013 was available in Office 2013Word 2010 was available in Office 2010Word 2007 was included with Office 2007Word 2003 was included with Office 2003Word 2002 was included in Office XP
Of course, Microsoft Word has existed in some form since the early 1980s and has had versions for most platforms (even from before Microsoft Windows existed).
