Not to sound like a decrepit, rambling corpse about it, but back in my day Word used to be a pre installed program that came with your computer, if you were running Windows.
No subscription. Just program.
On your computer. You got to use it forever and ever and never had to worry about it going away.
Because it was physically on your computer. As a program. That you actually owned. Not because you got it separately, but because it was a standard inclusion with your computer.
I'm sorry but I'll just never get over it. I remember when companies cared about their products being usable out of the box. I remember when our things belonged to us.
Old man shaking fist at cloud, wherein the cloud is the background of the Windows 98 logo.
i have a suggestion
ask and you shall receive
oh i seem to have dropped a link it would be a shame if anyone went there and downloaded an extremely old copy of microsoft word...
thank you for the suggestion, @i-suggest-piracy!
Or use LibreOffice, a free, open source software project that replicates Microsoft Office programs but doesn't require you to log in and doesn't track your activity and info.
LibreOffice is a free office suite
Side note: while piracy can definitely be a way to subvert corporations, supporting free open source software (abbreviated sometimes as FOSS) developed by people who care about maintaining a safe, secure, and private internet is another good way of doing so, with the added benefit of frequent updates that keep the programs secure and modern. Additionally, it is legal to modify the code and create your own version of the software which can then be released under the same FOSS license, producing communities of people who create specific programs or mods that cater to their needs. Being open source also means that anyone with the knowhow can look through the code and verify that there is nothing malicious inside that could be tracking information or otherwise leads to a breach in privacy, which keeps programmers honest and accountable and allows for community input about potential security breaches.
Obviously these don't replace things like games or movies that are no longer commercially available or are produced by people you don't want to financially support, but in cases like this, FOSS is certainly something to consider. Learn how to be discerning because, like any program, not all FOSS is created equally, but you can use this as an opportunity to develop computer literacy and good online security practices.
but… 🥺 no piracy… 👉👈…?
OfficeLibre has AI and annyoing ads now. Either someone needs to go into the code to remove all that or we need another option. It was kinda clunky before that anyways and now its barely usable. So...yo ho ho ho! Hoist yer flags high!
What?? No it doesn't. They're a donation-based nonprofit with a ton of community participation. They have neither budget nor interest in cramming AI into the software for no reason.
This is what the current version looks like on my machine. All the key functions of Word and none of the bullshit. If you're seeing ads you've downloaded a janky ripoff and you should replace it with the primary version:
LibreOffice is a free office suite
