Microsoft Works on Windows 10?

olds

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2000
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I am replacing my mother's Vista computer with a new PC with Windows 10.

She has Microsoft Works (and Word ) on her old PC and knows how to use it so I'd like to re-buy it (no idea where disc is) for Windows 10. I've never heard of it, is there a version that works with 10?

I don't find a full Office installation so I assume she has been, for the most part, using Works.

TIA
 
Last edited:

bbhaag

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2011
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I vaguely remember Works. It was a cut down version of Office if I remember right. Anyway, a quick search suggests that Works 9 will run on Windows10 but that was from Amazon reviews.
The price is also absurd considering you can get the latest version of Office Home for just a few dollars more. Perhaps Ebay would be a better place to look but then you don't ever quite know if it's a legit license.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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The price is also absurd considering you can get the latest version of Office Home for just a few dollars more.
But consider, that MS sells subscriptions to Office, now, and it may be hard to find the "ownership" version, that doesn't have to be paid for yearly.

But a copy of Works? Should be good to go, if it's compatible.

Olds, why not introduce her to LibreOffice? It's Free Software.
 

bbhaag

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2011
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You can buy the stand alone installer of Office 2016 on Amazon for $125 no sub required. I'm sure Newegg has a similar price.
Word 9 was $70 on Amazon.....it's a no brainer man. Are we going to seriously debate this?
 

UsandThem

Elite Member
May 4, 2000
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You can buy the stand alone installer of Office 2016 on Amazon for $125 no sub required. I'm sure Newegg has a similar price.

Yeah, that's about the standard price of the stand alone Microsoft Office. Might save a few dollars catching it on sale, but I don't think it changes much.

Now a really good son would maybe see what Mom thinks about the free Libre Office, which is very similar in appearance to classic Microsoft Office. It's what I've used for several years since Microsoft deemed that my Microsoft Office licenses had exceeded their allowed unspecified activation "allowance". It's always nice to pay money for something, and not be allowed to use it because they decided I shouldn't be able to activate it when I upgrade my PC. :mad: ///rant

https://www.libreoffice.org/
 

bbhaag

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2011
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Yeah, that's about the standard price of the stand alone Microsoft Office. Might save a few dollars catching it on sale, but I don't think it changes much.

Now a really good son would maybe see what Mom thinks about the free Libre Office, which is very similar in appearance to classic Microsoft Office. It's what I've used for several years since Microsoft deemed that my Microsoft Office licenses had exceeded their allowed unspecified activation "allowance". It's always nice to pay money for something, and not be allowed to use it because they decided I shouldn't be able to activate it when I upgrade my PC. :mad: ///rant

https://www.libreoffice.org/
Oh man I have to disagree with you on this. A good son would never let his mother anywhere near libre software. IMO it's a mess and the free factor doesn't make up for that.
Mom's and wives are the two people you never want to let anywhere near libre. It's a disaster waiting to happen and they will expect you to clean it up.
 

UsandThem

Elite Member
May 4, 2000
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Oh man I have to disagree with you on this. A good son would never let his mother anywhere near libre software. IMO it's a mess and the free factor doesn't make up for that.
Mom's and wives are the two people you never want to let anywhere near libre. It's a disaster waiting to happen and they will expect you to clean it up.

So what you're really trying to say is you're not a fan of Libre Office? :p

I've never had any issues with it, but I am not a office power user anymore, and I really just use it for typing 'Word' documents.
 

bbhaag

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2011
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So what you're really trying to say is you're not a fan of Libre Office? :p

I've never had any issues with it, but I am not a office power user anymore, and I really just use it for typing 'Word' documents.
No it's not like that man. I don't mind libre I've even used it myself from time to time with decent results.
You're married right? What program does your wife use to type up documents? Try installing Open Office on her pc for week and see how it goes....then try installing it on your mom's pc and see how it goes.
 

UsandThem

Elite Member
May 4, 2000
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No it's not like that man

No it's not like that man. I don't mind libre I've even used it myself from time to time with decent results.
You're married right? What program does your wife use to type up documents? Try installing Open Office on her pc for week and see how it goes....then try installing it on your mom's pc and see how it goes.

My wife only uses her laptop, and basically checks her email, looks at Facebook, and watches online videos. Not a PC power user in any sense of the word. She does any of her "office" document stuff at work, and her company has the subscription model of Microsoft Office, so that's her only choice. As far as installing it on my mom's PC, well that would be really complicated as she's been gone for 10 years now. :( But I understand your point.

I just pointed out to the OP that the free alternative option is there. If he (or she) likes it, great. If not, just buy the stand-alone version of Microsoft Office from Best Buy / Amazon / Newegg, and that would be fine as well. I have no connection to either, I am just a "value" type of person.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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A good son would never let his mother anywhere near libre software.
Not sure that I agree with this. I've heard quite a few stores of how, after switching "Mom" to Linux Mint and LibreOffice and whatnot, support calls and maintenance costs go WAY DOWN. (Of course, that assumes that she's still using the PC, I guess.)

Edit: Just sayin'... Libre software doesn't have "cooties". It may have some warts, though.
 

bbhaag

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2011
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This debate could go all night and then some Lord only knows it has before.haha In the end it's up to olds and what he feels is best for his mom.
It's safe to say we laid out some options for him to explore and if he has anymore questions we are here to help.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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I will add, though, that compatibility between LibreOffice and MS Office files, if it moves between them and gets edited, may be sketchy at best.

But for someone, most likely a "Home user", who isn't going to switch between them, then LibreOffice should be fine, and costs less.
 

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
17,577
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Microsoft Works was discontinued many years ago. It's problematic to run at times even on Windows 7 due to bugs.

No it's not like that man. I don't mind libre I've even used it myself from time to time with decent results.
You're married right? What program does your wife use to type up documents? Try installing Open Office on her pc for week and see how it goes....then try installing it on your mom's pc and see how it goes.

My mum has been using LibreOffice for about ten years, before that it was MSO.

LibreOffice can read most Works WP/spreadsheet docs. I've encountered a few Works docs (maybe created in really ancient versions like 4.0 for Win95) that LO couldn't open. Frankly if someone's needs are so minimal that they've been working with Works, then LO is an improvement by every metric: It's kept up-to-date, it can generally read and write MSOffice documents without being a massive pain, they can send documents to other people without having to hop through crazy hoops (once the default save file types are changed to MSO doctypes) and it has far more features.

For one customer who had been using Works, I suggested LO on their replacement computer, then they panicked when they saw more toolbar buttons than they were used to. I customised the LO toolbars to match Works's feature-for-feature. Panic over.

If the user was super elderly and never used WP/spreadsheets in any way except to write their own stuff and print it, I'd consider using the install files I have for Works SE9 and save them the pain in getting used to new software. For everyone else, they get LO or MSO, because being able to receive and open a doc is pretty much a given for almost everyone these days.

IMO it goes something like this in the event of a user getting a new PC:

MSO: If they already own it, and it's 2007 or newer, no problem.
LO: If they don't own MSO or it's older than 2007, then LO is likely to cause less problems.
Works: For people who consider the Internet a thing to be avoided at almost all costs and just want to type their own stuff and print it. <- Even then, still sometimes problematic on newer versions of Windows.

I'd say I probably have as many customers with LO installed as MSO, give or take ten percent.

One thing I would strongly suggest is to stick to the 'stable' release of LO though (currently 5.4.x). The 'fresh' release can have weird regressions in.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
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No it's not like that man. I don't mind libre I've even used it myself from time to time with decent results.
You're married right? What program does your wife use to type up documents? Try installing Open Office on her pc for week and see how it goes....then try installing it on your mom's pc and see how it goes.
Nonsense. If you can't use libreoffice, you probably shouldn't be allowed to use a computer. It's a program; same as any other. It has the expected tools, and works in the expected way. I don't use office, and I don't support office. If you want an office software from me, you're getting libreoffice. I've had zero problems. I pretty much standardized our office around libreoffice and .odt, and there isn't a person there who's decent with computers. Not like I work with geniuses.
 

RLGL

Platinum Member
Jan 8, 2013
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do some looking online, Office 2016 can be had for about 75.00
 

olds

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2000
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I typed this out last night but apparently never hit "Post Reply".

Ya, the price is high for Works and there is no guarantee that it will work. Office Home is $129 and she has used Word.

I am surprised she can use Works. LibreOffice might take her the rest of her life (she's 78) to learn.

Since she is familiar with Word, I'll just get Office Home and show her what she doesn't know.

Thanks!
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,363
7,514
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I typed this out last night but apparently never hit "Post Reply".

Ya, the price is high for Works and there is no guarantee that it will work. Office Home is $129 and she has used Word.

I am surprised she can use Works. LibreOffice might take her the rest of her life (she's 78) to learn.

Since she is familiar with Word, I'll just get Office Home and show her what she doesn't know.

Thanks!
Libreoffice would be the cheapest first attempt. It's interface is closer to classic Word than modern Office. You might get lucky. If not, you can then buy Office(Is there a way to trial it?), but if she's that bad, you're probably screwed either way. If I'm gonna get screwed, I'll pay less for the experience every time.
 
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Puffnstuff

Lifer
Mar 9, 2005
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There are many alternatives if you don't want to pay anything to perform basic functions. I still prefer the office suite professional over anything else and currently am using 2016 pro on both of my pc's.
 

SlowBox

Member
Jul 4, 2018
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Don't do it, as it is a cardinal sin. JK JK. Try compability mode set it to windows 7 or something,, and try. good luck
 

daveybrat

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jan 31, 2000
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I've installed MS Works 2009 (the last version made) on many Windows 10 systems and it still works fine. Really just for customer's that have old files created in Works.

OpenOffice and LibreOffice are my favorite freeware full suites.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,363
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I've installed MS Works 2009 (the last version made) on many Windows 10 systems and it still works fine. Really just for customer's that have old files created in Works.

OpenOffice and LibreOffice are my favorite freeware full suites.
Openoffice is dead software. I wouldn't ever consider it for any purpose. If the one or two devs that are left ever come up with a good idea, Libreoffice will incorporate it, but Openoffice can't use Libreoffice's improvements.
 

OlyAR15

Senior member
Oct 23, 2014
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I'm not a big fan of Microsoft Works. In fact, I don't like it at all; it gives me a headache every time I attempt to use it on someone else's PC. That's the main reason I installed Microsoft Office Professional Plus. I had to buy a product key to activate it, but it's totally worth it.
So you necro’d a three year old post just to say this?