Pop shared this with us in microsoft.public.word.newusers:

Amedee Van Gasse wrote:
TODS shared this with us in microsoft.public.word.newusers:

I just got a new hard drive and installed the Windows XP
software
for it but it did not come with Word or other Microsoft
programs, is
there any way that i can download these for free?

No, but there is another office suite that is "Free" (which is
better
than just "free") and it's called OpenOffice
(http://www.openoffice.org).
And of course it's compatible with MS Office.

--
Amedee Van Gasse using XanaNews 1.16.5.2
If it has an "X" in the name, it must be Linux?
Please don't thank me in advance. Thank me afterwards if it
works or
hit me in the face if it doesn't. ;-)

Well, yeah, it's compatible, and worth having, but ... since it's
78Meg or more, be prepared to spend some time if you're on a
dialup. It's not EXACTLY the same as Word though; there ARE
differences, and I know at least one person was having trouble
using it for a class because of those diffs. So, how "good"
openoffice is depends on what you're going to use it for.

Pop

I should have added: YMMV

--
Amedee Van Gasse using XanaNews 1.16.5.2
If it has an "X" in the name, it must be Linux?