Under pressure from the rising competition of the free and open-source Open Office and its competing Open Document Format (ODF), Microsoft pushed for the adoption of an even broader open standard in the early 2000s. The Introduction of Office Open XML (DOCX) It made working with older word processor formats considerably easier, and many users still prefer to save in the older DOC standard, on the off chance that a friend or client with an older version of Microsoft Office might need to open it. Since 2008, Microsoft has released and updated the DOC format specification several times for use in other programs, though not all of Word’s advanced functions are supported by the open documentation.Īfter 2008, the DOC format was integrated into paid and free word processing programs from many vendors. Since Office and Word were the de facto standards for office productivity suites and word processors, respectively, the closed nature of the file format undoubtedly helped Microsoft retain its domination over products like Corel’s WordPerfect. In the 90s and early 2000s, various competing products could work with DOC files, though some of Word’s more exotic formatting and options weren’t fully supported in other word processors. Microsoft Word has used the DOC file format for over 30 years. As an extension explicitly for Microsoft’s proprietary document processor, the format was also proprietary: Word was the only program that officially supported DOC files until Microsoft opened the specification in 2006, after which it was reverse-engineered. Microsoft Word started using the DOC format and file extension over 30 years ago in the very first release of Word for MS-DOS. DOC is only necessary if the file will be used by pre-2007 versions of Word. Both are relatively open, but DOCX is more efficient and creates smaller, less corruptable files . What’s the difference, and which one should you use?ĭOC is a document format used by Microsoft Word, while DOCX is its successor. This wasn’t simply a belated 1990s “extreme” version of the format-that extra X stands for the Office Open XML standard. Starting in 2007 with the updated version of Word (and Microsoft Office), the default save format was changed to DOCX.
It basically applies to six users so you can install Office offline on six computers (PC or Mac), six tablets, or six phones, and get the aforementioned 1TB storage for six users each.For most of its long history, Microsoft Word has used a proprietary format for its saved files, DOC. If you plan on sharing your Office with members of your family, this is the best value-for-money deal you can get. The Microsoft 365 Family package is available for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. The new Microsoft 365 subscription model not only gets you Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, and Outlook, but if you opt for the Family package, it also adds 1TB of OneDrive storage per person, which is a total of up to 6TB.
Once you have finished your trial period, you need to make a decision whether to stick with one of the aforementioned Microsoft Word free versions or pay for the full version. Plus, there are some cool freebies packaged with it.
Now, Microsoft has embraced the subscription model, which actually increases the price but makes a lot of sense if you are using Office on multiple computers for your whole family.
Until a few years ago, buying Microsoft Office was a one-time cost, but a hefty one.
If you temporarily need the full version of Microsoft Word for free on your PC or Mac, get a trial subscription to Microsoft 365. When you need an offline office suite, fully installed on your own PC, then the good old Office is still your best bet. However, you can't use Office Online without an internet connection. It's an easy step to cloud computing for anyone who is already hooked into the Microsoft Office ecosystem. Like with Google Docs, you and your friends can collaborate on the same document in this free Microsoft Word online app. Office Online also makes it easier to share documents and work with others.
And it automatically saves your work, so you don't lose it. It also accurately retains Microsoft Word formatting, unlike other apps. For starters, you can access documents anywhere through the 5GB of free OneDrive storage you get with a Microsoft account. We can think of a few reasons why you should use Office Online instead of paying Microsoft to use Word. All you need is a Microsoft account, which you can register for free, and then choose the Word app. If you have an active internet connection, you can use the free Office Online instead in your browser.