What WP program are you guys using?

[RocketFoot]

Just curios as to what word processing programs other writers are using.

I am using MS Word 2007 and have no complaints so far. :)

[stormie]

Same one as you, but I save all my work as a Word 97-2003 doc. Some editors couldn't open my Word 2007 docs when submitted.

I have some issues with Word 2007, but it'll do. (Mine tends to act flaky at times.)

[DeleyanLee]

Word 97 at home. Word 07 at work.

I've played with Open Office, but still prefer Word.

[RocketFoot]

Same one as you, but I save all my work as a Word 97-2003 doc. Some editors couldn't open my Word 2007 docs when submitted.

I have some issues with Word 2007, but it'll do. (Mine tends to act flaky at times.)
There is an option to make your work backward compatible with 2003 when you open a new doc. I'm not sure if you can convert once you started a doc in 2007 format, though...

[scarletpeaches]

Yes, you can. You just have to re-save it as a backwards-compatible document.

So yeah, put me down as another '07 user.

[jjacobs]

I use Word 2003. I've tried 2007, but the hundreds of papers I had to write in college has made me defiant to change.

[Adam]

OpenOffice. It's free and does everything I need.

[Silent Rob]

Word 2003 - it's what they put on my work computer (thinking I might actually use it for work, the fools! Mwah hah hah). :)

[Kathleen42]

Word 2007. I figured I had to make the adjustment for work so I might as well have it at home as well. If I need to send something to someone with an older copy, I just save down.

[Alaskagirl]

Well, when I use MS Office, I use 2007. I think it works pretty well.

But for writing, I use WriteWay. Beyond anything I've ever used. You can download a free trial, and the professional version is still really cheap. (Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with the company in any way - I just think it's a good program!)

[bettielee]

Am I the only Mac person? I use Pages and I love it. I would rather shoot myself in the foot than use a Microsoft word processing program.

[caromora]

I use RoughDraft and Word 2007.

[Kitty Pryde]

I use Word 2007. I kinda wish it still looked like older versions of Word, because I'm always wanting to use various program features but I have NO IDEA where they are hiding.

And yeah, all the moaning about people being unable to open my Word 2007 documents tends to enrage me. There's a thingy you can download for Word 2003 to let you view and change 2007 documents (and save as 2003 ones).

[Dale Emery]

I use RoughDraft and Word 2007.

I loved RoughDraft (http://www.salsbury.f2s.com/) when I was using Windows. Clean and simple, and the "side notes" feature was very helpful for tracking what I wanted to accomplish in whatever scene I was writing.

Now I use Scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html). It has a nice combination of features for planning and organizing, for writing, and for preparing the manuscript. It's both flexible and simple, which apparently (given my experience with other writing software) is a difficult balance to strike. It's Mac only, but it's totally worth switching to Macs just so you can use Scrivener.

Dale

[scarletpeaches]

Dale, Dale, Dale, my friend. You need to see the light and use OneNote (http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/onenote/default.aspx). :D

[Dale Emery]

Dale, Dale, Dale, my friend. You need to see the light and use OneNote (http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/onenote/default.aspx). :D

Oy. I've seriously test-driven OneNote on six separate occasions. I never could get the hang of it.

For note-taking, I once loved EverNote, but then the buggers switched their focus to online and phone features, and otherwise changed things in ways that made it less useful for me. Bah.

The last gizmo I used for notes and planning on Windows was Super Notecard. A little clunky, and not great for writing, but it did have some very nice features for organizing and connecting bits of research and planning.

Finally, OneNote isn't available on Macs--yet another good reason to switch to Macs. ;)

Dale

[caromora]

I've been test-driving Liquid Story Binder, which a lot of people have compared to Scrivener. So far I like it, but the simplicity of RoughDraft can't be beat.

I actually do have a Mac, but it's an older one and still runs OS 10.3. I'm pretty sure Scrivener only works with 10.4.

[alleycat]

I primarily use Word 2003. I use PageFour for some business related uses, and occasional to do some brainstorming "on paper" with it. I use Movie Magic Screenwriter for scripts.

I sometime test things just to check them out, so I have a bunch of other stuff like OneNote, NewNovelist, Celtx, Snippets, SceneWriter, and quite a few more. I can't even remember all of them. I rarely use any of them.

[Miguelito]

OpenOffice Writer. Although, I have to say that I'm mighty impressed with MS Word 2007. I don't use Word, however, because I can't run it in Ubuntu.

[Williebee]

I think I've used most of the word processing apps out there, but now and again I come across one I haven't tried yet. (Like Liquid Story Binder, I'll be trying that out tonight THANKS!)

Daily, I'll use MS Word, everything from 97 to 2K7, and Open Office. O.O has been my go to program. More and more though, I find myself online using Google Apps.

I also used WordPerfect for years. Nowadays, the only ones I know using that are legal professionals.

I've become convinced that it is like any other tool, the one that fits you is the right one.

BTW? If you want Office 2007 to look like 2003? Start here. Ubitmenu (http://www.ubit.ch/software/ubitmenu-languages/) is a free (for PRIVATE USE) tool to "turn back the clock", at least menu bar-wise.

As always, your mileage may vary. Use at your own risk. Be kind to each other.

[scottishpunk]

I type in Abiword, a free word-processing program because I'm too cheap to buy Microsoft Office. I'm a big fan of freeware programs. For screenwriting, I use the free program Celtx, which I love and would recommend to anyone who works on screenplays. www.celtx.com

[Adam Israel]

Scrivener. It does everything I need, the way I want to do it.

[RonjaCecilie]

Open Office. I'm broke. And it works fine. Some times.

[Samantha's_Song]

I use MS Word 2003, but am considering making the change to 2007 when we come back from our holiday. I also use OneNote for keeping research, pictures etc in for my WIPs.

[quickWit]

Scrivener. It's the cat's pajamas.

[Summonere]

Mostly use Open Office Word. In fact, I'm typing this note in the 3.0 version before cut'n-paste posting. Lots of times, though, I end up modifying and saving my OO .rtf and .doc files in Microsoft Word 97 because those OO files don't always look the same in the latter as in the former, and most editors I deal with request MSWord formats of the aforementioned kind.

Word 2007 introduced a new format, .docx, that doesn't work at all with my earlier version of Word, which is why many editors specify the older format. Like me, many of them are still apparently using decade old (or more) software.

(Yo, Miguelito, another Ubuntu user, here. Tried to run a few MS things in Wine and gave up.)

[Williebee]

Summoner, in case you don't already have it, here's the link (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en) to the 0ffice 2007 compatibility pack. Let's previous versions open and use docx files.

[alleycat]

Even for AW, a word processing thread turned into a tea drinking thread is quite a meander.

[scarletpeaches]

Caffeine is a great motivator.

Any true writer would understand that MS Word 2007 and Twining's Assam go together like...well, like Colin and Jared.

[KTC]

word 2003

[Clair Dickson]

I have Word2003 on my desktop, 2007 on my laptop. During Summer School and at the real estate office, I use 2000.

However, I SO want to replace Office2007 with Office2010! 2010 fixes the ONE thing that I dislike about 2007... 2010 has fully customizable ribbons. Now I can put back my custom toolbar/ribbon with all my frequently used commands. *happy dance!*

[Summonere]

Summoner, in case you don't already have it, here's the link (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en) to the 0ffice 2007 compatibility pack. Let's previous versions open and use docx files.

Thanks. Didn't have that. Didn't know about it, in fact.

[caromora]

I've now completely converted to Liquid Story Binder. My productivity has gone way up since I started using it. Everything I need, as a writer, is right there in that one program. It's awesome. I'm definitely going to shell out the $$ for a copy (there's a 30 day trial).

[Brandi636]

I now have Word 2007 on my computer, and I am slowly getting the hang of it, but I definitely miss the old version. It still takes me forever to figure out how to work some of the functions!

[BardSkye]

I'll stick with my Corel Word and paste it into Microsoft's version if I must.

[RocketFoot]

I like 2007, but I'll definitely be interested in 2010...just not to excited about dropping the cash to upgrade again!

[Dana-Lynn]

I use Word 2003 and have always loved it. I tried 2007 but didn't like it NEARLY as much as 2003, so I went back. lol

:tongue

[groovyville]

I use Word 2007 but because my laptop is the only computer that I use that has it, I save everything that I ever think I want to open somewhere else as a word 2003 document.

The word 2007 not looking like the older versions is driving me crazy too, but I'm getting used to it slowly.
(also learning how to alter the default spacing settings and font settings to the way I'm used to has made me much happier- thanks Williebee!)