Open Office - anyone know anything about this programme?

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My trial version of Word 2007 has expired leaving me unable to modify the docs I had already written and saved in it. (Unless I fork out for the full version of course, or pay our PC guy for a pirate version...)

A friend has told me that Open Office is a programme I can download that is compatible with Word 2007.
Does that mean I'll be able to open docs saved in Word 2007 and modify them then?
Will people I send attachments, to written and saved in Open Office, be able to open them even if they don't have the programme?

Anyone know anything about this programme?
Thanks!

Yes, OpenOffice is a good (and free) alternative to Microsoft Office. You'll be able to open and edit Word docs in the OpenOffice word processing program

It's free and fine.

You can edit Word documents. It has its own file extensions, but you can save documents as .doc, .xls etc.

It is not compatible with the latest Microsoft Office files (.docx, .xlsx etc), or wasn't when I checked a few months ago. It may have been upgraded since then though.

Just remember to always Save As, so you can specify a microsoft format, otherwise plain saving goes to the Open format.

yes I use it and it's great.

Great, thanks!
Will try it.

I'd recommend it too.