yr 11 trio been told we need Word on pc for coursework!

[triplets]

Hi, I am not very savvy about these things, they have been told to use Microsoft Word to access their work. We have Office which the kids say is no good. Have looked on Amazon etc but no sure what I am supposed to be buying, also looks very expensive. Can anyone help please?

Why can't MSoft devise a website service...

They have. Skydrive allows you to create and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents online - not as powerful as the PC versions but pretty good. You can then use one of the Microsoft free email services (Hotmail, for example) to email the document. Alternatively you can download it from Skydrive onto your PC and use your regular email account. Go to www.skydrive.com.

Alternatively, OP, you say you have Office. If you do that includes Word so I am a little puzzled as to why your kids say it is no good. The only obvious thing I can think of is that yours is an old version and won't open documents made in the latest version. If that is the problem you can fix it by downloading and installing the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack which you can get here.

Thank you prh47, I've used Skydrive a bit but didn't realise it could do so much. Will definitely try it in future. It's powerpoint we struggle with; the spreadsheet & text editors are adequate, but Empress is truly pants.

There is a students version of Microsoft office which is cheap for students (and teachers too I think). The school should be able to advise.

Yes and sometimes you can get a reduced copy through work schemes for a nominal fee

DD Y11 says you do need word, the same version as school or a newer one. (emphasis is hers)

She has a multi machine student version of office

OK, you need to find out what file format the documents are in (it will be the three or four letters after the . in the file name, usually .doc or .docx for Microsoft Word)

Also, what kind of "Office" do you have? With year if it has a year. Microsoft Office is the name of a group of programs which includes Microsoft Word. OpenOffice and LibreOffice are free alternatives, ie, they do the same thing but are not made by the same company. They are a perfectly good alternative but teens may initially snub them because they look slightly different. It's worth persevering, make a copy of the work and try opening it and editing it and see if it breaks it or not. Chances are, it won't.

It may be that there are features in the documents which are created in the newest version of Microsoft Word which are not compatible with even the newest versions of Open/LibreOffice.

Microsoft Office is about £100 to buy - you can't get around this. The 365 version still works out at about £100 per year, which when they only bring a new version out every 2-3 years and the latest version should be good for 5-7 years, is a bit of a swizz.

You can use Google Documents to edit and share most Microsoft Office compatible files for free online (Word, Excel, I think Powerpoint too) Again these may not support advanced features.

I think it would be unlikely that school is handing out homework which includes advanced features of Microsoft Word. If they are this is silly because not every pupil will have access to this.

If you have Windows 7 you can install Microsoft Office Starter which is free but comes with ads. Unfortunately it doesn't work on Windows 8 or Windows XP.

Starball, ask her why, she may not know of the other options. If there is a compelling reason to use word then so be it but firstly it's a different school (presumably!) so they won't have the same requirements, and secondly they may have been told by the school "You need Word" but the teacher may not know there are alternatives to Word.

Ask her why she needs word and I can tell you if she's right or some information is missing somewhere along the chain.

Dont buy office from amazon, pc world etc.. Really overpriced..

Buy from software4students sorry cannot do links on phone.. Its cheaper and for students

Home and student is just under £100 and 365 is under £70

Thank you everyone, I am going to wait until Monday and phone the school. As you can tell I am not very techy, you are a brainy bunch! My dh is not very well atm he was diagnosed with cancer 6 years ago and gets very tired and irritable! Three teens (16 on Mon) all nagging him and he can`t cope. Lots of good advice, thank you.

oh trips, didn't notice it was you! Let me know how you get on, you can PM me if you need any help talking through it all. All you need on top of the cooker too!

I have a suspicion your DD wants the newest version of word rather than needing it.

Certainly my son's comp steered us towards the free software, they use it a lot themselves and only have the Microsoft software at all as the students will need it when they go out to work.

Because school is 100% Microsoft windows based anything else causes it go into melt down and throw toddler tantrums

Ah, DH has pointed out that skydrive software requires payment too. So not free, and better to have local copy probably for full functionality.

skydrive software requires payment

I've never paid a penny for Skydrive and I have access to the features mentioned without installing any software on my PC at all. The Skydrive desktop app is also free but is not needed for editing Office documents. As far as I am aware the only thing you have to pay for is additional storage if you need more than the 7GB that comes for free.

If you have a Skydrive account just login and click on Create. The options offered should include Word document, Excel workbook and Powerpoint presentation.

trips, my trio use Google documents.

Not sure if this is available for students, but is for staff. If your school has a Microsoft Volume Licencing agreement - a way for the school to "rent" Microsoft software very cheaply. You may be able to get a copy of Office via the school, iirc it is £9.95 and covers up to 3 computers at home.
This may not be available for students as the volume licencing agreement cost is based on the number of staff. Plus probably a complete administrative nightmare.