Using ms word and excel on win 8.1

ggoennier

New Member
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Win 8.1 eliminated word and excel. I just updated to 8.1 from win 8 and have alot of documents and spreadsheets from win8 office starter package. What programs can I use to open and edit these. Also, what programs are compatible to create docs and spreadsheets in win 8.1 to be opened and edited in win 7?

Any suggestions would ne appreciated.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron N5030
Win 8.1 eliminated word and excel.
Absolutely NOT true! Windows and MS Office are different products and neither one eliminates the other. I'm using Win 8.1 and continue to use both Word and Excel, originally from Office 2010, and later, after I upgraded, from Office 2013.

Windows 8 office starter package
There's no such product. Office starter is either Office 2010 (or maybe) Office 2013. Check with what came with your PC to see the actual version number.

create docs and spreadsheets in win 8.1 to be opened and edited in win 7?
Once again, you're combining Windows with Office. I've run Office 2007 and Office 2010 in Win7. Haven't tried Office 2013, but know of no reason why it would not work in Windows 7.

Microsoft has been using their new "xml" format files by default since Office 2007 came out. This means that when you save a Word document or Excel spreadsheet in Office 2007 or newer, it will save it as an ".docx" or ".xlsx" file by default -- and then, Office versions 2007, 2010, and 2013 will all be able to use those files without problems.
 

My Computer

Thank you very much for your reply. I'm sorry for confusing the matter, but my problem is, I just bought anew dell laptop that came with win8 installed. The only office suite installed is office 2010 and my only option if I chose to use it is to purchase it. Is there any other programs that I can download for free that will be compatible with .docx and .xls files? Again, sorry for the confusion.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron N5030
Go to www.ninite.com and under "documents" download & install Open Office, Libre Office or Office. They are all compatible to run any MSO application. Try ninite there's a lot of goodies there to be had "all for free"!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP/ENVYdv6
    CPU
    64 bit
    Memory
    8 gig
Libre Office has usually better compatibility with all MS office files than Open Office. It's free and can be downloaded at https://www.libreoffice.org/

For word documents, you can also try Abiword : AbiWord

For excel, I like Gnumeric : http://projects.gnome.org/gnumeric

Another solution might be to use Google Docs which can open a lot of different file formats : Google Docs

For simple viewing of files, you can also download Microsoft's own free viewers (you won't be able to edit with those) : Download Word Viewer from Official Microsoft Download Center, Download Excel Viewer from Official Microsoft Download Center . Great little apps actually, I prefer to have them as default programs for all office files even with MS Office installed, they are much faster and also safer (they don't process macros for example)

All of this is free and/or open source.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Thank you very much oneeyed and remie for your suggestions. Just what I was looking for.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron N5030
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