Top 5 Word Processors [2010 Edition]

Most of us use a word processor on a daily basis. In this article, I share five of the best word processors available and why you should consider each one for use. There are so many word processing programs out there that it would be ridiculous to say these are the only five you should consider; however, these are five of the best. Which ones did I miss?

OpenOffice.org Writer

OpenOffice.org is an open-source office suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases, and more. Writer, the word-processing application that comes with the suite, is the result of user feedback and constant improvements over the years. I really like OpenOffice.org and would switch to it if I didn’t already have a Microsoft Office license.

Download OpenOffice.org

Google Docs

Google Docs is an online suite that comes with all the features you’d expect from an office suite. I use Google Docs mainly for online web forms to collect survey responses etc.

Here’s a video that does a great job of explaining what Google Docs is about:

Try Google Docs

Microsoft Office Word 2010

Microsoft Office Word 2010 is Micrsoft’s latest release of thier popular word-processing program. This software is, in my opinion, the best word processor available (and also the most expensive.)

From Micrsoft’s site:

Microsoft Word 2010 offers the best of all worlds: enhanced features to create professional-quality documents, easier ways to work together with people, and almost-anywhere access to your files.

Designed to give you the finest document-formatting tools, Word 2010 also helps you easily organize and write your documents more efficiently, and stay within reach so you can capture your best ideas whenever and wherever they occur.

Watch a demo of Office Word 2010.

Buy Microsoft Office Word 2010 (Which version should I buy?)

Jarte

Jarte is a simple word processor that I’ve used to write posts for this site with in the past. The program is super simple, uses next to no system resources and comes with the following features:

• Fully compatible with Windows XP, Vista and 7
• Tabbed interface to provide easy access to open documents
• Opens files with file extension RTF, file extension DOC, and file extension DOCX
• Fast start up
• Compact screen size
• Hot Connect lets you use Jarte with other programs
• Optional “Clickless Operation” feature greatly reduces clicking
• Can be run as a portable app directly from a pluggable USB flash drive
• High quality spell checker with custom user dictionary
• Included spelling dictionaries: English (American, British, & Canadian), Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Dutch
• Link to, or import, your existing custom Word spelling dictionaries
• Support for templates
• Export to HTML or PDF
• Single click bookmarking and bookmark navigation
• Send documents via e-mail
• Full drag and drop file support
• Instant access to recently opened documents and folders
• Instant access to documents and folders designated as favorites
• Adjustable document zoom
• Detailed Help documentation

Download Jarte (Read the Windows Guides review of Jarte)

Q10

Q10 is a feature-packed freeware editor with the following features:

• Full-screen to help you focus on your work
• Live text statistics of word, page, and character counts–updated live as you type
• Change the colors, line spacing, first line indent, paragraph spacing, font…
• A single self-contained executable file. That’s all. Easy to use with a pendrive, so you can carry your writing environment with you everywhere.
• Built in spell checker
• Any paragraph starting with “..” is considered a note. You can get a list of all notes in the current document and jump instantly to any of them
• Type writer sound effects
• Many more features listed here

Download Q10 (Read the Windows Guides review of Q10)

What did I miss? What other word processors do you use?