Discovering Microsoft Word as a great ereader

[dhume01]

After a long journey (multiple Sony and Amazon devices, android tablets), I’ve come to the realization that one of the best ereaders was there all along – Microsoft Word. One of the best features is macros / VBA, so you can have a complex set of adjustments to any document to fine tweak them to look just how you want them (font, line spacing, indent, spacing between characters, etc). I’m not saying that other programs don’t have similar functionality, but with Word I can get it just right, everytime. It has a “Read Mode” that changes the functionality from a Word Processor to ereading software. I have a 13.3 inch Lenovo with an anti-glare IPS screen where the text is very sharp and it makes ereading very easy on the eyes (not to mention Windows 10 has great amber light control built in with Night Mode). Anyone else using Word for ereading?

[LinuxArie]

Just tried it with LibreOffice Writer and FreeOffice Textmaker with an epub.
LibreOffice says the file is corrupt, Textmaker says that file type is not supported

[Quoth]

I think a terrible idea compared to the free & open source ereader that's distributed with Calibre. Works on Windows, Mac & Linux.

I'm pretty sure all the versions of Word I have are useless as an eReader App.

Macros & VBA are an evil feature of Word badly designed so exploited to spread malware. So I always had both disabled.

A huge bloated expensive Wordprocessor now being depreciated in favour of Office 365 as an ereader? It's not even that well supported on the Mac, though Word and Excel were released for the Mac before MS had a properly working Windows. I still have a copy of Word 2.0a which works on Win3.11 and probably on Win 3.0. It was much better than any other Windows WP even back in 1993. Office 4.3, then Office 95, then 2000, XP and Office 2003. Office 2007 introduced the stupid ribbon, but a 3rd party plug in gets rid of it.

[Quoth]

Actually I create an ePub from my wordprocessor files (or web pages via a Wordprocessor) using Calibre and proof read or generally read on real eInk, usually a Kobo Libra, but I started with a Kindle PW3 when it was released. Anything that runs a real wordprocessor is too heavy for an armchair or bed and too short battery life.

I only use the 10" tablet for larger PDFs such as manuals and datasheets.

[Sirtel]

I only read books on eink. And I have the formatting exactly as I want there thanks to the calibre editor. I don't have to constantly adjust the settings on my ereaders, as all my books are edited and processed before loading them on the devices.

Web articles I usually read on my laptop or Surface tablet and I don't really care about their formatting, as they're pretty short reads compared to novels. If the layout or font is particularly annoying, I use a browser extension to change it, but that's rare.

Ebooks and web articles make up 99% of my reading material. Other kinds of documents are vanishingly rare. So I really have no use for Word (which I don't even have, there's no point in buying something you almost never use). I have the Libre Office installed, but seldom use it.

Of course I have the Office suite on my work laptop, given to me by my employer, but I don't use that machine for any personal stuff or activity. It's strictly for work.

[BookCat]

I'd rather have a dedicated eink ereader. If I'm on my computer, I'll "just google that" and fall into a rabbit hole. I can't do that on my Paperwhite - no wifi (deliberately).

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I think a terrible idea compared to the free & open source ereader that's distributed with Calibre. Works on Windows, Mac & Linux.

I'm pretty sure all the versions of Word I have are useless as an eReader App.

Macros & VBA are an evil feature of Word badly designed so exploited to spread malware. So I always had both disabled.

A huge bloated expensive Wordprocessor now being depreciated in favour of Office 365 as an ereader? It's not even that well supported on the Mac, though Word and Excel were released for the Mac before MS had a properly working Windows. I still have a copy of Word 2.0a which works on Win3.11 and probably on Win 3.0. It was much better than any other Windows WP even back in 1993. Office 4.3, then Office 95, then 2000, XP and Office 2003. Office 2007 introduced the stupid ribbon, but a 3rd party plug in gets rid of it.

So you don't like it?

[Pajamaman]

I think developing Windows and Microsoft products has become a leviathan task. I read a post by a MS developer that stated that the change process in MS is terrible. Changes are avoided in case it impacts something else. Why would someone change something when if they make a problem they get into trouble, and if they improve something it will not be noticed and the will receive no recognition. What changes that are made are done only in response to big cash clients' wishes. No wonder so much of Word works poorly and is a pain to use.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

So you don't like it?

Word 2.0a to Word 2003 were the best Wordprocessing on Windows at the time. They lost the plot after 2003 on almost all versions of Windows and Office. I have Word 2007 and it was a waste.
Win7 was merely a service pack to fix Vista and ought to have been free to Vista users.

[binaryhermit]

I'd argue that given the rise of stuff like Google Docs, desktop word processor software is somewhat less relevant than it was around the time Word 2003 was state of the art. (Also that Android is the most deployed user-facing OS now)

And Libreoffice (and before it Openoffice.org or whatever it was) has made Microsoft Office even less relevant.
(Was Word 2003 the last version before they went with their ribbon interface?)

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

I'd argue that given the rise of stuff like Google Docs, desktop word processor software is somewhat less relevant than it was around the time Word 2003 was state of the art. (Also that Android is the most deployed user-facing OS now)

And Libreoffice (and before it Openoffice.org or whatever it was) has made Microsoft Office even less relevant.
(Was Word 2003 the last version before they went with their ribbon interface?)

Yes, Word 2003 was the last non-ribbon Office (well not including Office 2004 for Mac). Ribbon is fine IMO and the least of Word's problems.

[conan50]

MS made wordprocessing a complex mess that businesses now depend upon. Seems so many better, less expensive options. Last thing I want is to use MS for my books

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Word 2.0a to Word 2003 were the best Wordprocessing on Windows at the time. They lost the plot after 2003 on almost all versions of Windows and Office. I have Word 2007 and it was a waste.
Win7 was merely a service pack to fix Vista and ought to have been free to Vista users.

I'm still using Office 2003 on my newish laptop. It barks about registering every time I launch a program, but clicking "agree" gets me to the program. I use Word and Publisher on a fairly regular basis.

[Quoth]

You can phone MS to an automated number and you go to phone register screen (number may be wrong, use search) and 2003 Registration works even on WINE. It's the best version for WINE. I have 2002 on an XP laptop I archived as VM on Linux as the laptop is from April 2002 and nearly dead. Free MS tool enables this to run VMs of old PCs on Win10, but Linux also includes Oracle Virtual box. My old XP laptop install as a VM on external USB 2.0 HDD runs faster that it did IRL (1.8GHz P4 upgraded to 512M and 64 M GPU card)

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Word 2.0a to Word 2003 were the best Wordprocessing on Windows at the time. They lost the plot after 2003 on almost all versions of Windows and Office. I have Word 2007 and it was a waste.
Win7 was merely a service pack to fix Vista and ought to have been free to Vista users.

I have 2007, but it loses occasional spaces between words from more recent versions.