Developer Justin Marshall used old Word's original source code, released by Microsoft in 2014
Sounding off: Microsoft's push to bake AI into every product and service it sells is understandably facing some backlash. Even Office is turning into a vessel for Redmond's chatbots, which may be why one developer decided to go back in time instead, releasing a wild modern port of an early Word release.
Joplin is a free, open-source note-taking app that supports end-to-end encryption, letting you securely create and sync notes across all your devices. The latest version improves accessibility, adds voice typing, and features a redesigned "New Note" menu.
FocusWriter is a minimalist word processor tailored towards writers who need zero distractions on their desktop. Specialized features include progress tracking, time scheduling, and project management.
LibreOffice latest update delivers over 55 bug fixes and enhancements, boosting stability, legacy format compatibility, and privacy features. Unless you want to pay for Microsoft Office (currently $59), this is a great alternative.
LibreOffice 24.8.2 is the second release of the LibreOffice 24.8 family which introduces more privacy features, a new password-based ODF encryption, improved support for multi-page floating tables, and general UI enhancements.
A hot potato: We've seen companies use plenty of underhand, cruel, and legally questionable ways of forcing workers back into the office. Indian multinational IT consulting firm HCL Technologies has implemented what sounds like a new one: telling its workers to come back in at least three days per week or lose vacation days.