User Reviews

AbiWord

AbiWord is a free word processing program similar to Microsoft Word. It is suitable for typing papers, letters, reports, memos and any other document. The program has an attractive, professional inte ...

Our Rating:
Download
Read more

Average of 9 user ratings:
Click here to post your own review

Nov 03, 2009
For version:
2.8.1

Simple, yet complete

Interface: 5
Features: 5
Ease of use: 5
Value: 5
Overall:

I admit I don't use word processors much - I can usually do with something as simple as Notepad, even when I'm translating documents. I like the non-cluttered menus and their organization, getting to the function you need couldn't be easier. Also you will find in the menus just the right tools and actions you would have thought of. A close friend who is a total beginner in what concerns computers was having troubles in doing a paper for the university with another widely used office suite, and she only needed to add footnotes. I recommended Abi to her and she has never needed anything else since. Surprisingly, I didn't have to explain her how to use it. I believe that AbiWord has to offer enough features to satisfy virtually everyone. For spreadsheets, another application that's also part of the Gnome desktop and is available for Windows too is Gnumeric. AbiWord is my word processor of choice. MS Word compatible!

Review by: brunetu (2)
Read all 2 reviews by brunetu

Nov 01, 2009
For version:
2.8.1

Conflicting with OpenOffice

Interface: 3
Features: 1
Ease of use: 2
Value: 3
Overall:

I tried almost every version of Abiword, in Windows as well as in Linux. And always there was that nasty incompatibility with OpenOffice. Abi cannot handle docs from OO with pictures, tables, etc. Abi may be nice for simple docs but I'll stick to OO.

Review by: Nicholas (39)
Read all 39 reviews by Nicholas

Sep 17, 2008
For version:
2.4.4

My 2nd fav

Interface: 5
Features: 5
Ease of use: 5
Value: 5
Overall:

This is my 2nd fav to OpenOffice although for newer users, AbiWord may be a nice break in due to being so scaled down compared to OO. Either way, this is another great word processor and of course, MUCH cheaper than MS Word. Free, as a matter of fact. I would recommend this to any user and think it's a wonderful freebie.

Review by: gimpguy (370)
Read all 370 reviews by gimpguy

Mar 12, 2007
For version:
2.4.4

Abiword is a life saver!

Interface: 5
Features: 5
Ease of use: 5
Value: 5
Overall:

AbiWord is very easy to use and looks great. The size of it is very small considering what exactly it is, which works perfectly for me since I have some what of a small hard drive. The only down side of the program is that it doesn't include anything similar to excel, but as long as you don't use excel then that's not a problem. AbiWord gets a definite 5 star rating!

Review by: Galskygge (3)
Read all 3 reviews by Galskygge

Feb 25, 2007
For version:
2.4.4

Good word processor

Interface: 3
Features: 2
Ease of use: 5
Value: 5
Overall:

I was searching a simple and serious alternative to MS Word, and my search ended with Abiword, it has all the features i need, and is relatively light. First of all it's stable (i had several instability problems with Open Office), and does the job very well without all the bell and whistle ala MSWord. Go for it!

Review by: johnick (2)
Read all 2 reviews by johnick

May 29, 2006
For version:
2.4.4

I want it

Interface: 5
Features: 5
Ease of use: 5
Value: 5
Overall:

The only reason I don't use AbiWord instead of MS Word is because it wouldn't be fair to my family, who all use this machine (and MS Word) and I don't want to install excess programs to take up space. When I did download this just to test it, I found it wonderful! I'm actually envious of those who get to use it because it's so much smaller, loads so fast, and has all the tools needed to write and format good documents. MS Word is so supersaturated with tools that people never use that it's just ridiculous. AbiWord, on the other hand, is just right. She's small, beautiful, and young. I want her.

Review by: iceytina (7)
Read all 7 reviews by iceytina

Mar 06, 2006
For version:
2.06

Great surface, bad internals

Interface: 4
Features: 4
Ease of use: 1
Value: 1
Overall:

Each new "stable" edition, time after time after time, brings new, non-obscure bugs. If you want an open source editor, go with Open Office.

Review by: Murrell
First post

Nov 08, 2004
For version:
2.06

A real contender, but with stability issues

Interface: 5
Features: 4
Ease of use: 5
Value: 5
Overall:

Abiword is a very well designed app: clear and logical interface, features adequate for just about any normal text task, and good speed. But on my WinXP Pro SP2 system, at least, attempts to paste and reformat text from web pages invariably cause fatal-error crashes. Doing a select-all and applying a style from the formatting menu seems to reduce the incidence of crashes, but that's a second-best solution. Perhaps this crashing problem is confined to some system configurations. Apart from that, I would cheerfully use Abiword for lots of text editing that doesn't justify firing up bloatware like Word. I hope the developers keep refining this very user-friendly product.

Review by: AxelKassel (2)
Read all 2 reviews by AxelKassel

Jun 27, 2004
For version:
2.06

No japanese?

Interface: 5
Features: 3
Ease of use: 4
Value: 5
Overall:

Looks fantastic, but it doesn't appear to be able to handle Japanese input or fonts. Crashes at every attempt. Wish it worked because it's very lovely software!

Review by: PlasticGiraffe
First post