Microsoft Word for Mac

With the 2016 version of Word for Mac, Microsoft offers a solid and long-awaited update to an essential OS X application.

Pros

Brawny word processor: With its solid collection of templates, useful formatting and design tools, and powerful collaboration capabilities, Microsoft Word is what every other word processor is measured against.

Refreshed look: Microsoft's update brings the Mac version of Word a bit more in line with its Windows counterpart, adding the ribbon, for example. Word 2016 for Mac is also optimized for Retina displays and can handle full-screen-mode Multi-Touch gestures.

Living in the cloud: Microsoft Word -- and the rest of the Office for Mac suite -- has hooks into the cloud via Microsoft's OneDrive service. You can store, edit, and automatically update your Word documents from a Mac, a PC, or any mobile device that's part of your plan.

Real-time collaboration: You can share a Word document either from your Mac or through Office Online, and then collaborate in real time with colleagues via OneDrive. Comments are now threaded, making it easier to carry on a conversation in a file.

Fresh design: The ribbon's Design tab for Word offers tools for sprucing up your documents, giving you quick control over colors, fonts, borders, and more.

Cons

Lacking a few OS X features: While it is very much a Mac app, Word for Mac doesn't use OS X's Autosave or support the ability to rename, tag, and change the location of a document in a document's title bar.

Bottom Line

Mac users waited five years between updates to the OS X version of Word, but Microsoft used the time to freshen its word processor's look and expand its collaborations tools, including real-time editing with colleagues. If you are using an earlier version of Word or work collaboratively, this is an essential revision.

More Resources

http://download.cnet.com/Microsoft-Office-2016/3000-18483_4-76432866.html

http://download.cnet.com/LibreOffice/3000-18483_4-75337652.html

http://download.cnet.com/blog/download-blog/google-spruces-up-drive-apps-templates