The pathetic term "word processor" is exactly the right description for Microsoft Word. Fortunately, there are nimble alternatives for both Mac and Windows, some of them free. They all let you write without getting in your way. A few are even designed for writers.
I despise Microsoft Word. No, I take that back. What I hate is that Word masquerades as software for writing. The pathetic term "word processor" is exactly the right description for Word. This is a program that cares about form, not content. Word is also a monster, poky to load and rapacious with memory. I never use it unless I must, usually when I'm editing someone else's ms (manuscript) or a publication insists on tracking changes.
Fortunately, there are nimble alternatives for both Mac and Windows, some of them free. A small selection is discussed here. They all let you write without getting in your way. A few are even designed for writers.
I discovered some of these programs on the site devoted to what many people think is the best writing software for the Mac, maybe the best writing software there is, Scrivener. A 30-day trial is free; $39.95 to keep.
You can write in Scrivener, even huge documents, but the program also claims to be an outliner and something of a project manager. From the site: "keep all of your research — image files, PDF documents, movies, sound files, and web pages — right inside Scrivener." An attractive notion, to have a chunk of research available right next to your ms (manuscript) without having to jump to a different program.
(NASW members can read the entire article — and the rest of the Spring 2008 ScienceWriters — by logging into the members area.)
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