Is there a free version of Microsoft Word for Android?

No need to wait for Microsoft Office for Android. These free suites are available right now.

Don't want to wait for the final release of Microsoft Office for Android tablets to get the full power of an office suite -- and don't want to pay a penny for it? I've got four great Android office suites you can get right now. None of them cost even a penny.

Quip

Use Quip and throw what you know about Office suites out the window. It's a combination word processor, spreadsheet, to-do list, and collaboration tool that works not just on Android devices, but on iOS, the PC, and the Mac. It's been specifically to to work in the cloud and on mobile devices. The document-creation tools aren't as sophisticated as Microsoft Office's, but that's not where Quip shines. It's spectacular at collaboration, and it also lets you import documents from cloud including Google Drive, Dropbox, and Evernote. If you want to spend lots of time formatting your documents to make them pretty, this won't be for you. But if you want to work with others, it is.

Polaris Office

This suite has a very un-Office-like interface, and depending on what you think about Office, that's either very good or very bad. It looks a bit barebones, but it gets the job done, whether you want to create a word processing document, spreadsheet, slide show, and more. You'll have to create an account when you first launch the program, and once you do that, you're ready to go. There's also a version for iOS, so if you're looking for multi-platform support, you've got it.

WPS Office

This slick-looking suite has a Microsoft-Office-like look, so if you know Microsoft Office, you'll get up to speed quickly with it. It integrates with a variety of cloud storage services, including Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, and OneDrive, can print wirelessly, and has plenty of formatting features. There's also a way to let you share your files and presentations with others via WiFi. If you're multi-platform, it works on iOS, Windows, and Linux.

Google Docs

Wherever you are, Google Docs is there, too. It's a fully featured Office suite, with plenty of tools for formatting, although not as comprehensive as Microsoft Office. But it's superb for collaboration, integrates with Google Drive and Gmail, and works on any device with an Internet connection.

This story, "4 great free alternatives to Microsoft Office for Android" was originally published by ITworld .

Preston Gralla is a contributing editor for Computerworld and the author of more than 45 books, including Windows 8 Hacks (O'Reilly, 2012) and How the Internet Works (Que, 2006).

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