Two questions:

I may have to get a new OS to use with Parallels; Can anyone tell me if word 2002 is compatible with windows 7 home premium (or any version of windows 7)?

IF not, can anyone tell me if it's possible to get just microsoft word (any version) separately and not as part of microsoft office?



I think that covers all of it. I upgraded to OS X Mavericks, which works fine, but can't start my parallels from the boot camp partition and I can't reinstall windows XP (tried it once, but got a message that I had exceeded the number of installations or something like that)

It is possible to purchase Word separately but often it is less expensive to simply buy an Office suite. The only version currently being sold by MicroSoft or by retailers is Office/Word 2013/365. You can purchase earlier versions from others.

Office/Word 2003 is compatible with Windows 7. I do not believe Word 2002 is.

I've seen Windows XP Pro on eBay for less than $30.00 including shipping.

If you are going with a Ribbon Version of Word, you may want to go with the native Mac version. I believe the latest of that is Word 2012 or 2011 but could be mistaken. I would not advise using Word 2008. If you switch to one of the modern versions of Word, be prepared for a bit of a shock. There was a major change to the user interface.

This computer is using Windows 7 and I have no problems whatsoever with Word 2002 on it.

There are even users working with Winword 2000 on a Win 8 system - for whatever reason

NP

OK, Microsoft seems to say that it is not compatible, but chances are that this is more marketing than usage. There may be features that are not compatible but ordinary use is.

Oh I think it is marketing alright. I have been using 2002 on Win 7 since Win 7 came out and I have not found any features that have had any issues. And I have some pretty complex documents. I am not sure what features could have issues.

There are compatibility issues with Office 2003 & earlier on Windows 8 and for Windows 2000 on Vista, so I imagine Office 2002 falls somewhere in between. Just how much of an issue there is with the individual apps I don't know. Outlook is undoubtedly inclined to have a hissy-fit.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]