There are many reasons you might want to use Microsoft Office Word Viewer: perhaps you need to check a document on a public computer or maybe you've been sent a Word document but don't have time to install Microsoft Office in its entirety. Whatever your reason, if you need to view or print any Microsoft Word document quickly, this tool could prove to be a real lifesaver.

After a simple install process, run the app and you're presented with an Open File dialog window. Remember: you can't create, change or save any document in Word Viewer. Select your chosen file (the viewer supports .docx files via a converter, as well as older .doc and other formats).

Upon opening your document, you'll see that it displays just as it would in Microsoft Word, only without any of the editing tools. This means that you can see editorial notes and changes, if they have been tracked on the document. Additionally, you may access the file's properties window which will display statistics and authorship information, along with other details.

While you cannot export or save any document from Word Viewer, you do have two options for obtaining a copy of the text. You may either print the document (which works just as well as printing from the full version of Word), and you're also allowed to copy the text and paste it into another application.

In all, Microsoft Office Word Viewer is a small and useful application. While it has no editing functions, it lets you read documents from any version of Microsoft Word with ease.