Is Windows 95 and Microsoft Word 2003 Compatible?

[PoliticalChic]

My husband dug up an old Dell laptop -- Dell Inspiron 8100 and it has Windows 95, but an extremely old version of Microsoft Word (can't figure which version it is). I want to give it to my daughter to use it for word processing (sans internet connection), but I thought it may be wise to install Microsoft Word 2003 so that she can go back and forth from the laptop and the other newer desktops that have 2003 already. Would I be foolish to do that? This is a real old machine, so maybe I should just leave everything as is. I hate to throw it away because there is still some life in it.

 

[Terry]

No PC, the win95 doesn't have a processor fast enough for 2003

 

[Terry]

Here is a site that tells you the system requirements for Office 2003

List of system requirements for Microsoft Office 2003

 

[KittenKoder]

Backwards compatibility is a huge issue with MS products, so I would not recommend even trying. If it has a large hard drive (at least 10 gig) you may want to see if you buy a XP or 7 install and just upgrade the entire OS. If not ... you're just stuck with what you have. If I still had all my Windoze libraries I'd write an upgrade for you, but alas, haven't even touched Windoze code for 2 years.

 

[Terry]

Backwards compatibility is a huge issue with MS products, so I would not recommend even trying. If it has a large hard drive (at least 10 gig) you may want to see if you buy a XP or 7 install and just upgrade the entire OS. If not ... you're just stuck with what you have. If I still had all my Windoze libraries I'd write an upgrade for you, but alas, haven't even touched Windoze code for 2 years.

If she doesn't have the processor or ram that is enough for xp then she cannot even install xp on that laptop.

 

[Terry]

I use to have Office 97 and will search my thousands of disc for it, PC. If I find it I'll be happy to mail it to you. Will look sometime today but I'm just praying it isn't on my old zip drive.

 

[KittenKoder]

Backwards compatibility is a huge issue with MS products, so I would not recommend even trying. If it has a large hard drive (at least 10 gig) you may want to see if you buy a XP or 7 install and just upgrade the entire OS. If not ... you're just stuck with what you have. If I still had all my Windoze libraries I'd write an upgrade for you, but alas, haven't even touched Windoze code for 2 years.

If she doesn't have the processor or ram that is enough for xp then she cannot even install xp on that laptop.

Oh, that to. Been too long ... I forgot about that part. Yeah, XP and 7 have pretty high requirements to (all new OSes do really). If you're brave you could get an old Ubuntu version and burn a copy of that ... if she's tech savvy just burn the CD and give it with the computer. Version 5 or lower should be fine for even older machines.

 

[Terry]

Well so far I've gone through all my disc that are in my house and I can only find the Office 2003 so far. It might be in my garage in one of the many containers. Dont' get your hopes up me finding it either because although I usually never throw away any disc I might have given that to someone. I just cannot remember.