Microsoft actively developed a productivity software suite – Microsoft Works. It was a one-stop-shop for a word processor, a spreadsheet, and a database management system. Later, it was updated to get a calendar and a dictionary. It was an inferior version of the Microsoft Office suite and came at a low price at $40 in retail and $2 for OEM. This software supported Windows Vista and earlier versions, and development was stopped in 2009. But there are people who would like to run it on Windows 11/10.
Is Microsoft Works still available?
No, Microsoft Works has been discontinued and development was stopped in 2009 – but you can still use it on your Windows 11/10 PC by installing it in Compatibility Mode. This software supported Windows Vista and earlier versions.
How to install & run Microsoft Works on Windows 11/10
While it is no longer officially available for download, you can get a version of Microsoft Works ISO image here from archive.org. Once you have downloaded it, double-click on the downloaded image to mount it.
Open the mounted location to run SETUP.exe. You will land on this Welcome page in the setup.
Upon clicking on Next, you will be asked to select the location where you wish to install Microsoft Works.
Select Next, and you will land on a page where you need to select an installation option.
Click on Next. Now it will give you a notice saying:
Microsoft Works 7.0 requires several operating system components, including Microsoft 6.0. If your computer does not already have the latest versions of these components, the Installation Wizard will update them automatically.
Select Install.
It will land you on a page where installation of the whole suite will take place, and you can monitor its installation progress there.
Once done, you will be on the Installation successful screen where you need to select Finish to complete the installation.
From the Start Menu entry or the Desktop shortcut, you can run Microsoft Works normally on your computer. If you find that it does not open, well you can run it in Compatibility Mode and see if that helps.
What is included in Microsoft Works?
Microsoft Works is a, now not-supported, productivity software suite. It included a word processor, a spreadsheet, and a database management system. You could use it to create basic documents, organize data, track meetings, etc.
All the best!
It may useful to know that Libre Office supports the MS Works database format as input.