I have enrolled in college after 35 years away.  My professor is posting all documents in Word form.   I have Works.  Can I convert them to open into Works?  Can anybody walk me through it step by step?  I have Word INSTALLED, but haven't "bought" the program (free trial that came on computer).  When I try to save the word document and change the save as, I don't get any options except Microsoft Word 97 and All Files.What version works and word?

I have Works 9.0.  I don't know how to tell what Word he is INJUST a heads up but as a Student you qualify for MS products including Office at a substantial discount...
Check the University Bookstore for details...
If it is coursework you will probably need Office anyways.

A FREE option would be Open Office which is Word/Office compatible.If you only need to read Word documents, you could download the free Word Viewer. 

"With Word Viewer and the Compatibility Pack, you can VIEW, print, and copy document contents to another program. However, you cannot edit an open document, save a document, or create a new document. This download is a replacement for Word Viewer 2003 and all previous Word Viewer versions."

But, if you want/need to be able to create and/or edit Word documents, I'd do as patio advised.  Academic pricing can save you a lot of money on MS Office.  If the bookstore only sells Office Pro, which may still cost, say, over $150, depending on the school and state you live in, then you might want to just get the Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 version.  It's available from Amazon.com for $79.99.Thank you so much!  I went and looked at Word Viewer.  I'm going to e MAIL my proff and find out if I have to interact with any word document , like an EXAM, and if not, maybe that will do it for me.

Thank you again.