There are some problems with this version. So they posted it on their site, free to download. Microsoft's cost analysis showed that it would be more expensive to contact each individual license holder than it would be to simply release the program. This version had a serious Y2K problem that, without a fix, corrupted every document created on it before the year 2000. However, one version of Word was released for free in 1999: Word 5.5. Microsoft is very careful about protecting its ownership of products. Most online offers for free Microsoft Word programs are either illegal or misleading.