Judoom for Windows

Judoom is a free word processor supposedly aimed at creative writers from Bad Wolf Software. Its chief feature is a basic but useful concept; an easy-to-use word processor combined with a file tree for quick access to documents. You can create and display Projects in the sidebar tree view, too. While it's an attractive tool and essentially a good performer, it doesn't seem to have any kind of spelling or grammar check. Maybe that's where the "creative" part comes in, since apart from the useful option to configure Project tree views, we're not sure how Judoom is supposed to help the creative process.

Judoom has an Office-style theme with a Ribbon toolbar and the aforementioned sidebar, which is tabbed for Files and Documents. Judoom has many of the features we expect in a word processor, such as insert, find-and-replace, font and paragraph options, and page formatting. But when we started typing into a document, we noticed Judoom wasn't tracking our errors. That's when we learned that Judoom lacked a spell checker. For our needs, a spell checker is essential. Apparently you can download something called SmartEdit, but the lack of a built-in spelling and grammar tool might be a show-stopper for many users.

Compared to full-featured (and expensive) word processors like Microsoft Word, Judoom is easier to configure yet still delivers most of the essentials. But better free word processors are available, including some programs specifically designed to help creative writers with chapters, plot, character development -- and spelling.