TextMaker is a word processor that launches lightning-fast, needs little memory, does not require complicated setup and still has the full feature set of a modern high-end word processor. It reads and writes Microsoft Word 6/95/97/2000/XP/2003 files without losing formatting or content.
The biggest advantage in my book is that it doesn’t look ugly. 
Try it out. They have a free trial available which lets you read .doc files but doesn’t let you save in it.
– Suramya