Office 2001 has higher stated requirements but will definitely run on a slow 603e (it runs well enough on my Duo 2300c), but it requires OS 8.1 minimally. I certainly ran it on a 6400 with 8.1 for a time, though it complained on installation that a later version of the OS was recommended. My Duo has 56MB RAM and runs 8.6, so the comparison is a little skewed, but this is something to go on at least.
It is possible that you would be better off with Office 97 and 7.6.1, given the 24 MB of RAM. Word 2001, however, is surprisingly frugal where RAM is concerned. I seem to recall seeing recently that it defaults to run in about 10 MB, so you might just get by, particularly if you turn off all the clutter. I doubt that you will be running Excel at the same time as Word, however.
I have used Word 2001 a lot in recent years, mainly because of duties in my working life, and in order to give some of my older machines a useful job to do. Like all the Word versions, you have to learn to work in its way rather than try to teach it yours (to mix sci-fi metaphors, resistance to the Redmond Borg is futile), but on those terms it is very able, is eminently stable, and is readily compatible with almost anything, which are all massive assets that it has going in its favour.
"Bend Word to Your Will" is a useful document to search for, by the way, as what the search brings up is a guide to taming the beast on the MacOS and making Word much more pleasant to use. The file you get is mammoth but well worth downloading and archiving. Much of the content relates to Word 2001, for which and in which the document was originally written.
It is well known that even people who have used Word for years find it intensely frustrating at times, but one of the main reasons for the frustration is that users do not take the trouble to learn how it actually works, and how the way it works can be harnessed by taking a few simple steps with the program rather than against it. Word allows a user to work in other ways, and that idiot's approach is how even the average university student goes about using the program, in my experience. The trouble is that Word then quickly becomes a PITA.
The solution involves more than turning off grammar checkers and such. You need above all to learn how Word uses Styles, and to learn about it in some detail, so as to figure out how Word's Styles can be used creatively for you. Used right, they are very convenient. And there really is more to this than meets the eye.
Bend Word to Your Will.
It is possible that you would be better off with Office 97 and 7.6.1, given the 24 MB of RAM. Word 2001, however, is surprisingly frugal where RAM is concerned. I seem to recall seeing recently that it defaults to run in about 10 MB, so you might just get by, particularly if you turn off all the clutter. I doubt that you will be running Excel at the same time as Word, however.
I have used Word 2001 a lot in recent years, mainly because of duties in my working life, and in order to give some of my older machines a useful job to do. Like all the Word versions, you have to learn to work in its way rather than try to teach it yours (to mix sci-fi metaphors, resistance to the Redmond Borg is futile), but on those terms it is very able, is eminently stable, and is readily compatible with almost anything, which are all massive assets that it has going in its favour.
"Bend Word to Your Will" is a useful document to search for, by the way, as what the search brings up is a guide to taming the beast on the MacOS and making Word much more pleasant to use. The file you get is mammoth but well worth downloading and archiving. Much of the content relates to Word 2001, for which and in which the document was originally written.
It is well known that even people who have used Word for years find it intensely frustrating at times, but one of the main reasons for the frustration is that users do not take the trouble to learn how it actually works, and how the way it works can be harnessed by taking a few simple steps with the program rather than against it. Word allows a user to work in other ways, and that idiot's approach is how even the average university student goes about using the program, in my experience. The trouble is that Word then quickly becomes a PITA.
The solution involves more than turning off grammar checkers and such. You need above all to learn how Word uses Styles, and to learn about it in some detail, so as to figure out how Word's Styles can be used creatively for you. Used right, they are very convenient. And there really is more to this than meets the eye.
Bend Word to Your Will.