Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Throw yourself down the stairs, write out a full confession and present yourself to court.
MS Office 2019, What’s the Best Free Replacement Suite
- Thread starter CharlesF
- Start date
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JohnHughes307
Über Member
- Location
- Potters Bar
Open Office was being looked after by Sun Microsystems, but they were bought out by Oracle and Oracle don't really buy in to genuine open software. Libre Office was spun off as a clone of OpenOffice and has been developed as genuine open software ever since. OpenOffice continues under Oracle somehow, but I'm a firm Libre Office fan. It is easy enough to set a preference to save files in MS Office format so that you don't confuse people if you send them stuff. I use it for everything, including work ( I am an IT consultant ) and very rarely have any issues beyond minor formatting issues on complex documents.
PaulSB
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
Fully paid up version of Office 365 for me. Five devices for two users plus 1 TB of cloud storage for £85pa. Absolute bargain with the storage thrown in. I no longer have to go looking for files and photos Mrs P has "lost."
I've never been one to risk cheap potentially dodgy keys etc. Add to this why would I want to use software, for example Open Office, which from time to time will cause other folk difficulty and me hassle trying to solve their issue.
Like it or not 99.9% of casual users will use MS so it's simpler and less hassle to go with this.
Tried Google docs once. Worked well and then I tried to introduce Mrs P to it. Life is too short.
I've never been one to risk cheap potentially dodgy keys etc. Add to this why would I want to use software, for example Open Office, which from time to time will cause other folk difficulty and me hassle trying to solve their issue.
Like it or not 99.9% of casual users will use MS so it's simpler and less hassle to go with this.
Tried Google docs once. Worked well and then I tried to introduce Mrs P to it. Life is too short.
Mine is and I did use it , however they have fully migrated over to 365. So that’s changed things, a bit no more office for a tenner. You need to subscribe to 365 but you do get a discount on it through work.
Chislenko
Veteran
The only proviso Charles is that it won't auto update to a newer version so you are stuck with the old version but for limited use it is fine.
A real throwback though when I first opened excel on it the old paperclip helper came up 😊😊
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
We were on various 'bought' versions via 'work' discounts, but with new machines, had to migrate to 365. I fortunately get it free, and we have the Adobe suite of stuff on my daughter's machine for free (art stuff). But, with 365 I have to make sure the software is logged onto my 'account' although not physically connected to the work one-drive (only our paid personal one). Down side is it can ask for authentication randomly - great if I'm at home, not so good if daughter can't access it (she should have it with college). We've got secondary phone authentication too now that makes the process a little easier, but not when you've changed your phone - had to get it all reset.
I prefer 2016 etc to 365 - menus less 'fancy' and more utilitarian (i.e. user friendly)
I prefer 2016 etc to 365 - menus less 'fancy' and more utilitarian (i.e. user friendly)
Darius_Jedburgh
Veteran
Doesn't W10 come with a version of Office built in?
Nope. Some new computers come with office preinstalled but you still need an account to use it. Kind of like anti-virus software but less hostile.
Chislenko
Veteran
Mrs. C's came with a very basic starter pack but every time you open it you have to go trhrough the mither of telling it you don't want to upgrade to the paid version.
Also with it you can not open a document from a folder etc, you have to go through the whole process of start, programs, Microsoft office starter pack, word, then find your file from drop down files like back in the day.
Pretty basic rubbish really!
Made me think back - Lotus 123 was my introduction to spreadsheets, then Quattro which I loved, making the move to Excel hard at the time. Now it it’s Excel all the way.
Darius_Jedburgh
Veteran
Odd that. I've got Office 2007 installed, and I did nothing. Came with the free upgrade when support for W7 ended. I just sat there for 2 hours pushing the buttons it told me. Then Voila! there it was.
Darius_Jedburgh
Veteran
IIRC Lotus 123 was quite good.
I’ll add them to the weekend investigation list, thanks for recommending them.
