Hi guys, I really need to get office as the 2000 version I have been using is well out of date now.

 

I don't use it much really and for the limited times I did need word, the 2000 Premium was ok.

 

Now I need something that's not costing money once I buy it and I need it to work on my PC, laptop and the wife's Laptop too?

 

Any recommendations?

 

 

This new Office 365, is that a yearly payment for updates and the cloud? or is it once installed you have to pay or it will become un usable? ie they deactivate it and you cant get in to it to use?

 

cheers

 

billy

 

OpenOffice is free.

https://www.openoffice.org/

 

As is Libre Office

http://www.libreoffice.org/

 

http://www.howtogeek.com/187663/openoffice-vs.-libreoffice-whats-the-difference-and-which-should-you-use/

Another vote for Openoffice or Libreoffice.

 

Both do the same as MS office and more for no cost at all. 

 

I install Libreoffice on customers machines as it still get updated whereas Openoffice doesn't seem to get updates any more.

 

I've only had 1 customer come back asking for MS office, when I told them the price they decided to stick with Libreoffice!

If you download these Free Office Applications, do you get bombarded by advertising and have to pay to get most features working?

Theres no such thing as free...is there?

No advertising, no in-app purchases. Free here (LibreOffice & OpenOffice) is genuinely free. I've used OpenOffice & now LibreOffice at home and work (mixed MS Office versions from 2000 upwards) and have very few issues.

If you must go MS, then instead of Office 365 you could just go with standard Office 2013 which is not subscription based - i.e. it does not require you to pay monthly. If you want to use it on multiple machines, then you'd need multiple copies and that could get expensive.

 

Google docs is a great "free" alternative to Office 365 and works from the browser. Your files will be automatically stored on Google Drive (in the cloud) so will always be accessible from any internet connected device ... PC, tablet, phone.

 

Of course - you may not trust Google with your data. If you intend to use it for anything vitally important, then make sure you also keep local copies. If it's just for writing the odd letter then give it a go.

cheers guys

 

most helpful

If you download these Free Office Applications, do you get bombarded by advertising and have to pay to get most features working?

Theres no such thing as free...is there?

Chris, they're whats known as 'Open Source'; the progammes are written by developers and the sole purpose is to give away free software, the same as Linux. There are no ads, no purchase necessary - ever.

You can pick up old versions of office for next to nothing. I'd prefer to stick with 2007 than use one of the open source ones.

Alternatively, does your employer have a volume license agreement with Microsoft?

If so then you may be able to get Office 2013 for ten quid under the home use program.

I've tried the free ones and they're OK unless any docs have complex formatting (tables etc) or formulas in the case of spreadsheets.

I ended up screwing up a load of docs which still looked fine in the free versions but when sent back to someone with excell or word were so messed up I had to redo everything in office.

Google docs is much better, but I've had some excell stuff with formulas and macros get messed up.

It all depends how in depth you use office apps as to whether to go free or not IME

I use a mix of Office 2003 (desktop) and Kingsoft Office (desktop and mobile). I prefer the Kingsoft spreadsheet to Excel, it's far better behaved.

Another vote for Libre Office, with the messed up spreadsheets, what format did you save in?? Some formats dont include all the data M$O needs to display properly (and vice-versa).

 

I have been using OO then LO for quite a few years and only had issues with a couple of Education Department documents sent in a weird format.

(EVERYTHING sent for the Education Department seems to be in a weird format, but LO opens most of then without issue).

They were simply saved in the xls and docs formats from office as is/was.

Try Libra Office first before you do anything else.

You also have free online editors from Microsoft and Google. you just need to sign up to an Outlook.com or Google.com account to get access.

 

If after all that you feel you still need MS Office then have a think about which version suits you best O365 or a full disk version. Also have a think about if you or any close family have any educational links. If you can get a student license of Office that'll save a bit.

 

We got 2 full Office 2012 licenses for £8 because SWMBO's school struck a deal with MS.

Edited 27 August, 201411 yr by Aspman

Fortunately we get the MS Home Use Program from work - so £8.95 gets you a full copy for home as an extension of the work license which is great.

 

But still very interested in the good feedback on OpenOffice and LibreOffice - i'll keep that in mind for future use. 

Another vote for open office here.

If I hadn't gotten MS Office through the home use program for £10, I would definitely have gone for Libre office. Works just as well (so long as you save in the right versions)

LO can be confusing as most things are in a slightly different places compared to word and excel, I find the office suite is much more advanced which is why it costs so much more, however for basic formatting and documents LO will do you just fine.

 

LO developers broke away from OO and generally has more updates and patches available.

They were simply saved in the xls and docs formats from office as is/was.

Office 2003 and earlier do it to xlsx files too. 2010+ includes things that the file converter can't handle.

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Was 2007

Was 2007

What I meant was that you can create a lovely shiny spangly spreadsheet in Office 2010 but then when you open it in 2003 all the formatting and advanced function are wrecked.

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Any kids in education (secondary school?) if so you take a look at the student editions of Office.  Would have to check the license agreement to see if you are entitled to install it 3 times though....