The Sword and Laser discussion
Mircosoft Office
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Personally, I use Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org/), more because I like to believe in open source software than for any other reason, but back when I was a starving college student having a free office program was very nice. Plus, you can use regular expressions to 
Many people are moving to Google docs or open office.Depending on their personal needs.
If they have a Mac they also get Pages ($19.99).
You can find an old copy of Word at a thrift store.
The new version doesn't do that much more then the old versions.
Some people are fixed in their ways and won't change. (Theres no arguing taste). I would recomment that you
download a free version of each and see which one suits you.I forgot to mention focus writer.
Which is good when you need distraction free writing.
Webpage-
http://gottcode.org/focuswriter/
Heh. I work as an EMT on the oilfield so google docs are not as useful of a program. I know they have an offline version but those are a pain in the ass. You have to remember to update them before leaving. I just wonder what microsoft was thinking, forcing people into using a subscription or doing ones based solely on internet connection.
I am getting really tired of DRM...
For straight-up word processing needs, Open Office (all platforms), Pages (Mac & I _think_ iOS), Nisus Writer (Mac) are the ones I know about that are viable alternatives that aren't cloud based. In the cloud, Google Docs is king.If you want to write long-form texts (novels, short story collections, movies scripts, PHD theses) that often involve research and supporting documents, and complex, inter-connected organization (think sub-plot tracking, for instance)... then Scrivener is well worth learning to take full advantage of.
Whatever you get, make sure it works with XML based software.Oil fields are big on spread sheets. I'd check the people you work with. Ask what they do when their software crashes 10,000 miles from home. What sort of backup disk to they use/borrow?
Hypothetically speaking.
(Note- software never crashes in Scifi stories. That's how you know its scifi).
Haha I am a medic. All our paper work is by pen and paper. I use word processors for writing stories and writing essays/lab reportd.
LibreOffice is the only office suit I install on a computer that needs office software. But I only need any of them occasionally anyway.
I used to really like Open Office but at uni a lot of the tutors were pissed at the slight formatting differences and wanted me to use word instead, and because I was totally broke at the time (unemployed and paying for part time education, and on top of that, my flat was burgled) I pirated Microsoft Office just to shut my professors up.But now I'm actually using a legitimate free version of Microsoft Office (starter version) which means some of the screen gets taken up by an advert and I don't have all the tools that are available in the full version, but it works okay for my needs.
I've been an OpenOffice user for more than seven years now, and it's not only the cheaper writing software, it's the better one. Just about everyone I know uses both MS and Open Office interchangeably. Teh advantage of being open source really shows in the number of templates and customizations you can download. Important: I've changed the settings to make sure that everything is saved as .doc, rather than OpenOffice's file extension.@Ruth
I've got to know what your tutors problems where with formatting in OpenOffice? They are identical when printed, and the basic formats are the same. Just curious
Daran wrote: "I've been an OpenOffice user for more than seven years now, and it's not only the cheaper writing software, it's the better one. Just about everyone I know uses both MS and Open Office interchange..."The complaints mostly came from the IT tutor, who, annoyingly enough, knew next to nothing about computers (I'm no expert on computers, but as an example of his stupidly, I lost marks for not 'shading text' as instructed. I had put a grey highlight over the relevant text. After his explanation of what he wanted confused me, I changed it to a very pale blue highlight, but 'no,' he said, 'it has to be shaded'. Later I discovered he actually wanted me to change the colour of the text!). He gave instruction on precisely what to do via Microsoft Office, and when I asked if what I'd done via Open Office was okay, he was totally thrown, and didn't know what strange programme I was attempting to use, and couldn't understand why I couldn't just use Microsoft like everyone else.
Other problems came because I also had to email work, not just hand in a printed copy, and saving the file so that it would open in Microsoft Office and emailing it led to some small differences in the format between the one on my computer and the one my tutors saw, which I couldn't change because I didn't have Microsoft Word to edit it, so some things were not perfectly formatted as the tutors had requested them to be, which lost me marks. Once I'm done with uni, I will probably use Open Office again, since I did like and appreciate it, but it just wasn't worth the issues.
I've used Open Office and Libre Office for years with no problems, really - there can be a few glitches when Word comes out with a new format and occasionally diagrams and images don't work too well when you send it to someone else. Exporting to PDF generally fixes it if it's not something which needs editing.Last night, though, I received a template invoice from a client and they'd used some kind of bizarre floating text box - Open Office didn't display anything at all. After some googling about I discovered Word Viewer, which, once I'd downloaded all the right bits and pieces for it, allowed me to see the document (which thankfully was no different to my own standard invoice template so I just sent that instead rather than having to faff with any editing!). Just thought I'd mention it in case it helps anyone in future.
I also use OpenOffice and have since my last computer purchases. Now I also use google drive to keep one copy of most of my commonly edited files among several systems. And when I need to edit one of them one the google drive I can use google's tools since they're compatible with openoffice formats.
Although I do use Libreoffice occasionally, it is not a "writer's tool".For writing books, you want Scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scr...). It is not free, but worth it.
If you are writing papers and articles and want that old school book typesetting, you might want to give Lyx (www.lyx.org) a try. It is a different kind of editor and might require some relearning, but it is worth it.
My standard answer to anyone who wants me to use MS Office is: "Are you paying for it?".
Openoffice is kind of a bastard child right now so, unless you have some philosophical or political reason for it, I would stick with Libreoffice.
I have a copy of MS Office 2003 (Educational version) that I found at the dump last year--no joke. The product key actually worked, which was the most surprising thing!I hate the ribbon interface on Word 2007 and later so this works perfectly for me. Before that, I was using Word 2001 which had come with the first computer I ever bought but had unlimited installs. I still have the CD-ROM for that in case anything goes wrong with my current installation and the product key doesn't work.
Libre Office, otherwise, is your best bet, though it doesn't work on my current computer for some reason...just like Open Office didn't work on my last one after a while, which is why I had switched in the first place (kind of moot, though. I was using it for the presentation feature since I didn't have Powerpoint back then, but you're way better off using Prezi).
Another option: http://www.kingsoftstore.com/
Oh, and don't forget Google Docs. I actually use it quite often for small stuff.
The whole office subscription model is just terrible. Bad for consumers and, in my opinion, shows how Mircrosoft is trying to bleed as much money from their biggest cash cow. I have been looking into many replacements for word as I refuse subscribe to software that, as has been mentioned, has been a one time purchase with unlimited use for many years.On the Mac, you really cannot beat Pages. It is fairly inexpensive, and does 90% of what word can do. You can even save your pages docs as .doc (you might be able to even save as .docx but I never save docs as .docx) and can share them via email seamlessly. Pages also has native apps for iOS which is great if you write using your iPad.
I also recommend Scrivener for any long form writing. I am sure most people in S&L are familiar with it, but head over to literature and latte for the full tour if not.
Additionally, I have been trying my hand at doing more plain text writing using markdown. There are a ton of great plain text editors and they are mostly either very low cost or free. I like IA writer, Bean and Elements (for iPad).
I think this latest move from Microsoft may be the final straw to motivate people into moving away from word as the world's default word processor. I am not a Microsoft hater, but I really disagree with this whole software as subscription model when it comes to a word processing app.
I try not to be a Microsoft apologist but you need to keep in mind that Office is primarily targeted at businesses. And in the business world support and frequent updates are key. For individual users this doesn't hold true so I would explore some of the other suggestions here based on what you mostly write. :)
Actually, as an IT consultant for a few multinational corporations, I have to disagree with you.The business world HATES software updates. (At least, big businesses)
It is individuals (home users) who like updates. For business, it costs money (software certification, staff training etc).
I will be honest. I HATE updates. They mess with my settings and I and up not knowing where stuff is anymore.There is a reason for the saying "if its not broke don't fix ir"
Actually the whole Non Transferable Office license thing is not true. Microsoft reversed their decision on that. http://www.infoworld.com/t/office-sof...
LibreOffice/OpenOffice works just great for most people and many large corporations use it instead of MS Office. If someone is teaching IT and can't figure it out then get a refund and find another collage. In my experience a lot of the tenured IT teachers prove the old saying "Those that can't, teach."
I think the new subscription model is a total racket, but as a freelance editor, if I didn't have MS Word I would be sunk. It seems that the only thing Word 2010 is fully compatible with is itself, and it seems to me that each new version is more problematic than the last version. I've never used a program that crashes more often. I guess all this means that I am a loyal MS hater. Scrivener is great and I use it for personal writing all the time. Google docs is fine if you want something that's barely more feature-rich than Notepad, but I've found it to be buggy and weird at times (i.e., the cursor doesn't align where it should sometimes and I find that maddening). OpenOffice is also good but nothing substitutes for Word when you really need compatibility, when multiple people are working on the same docs, or when you need a feature-rich word processor. It's a real bummer. I couldn't possibly do my job without Word (believe me, I really tried), but I eagerly await the next great thing to come and knock MS off its pedestal.
Rodrigo wrote: "Actually, as an IT consultant for a few multinational corporations, I have to disagree with you.The business world HATES software updates. (At least, big businesses)
It is individuals (home user..."
While that may be true, as an IT person I would think you would agree that updates are going to happen. Bugs will be missed, exploits will be developed, etc. It's just not realistic to hope that updates will be unnecessary, humanity being what it is.
Jim wrote: "While that may be true, as an IT person I would think you would agree that updates are going to happen. Bugs will be missed, exploits will be developed, etc. It's just not realistic to hope that updates will be unnecessary, humanity being what it is. "There are different kinds of upgrades. Service released, minor upgrade, feature releases, major upgrade etc.
You can think of IBM versioning standards (A.B.C, where A = major, B = minor and C = release) and will help to understand what I mean.
Corporate software will quite often have new bugfix released and such (C), and sometimes (to be avoided if possible), minor upgrades (B) which might implicate in some systematic reviews. However, Microsoft is implying it will be releasing new features and stuff, meaning major released. This is exactly what the corporate world hates.
Mozilla (Firefox etc) and even Google are guilty of this same crime. However, Google has a separate line of corporate solutions that is quite stable and where they don't play around with.
AndrewP wrote: "If someone is teaching IT and can't figure it out then get a refund and find another collage."In my case, the IT was a small part of the course that was otherwise very good. We made several complaints about the tutor, and I believe the whole IT part of the course changed the following year...just one of those things.
But I do think some universities are rather unfriendly towards open source programmes when they have paid for the new Microsoft whatever and want everyone to use it too. I definitely had the feeling the open office wasn't welcome.
Ruth wrote: "But I do think some universities are rather unfriendly towards open source programmes when they have paid for the new Microsoft whatever and want everyone to use it too. I definitely had the feeling the open office wasn't welcome"Perhaps but, from what I've seen, it is often the employees of said companies/universities that pressure because they don't want to use something different.
Rodrigo wrote: "Perhaps but, from what I've seen, it is often the employees of said companies/universities that pressure because they don't want to use something different. ."At least here in CA all you would have to do is suggest that the savings from going from MS Office to Open Office could be applied to their salaries. MS Office would probably dissapear overnight :)
AndrewP wrote: "At least here in CA all you would have to do is suggest that the savings from going from MS Office to Open Office could be applied to their salaries. MS Office would probably dissapear overnight :)"Humm, that is actually a good idea. I'm not sure how much that would translate into the salaries, tho but, worst case, the company could use that money to, say, throw a party or do something for the employees.
Thank you, Andrew. That does give me a few ideas.
As I've been told when I've suggested this to friends of mine who are state workers, you'd have to get the federal government to switch over first. That has more to do with databases than word processing software, but if you're not giving the federal government the information they want, in the way they want it, your state is going to be missing out on a lot of grants and federal program money.Besides that, California has a vested interest in Microsoft doing well, and continuing to employ many people in Silicon Valley and elsewhere in the state.
Daran wrote: "As I've been told when I've suggested this to friends of mine who are state workers, you'd have to get the federal government to switch over first. That has more to do with databases than word pro..."Well, at least when you are talking large databases, you can justify using Oracle or IBM DB2.
Justifying the use of Office (except maybe for Excel) is much harder.
Believe me...change is hard in any size, way, or kind with the federal government. Old versions of internet explorer, Windows, and Microsoft Office abound. And any change is verrry slow and resisted. :P
Michelle wrote: "Believe me...change is hard in any size, way, or kind with the federal government. Old versions of internet explorer, Windows, and Microsoft Office abound. And any change is verrry slow and resiste..."I don't know what your talking about. My company just sent out an e-mail notification of the impending company wide upgrade to OFFICE 2010 that will be rolling out in the next 5 to 6 months. We are moving right along on that front. :)
Micah wrote: "I don't know what your talking about. My company just sent out an e-mail notification of the impending company wide upgrade to OFFICE 2010 that will be rolling out in the next 5 to 6 months. We are moving right along on that front. :) ..."Sounds sensible to me. The last thing you want to do in a stable company is be on the bleeding edge of technology and upgrades :)
My company switched to 2010 last year or so. Nobody I know likes "the ribbon" and most of us can't figure out how to do simple things, like apply formatting to sections in a Word doc or mess with our macros in Excel.And Access2010 broke some of our database links, awesome.
UltraEdit32 FTW! ;)
terpkristin wrote: "UltraEdit32 FTW! ;) "Oh, please. VIM all the way (yes, it can edit hex if you know how to do it) :)
terpkristin wrote: "UltraEdit32 FTW! ;) ."WOW! That brings back memories!
Just to continue the side comments about the lack of innovation in companies/offices. My client seriously misses the days of DOS...
Michelle wrote: "My client seriously misses the days of DOS..."He is not alone. I hate GUI. It is so much slower.
10 fingers on the keyboard is much faster 2 fingers on the mouse.
Most of my computer are Linux, where I can choose to use the graphical environment just a place to hang my text (terminal) windows.
Will anyone here who writes ve willing to pay $100 a year for the suite or will you be switching to a different program? Anyone know a good program thar does not require a bloody subscription?
I will be moving to a different program. I shouldn't have to pay $100 just to use a program I have had for free for the last 15 years.