Office Suite?

[Monarch]

Which office suite do you use?

Personally, I decided to save myself £100 (that would be spent of Microsoft Office) and download Open Office a free program which is very similar to MO, even has the fonts you are familiar with such as TNR.

I was just wondering if anybody else has Open Office or another program that isnt MO? Also can anybody rate Microsoft Works, I was tempted by it as its only £20 or something, but download was so much faster and easier lol.

Or perhaps a totally other hidden gem of a program thats a good office suite?

[BDC]

Yes, Open Office.

Microsoft Works is like Office, but rubbish. Avoid.

[Zalmoxis]

I have Micropsoft, don't really use it much, so I don't really care.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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I don' wea suits no moo!
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[Mikeus Caesar]

I have MS Office, but it was obtained in various...possibly illegal, ways.

On the brighter side of things, my Dad bought his first legal copy of Windows for 15 years. So that would make it his first legal copy of any MS software ever!

[Lemur]

It's incredibly easy to obtain a copy of MS Office without paying. The problem is that you're still suckling from the MS teat, and we all need to be weaned off it someday. OpenOffice has evolved a lot in the last two years, and it's becoming a really great set of tools. Long live open source!

Also, if you like to make/read PDFs, but don't feel like giving Adobe your money, there are some wonderful tools that will let you create PDFs from any application, as well as a certified Adobe-free PDF reader.

Even within the Windows environment, the open source options are multiplying. Lay off the Microsoft, but do so gently.

[drone]

I have OpenOffice at home, here at work I have to use MS Office. The only thing I need an office suite for is Excel, you can do a lot of useful scientific stuff in spreadsheets that have nothing to do with accounting. If held at gunpoint, I can generate PowerPoint slides, but that is for the brain-dead.

For "word processing", I just use Mozilla Composer and create everything in html.

Thanks for the link to the PDF gen tool, Lemurmania. I'll have to try that out.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

OpenOffice is the bomb. I really see no need to pay for MS Office when OO is available for free.

[R'as al Ghul]

Also, if you like to make/read PDFs, but don't feel like giving Adobe your money, there are some wonderful tools that will let you create PDFs from any application, as well as a certified Adobe-free PDF reader.

Open Office all the way. (but I have both )
About the pdf-plugin, iirc my version already came with a button to
convert text docs into pdf's.
Didn't know about the reader, though.

[A.Saturnus]

When I got my new computer, I made an effort to have no illegal software on it. Since I´m not going to give Microsoft lots of money for stress-inducers like WORD, I´ve OpenOffice.

[Mikeus Caesar]

To further distance myself from the monstrosity of Micro$oft, i've gone and downloaded Open Office. I must say, i'm very pleased with it!

I expect myself to be using Linux by the end of the year.

[AntiochusIII]

I've just got OpenOffice shortly before, thanks to the org, specifically Lemur.

I must say it is excellent! No more Microsoft -- ha! Take that, Bill Gates!

I think OpenOffice also comes with an Excel-like spreadsheet program, too, as well as Powerpoint!

I'm converted. Now...to look for another browser other than IE...

*goes off pondering*

[Xiahou]

I expect myself to be using Linux by the end of the year.

Meh, the only thing holding me back is video games... and I don't see that situation changing any time soon.

Oh, and... OpenOffice>MS Office

[R'as al Ghul]

I'm converted. Now...to look for another browser other than IE...

*goes off pondering*

Ponder this:
k-meleon
Opera
Firefox
Avant Browser
Maxthon

When I got my new computer, I made an effort to have no illegal software on it. Since I´m not going to give Microsoft lots of money for stress-inducers like WORD, I´ve OpenOffice.

I'm curious. Which OS are you running?
I've a dual boot system with WinXP and Suse 9.?
Suse is quite good, especially since they fixed the 3d acceleration issue.
But the file system of linux based machines freaks me out. It's chaotic.
I'm so used to windows that this is the most uncomfortable thing.

[R'as al Ghul]

Meh, the only thing holding me back is video games... and I don't see that situation changing any time soon.

There's a thing called WINE. It emulates a Windows platform on linux.
Older games work but the newest ones will always take a while before being compatible.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.

Now...to look for another browser other than IE...

Mozilla!
.

[Mikeus Caesar]

Meh, the only thing holding me back is video games... and I don't see that situation changing any time soon.

Oh, and... OpenOffice>MS Office

That's what's holding me back too. But with gradually more games coming out that are Linux compatible, it's becoming very tempting.

And yes, OpenOffice>MS Office

And Antiochus, get Opera if you want a good browser. Much more 1337 hardcore-ness than FF, because it's the third most used browser instead of 2nd.

[Reenk Roink]

I'm the only guy who prefers Office?

[A.Saturnus]

I'm curious. Which OS are you running?
I've a dual boot system with WinXP and Suse 9.?
Suse is quite good, especially since they fixed the 3d acceleration issue.
But the file system of linux based machines freaks me out. It's chaotic.
I'm so used to windows that this is the most uncomfortable thing.

I had a dual boot system before but since I hardly ever used Linux, I got back to Win alone. Also, for my new PC, the WinXP OEM version came without an own CD (only a system reset CD), so I can´t install Win as I'd like to. But since WinXP isn't that bad (relative to older versions), I guess I'll stick with it for a while.
But I have a Knoppix-CD, a linux that starts entirely from CD. That came in handy when my old PC went crazy.

[drone]

Also, for my new PC, the WinXP OEM version came without an own CD (only a system reset CD), so I can´t install Win as I'd like to. But since WinXP isn't that bad (relative to older versions), I guess I'll stick with it for a while.

This is one of the main reasons why I like to build my own PC. Most OEMs these days just send a restore CD (or hide a partition on your disk that you can restore from). Since I prefer a small (10-15 GB) C: partition, this is a royal pain. Nothing worse than trying to defrag a 120 Gig C: drive...

If you build PCs yourself, and need a few legal windows disks, you can save money by getting the XP Pro OEM 3-pack. Many sites sell them, and you generally save a lot of money. A site like Mwave requires that you buy some "hardware" along with your purchase, but you can pick monitors, disk drives, etc. This makes you an OEM! Find a couple of friends that want new computers, and split the cost. Mwave is currently charging $393 for the 3-pack, BestBuy is asking $299 for 1 full XP Pro (not the upgrade version).

[A.Saturnus]

I preferred to build my own PC as well, but with a notebook, that´s too difficult for me.