Google Doc's - why buy Office?

[colinb]

­Forgive me if this has come up before but I thought it worth mentioning for those members looking to upgrade to a newer computer and may also need to purchase something like Microsoft Office.

 

Before you do it could be worth you taking a look at Googles FREE version of similar(ish) software. You can download the equivalent of Word, Excell and other office type products completely free.

 

I have been using both the word and excel variants in which you can import any current documents you may already have created in Office.

 

Plus one major point for me is your stuff is stored on the cloud and can be accessed using any computer from anywhere you like. Saves you having to copy and paste documents from PC to laptop or carrying around a memory stick. It will even let you open a document, edit it while someone else e.g. partner at home or work, has the same copy open and they can see their version updating as you type.

 

What have you got to lose? Give it a go you can always purchase Office later if you don’t like it

 

http://www.google.co.uk/docs/about/

[Leon]

why buy anything??

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=openoffice+download&oq=open+office&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l5.5280j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

 

unless you are a business..

[NannyFerret]

I'm going to have a look at it.
I used Libre on my desktop but need something to use on my net-book.
Thanks for the link, Colin.

[Black Pearl]

Apple supply their entire office suite with Mac's and iThingies for free - I'll stick with that  

[colinb]

Apple supply their entire office suite with Mac's and iThingies for free - I'll stick with that  

 

well yes BP I would too but I was talking more Windoz than Mac  

 

Leon do you use Open Office? how does it stack up against word etc and is it cloud based?

Edited January 28, 2015 by colinb

[ChrisLumix]

I have LibreOffice on my Mac (which is very very similar to OpenOffice) - it opens absolutely everything, from long obsolete AppleWorks suite, through to anything Office. What's more it has its own integrated WP, SS, DR, and maybe even painting and database modules too. Like BP I tend to use Apple's iWork for anything meaty, but it's nice to have software that has translators for so many products.

[ChrisLumix]

Leon do you use Open Office? how does it stack up against word etc and is it cloud based?

 

No, not cloud-based - you can have your own lovely copy on your own computer. What's more, every revision is free. :) 

[DBT85]

I prefer Open Office to Google docs, but use both.

 

Open office is very good!

[JHFoto]

Apple supply their entire office suite with Mac's and iThingies for free - I'll stick with that  

They would have to, nothing else is compatible 

[Black Pearl]

They would have to, nothing else is compatible

I have the full MS Office suite on the iMac as my wife is more familiar with it. You can also get Word and Excel for the iPhone/iPad but I haven't bothered as the Apple apps are better and have greater integration over multiple devices.

[ChrisLumix]

They would have to, nothing else is compatible 

 

No, you're quite right.

 

Only Office for Mac.

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Oh, and OpenOffice, and LibreOffice

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Oh and iWork can open, read, edit and create documents in Office formats

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Oops, I nearly forgot TextEdit which can open and edit all flavours of Word, and save in that format too.

[Guest]

I have office for mac just cause thats what clients expect me to have for my day job

[bugmeister]

Why buy office? If you're a business that is pretty much based around office documents and your customers expect it then there's maybe a reason.

 

For home use, forget it, there are plenty of compatible alternatives.

 

With Apple kit you get their office suite and for Windows and/or Linux there is Open Office or Libre Office (and yes I use all of the above in different flavours on assorted desktop/laptop setups).

 

All of those can be used locally without a cloud connection which I find rather useful since i am often out and about and don't have a decent connection. OK you can't sync across multiple devices but if that is a concern then for non-private documents I could always use a cloud storage that doesn't report everything to google or whoever and just open the document in a local application if I have remembered to upload it beforehand. If I didn't remember then tough, it couldn't have been that important.

[ChrisLumix]

All of those can be used locally without a cloud connection which I find rather useful since i am often out and about and don't have a decent connection. OK you can't sync across multiple devices but if that is a concern then for non-private documents I could always use a cloud storage that doesn't report everything to google or whoever and just open the document in a local application if I have remembered to upload it beforehand. If I didn't remember then tough, it couldn't have been that important.

 

Well, yes you can! If it's just your own devices, there's iCloud and Dropbox to name but two; for online sharing and collaboration, Sharing via Dropbox will accomplish that. The advantage of those services is if you're away from a connection and they're documents you've elected to sync, then as soon as you're online again the documents will upload without you having to do a thing.

[kev7d]

Why buy office?

 

Answer - because its good.  

 

Thats my take on it anyway.  

[colinb]

Why buy office?

 

Answer - because its good.  

 

Thats my take on it anyway.  

... and I to would say it is very good - but I was trying to point out another rather good option that is currently free for those who are updating to the likes of Windows 8 and maybe disappointed to find they need to stump up for Office. I found Google Docs Cloud capability extremely useful especially for non-apple systems at work.

Edited February 1, 2015 by colinb

[Leon]

well yes BP I would too but I was talking more Windoz than Mac  

 

Leon do you use Open Office? how does it stack up against word etc and is it cloud based?

i've used it a few times for basic stuff, no idea about the cloud....

[ChrisLumix]

i've used it a few times for basic stuff, no idea about the cloud....

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

 

No, not cloud-based - you can have your own lovely copy on your own computer. What's more, every revision is free. :)