tigerwoodKhorns Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 I purchased a new laptop for my wife, and it came with Windows 8.... We both hate it. I have Windows 7 on my HTPC, and Linux (variants of) on my media servers, and NAS. We will upgrade to Windows 10 when it becomes available though as Windows 8 is much quicker booting, and normal use is quicker (other than learning their messed up way of use). Supposedly Windows 10 will have all the advantages of Windows 8 with none of the problems of Windows 8, and will operate like Windows 7. I have heard that when Windows 10 is released you will have 1 year to make the upgrade for free, and after the one year you will pay. Thank you, that helps. I remember putting together a HTPC back in 2005 and buyign Windows Media Server (it never worked properly and I got rid of it, expensive lesson). Someone on this forum recommended that I wait to get Vista as it was going to have all of the fetaures that I wanted built right in. What ever happened with that... I do hope that 10 is good. I loved XP, not because it was that great, but because it actually worked. Kind of like buying a car and feeling fortunate that it starts and gets you to work, no matter how slowly or poor the gas mileage is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Look at all these happy customers. Looks like Office 2013 is a smash hit. A whopping 2.2 stars. http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Office-Home-and-Business-2013/productID.259321600 Eveny 6 minute block of time that I waste is going to literally cost me cash. This is going to be a painful and expensive experiance and I am dreading it. I had a functioning machine that did everything that I wanted it to do. I hate MS so much. Note there is a difference between Office 365 and Office 2013. The difference might be very important. On the other hand, it might still be junk in your eyes. Just an FYI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 I HATE the ribbon. Takes up real estate and mean often three or more clicks to access a function that used to take only one when I could open all tools and put them on the second monitor. Visio is especially crippled by this stupidity. Serious usability and productivity hit. We still use Office 2010 at our school, with some folks still on Office 2007. I just leave the ribbon toggled off on my Windows machine. Gives me more real estate... I'm not fond of Office, and the Mac version is even worse. At our school, the CFO is pushing to totally switch to Google Docs. I think they will get too much push back from the faculty. It isn't free, and MS will actually provide more for us than google. Right now we have voice mail integration with Outlook, but for Google it is a 3rd party application (and no, it isn't free). Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 ives me more real estate Add yet ANOTHER click to doing anything. I still use Visio 2003 most of the time as it was the last where you could set it up properly and there've been few "improvements" since. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiminSTL Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 tigerwoodKhorns and others, Like you, I use Windows 7 and REALLY want to change to a Linux variant (Mint Mate 17.1? or Cinnamon?). I also have a small home office environment, where I do the normal things w/ the internet and email, use Office 2013 (do not have exotic or extraordinary uses for the programs therein), and a number of insurance-related programs that I have downloaded and use from my desktop. I like the arrangement just fine. However, as mentioned, I really would like to leave Windows and Office behind. Further, as my wife's computer is having a variety of problems, I am looking at changes/new there, and would like to have as much commonality between us as possible, as she will be joining me in my efforts. What are your opinions about how well one of the Linux OSs above would work/not work for us? What about a dual-boot possibility, if necessary or desirable? Surely will appreciate the experience and suggestions forthcoming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 (edited) For those with no Linux experience, Mint is probably the best choice. In most cases, it installs without intervention and works fine. If it doesn't, fixing it isn't for the newbie. Ubuntu is pretty good as well. In both, there are variants from how things are done in Windows that you have to figure out. The security is even more of a hassle than Windows and you have to use a password for almost everything. However, if it works for you you'll find it much more nimble and stable than Windows. You can run it nicely on old machines that would just buckle under Windows bloat. Dave Edited March 1, 2015 by Mallette 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 I HATE the ribbon. Takes up real estate and mean often three or more clicks to access a function that used to take only one when I could open all tools and put them on the second monitor. Visio is especially crippled by this stupidity. Serious usability and productivity hit. We still use Office 2010 at our school, with some folks still on Office 2007. I just leave the ribbon toggled off on my Windows machine. Gives me more real estate... I'm not fond of Office, and the Mac version is even worse. At our school, the CFO is pushing to totally switch to Google Docs. I think they will get too much push back from the faculty. It isn't free, and MS will actually provide more for us than google. Right now we have voice mail integration with Outlook, but for Google it is a 3rd party application (and no, it isn't free). Bruce Can you use Openoffice for wordprocessing and thunderbird for email? The openoffice writer is very intuitive and works nicely if you do nto need to collaberate large docs with others. Thunderbird loosk very nice and I might switch to that insstead of Outlook. I hate that Outlook will not launch Firefox (I cannot find a way to get away from IE in Outlook and word, very annoying). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiminSTL Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 " I might switch to that insstead of Outlook" Take a look at eM Client. You may like it a lot vs Outlook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 " I might switch to that insstead of Outlook" Take a look at eM Client. You may like it a lot vs Outlook. Windows based. I want cross platform. If I can break away with an email solution now and maybe a PDF solution later, Word will be the only thing keeping me tied to MS. This is a bad relationship that needs to eventually end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 The openoffice writer is very intuitive and works nicely if you do nto need to collaberate large docs with others. ... when it works. I tried it a few years ago, and it flopped on inserting pictures. Maybe the fixed their flaws since then, but it was not even in the same league as Word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Here's what I gather from this thread. People are engaging in self-destruction to try to get away from Microsoft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 TBHWY, I am not sure if I'd look at a resume from somebody who listed having worked for MS. We can't afford that kind of bloated, counter-intuitive coding. Dave Funny! The two people I know who worked for MS are both very wealthy and retired to follow their dreams in their 40's. Both very talented, smart, and I imagine good performers. More current employees I've run across seem pretty bright as well. I'm sure they have to work with what they are given. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Can you use Openoffice for wordprocessing and thunderbird for email? The openoffice writer is very intuitive and works nicely if you do nto need to collaberate large docs with others. Thunderbird loosk very nice and I might switch to that instead of Outlook. I hate that Outlook will not launch Firefox (I cannot find a way to get away from IE in Outlook and word, very annoying). I use Libre Office at home, as well as stick with gmail. The school is tied to MS Office and Exchange. At home, I use OWA (Outlook Web Access) for checking work email. I switched to Libre Office at home since Oracle bought/took over Open Office. Libre Office seems to get updated and fixed a little more regularly. My wife's office, tied to State of Tennessee for some of their funding, uses Linux Mint and Open Office. I can't remember what mail client they use. The interoperability is what kills it for most people. We have a hard enough time now that the school decided we would support OSX as well as Windows. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 (edited) For about $300 my local geek computer place upgraded my laptop from Vista to Win7 (I think they charged me $45 for the key), doubled the memory, installed a 256GB SSD. That computer is faster than when I bought it new. The Win7 was a fresh install, and they moved all the pertinent documents to the new Win7 drive. I subscribe to MS365 online, and it is way bettter than regular office. https://products.office.com/en-us/business/compare-office-365-for-business-plans You pay monthly or annual subscription. Should be able to import the Outlook stuff fine, and as a matter of fact store it on the cloud instead. I'm not sure about this part, but they do have cloud storage for the My Document stuff. Do you have a local geek place? Have you looked at MS365 subscription? It's about $100 per year... Edited March 1, 2015 by mustang guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 What is the difference between Office and 365 (other than even more $$ going to MS as I rent my programs)? I actually liked Office 2003 but hate that it continually forces me to use other MS items. Cloud storage - as with other attorneys, thsi has to be very secure or I cannot use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 (edited) What is the difference between Office and 365 (other than even more $$ going to MS as I rent my programs)? I actually liked Office 2003 but hate that it continually forces me to use other MS items. Cloud storage - as with other attorneys, thsi has to be very secure or I cannot use it. Office 365: You can use it from any computer anywhere. As I understand it, you have a local version on your main machine, so that it will run faster on it, but if you need to use it from anybody else's machine, you can log in and use the on-line version. What I like is that it is always the latest, including all fixes. I never have to upgrade again. Just pay the yearly amount, which is so nominal, IMO, it's not even worth bogging down over any price issues. It comes with cloud storage, too. I forget if it's 1 gig, or what. I have been using it for about 8 months, and so far, I really like it. I run a HP laptop with an i7-4700MQ processor and a Crucial 512MX (512 gig) SSD. It is fast, fast, fast! Word is up and ready in 2 seconds. Cold start-up of Win 8.1 takes about 8 seconds. Once in a while, however, I will get a BSOD, saying my HD does not have an OS on it. (Not everything is perfect). And so, I have automated back-ups onto the cloud all the time. I store all my legal documents on line, as well. Frankly, I do not worry about security of MS's cloud storage. For starters, any hacker is not likely to be a lawyer and would have no use whatsoever digging through hoards of legal documents. If they did go through all that and find something useful.... well.... more power to them! Edited March 2, 2015 by Jeff Matthews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 (edited) The move towards subscriptions will be interesting to watch. They are a LOT more expensive, for many people twice as expensive. 75.00 a year is 750.00 in 10 years, and lot's of people are happy with the 200.00 office package they bought 10 years ago. 20.00 a year is quite a difference from 75.00. It will be interesting to see if the subscription creates a bit more competition. Of course, MS changes the file format of Office every other version or so and that has been strictly to push people to upgrade as there is no other reason. You can add stuff that may not be supported by a previous package and still maintain backwards compatibility. Dave Edited March 2, 2015 by Mallette 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Agreed. My staff has subscriptions to all things Adobe. I mean everything they make, and it makes sense for my department as we stay at the edge and have to upgrade to every new version anyway. However, this prices the home user out of the market. I expect to see some Photoshop competition crop up. One of my machines at home had an at least 10 year old plus pre Creative Suite version...and it worked just fine. Of course, as MS changes things there will come a time when it doesn't and these stand alone versions become history and everyone is totally dependent on the web...right where they want us. Both corporate and home wise I've avoided cloud based anything like the disease it is...but you can't win against these guys. They've sold it to everyone and made the kool-aid look like a favor. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Windows 3.1 was the last OS that I new what was going on. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 While we're 'vetching. It is not only MS programs but . . . it seems to me they design so that there are three or four ways of getting to the same place or doing the same job. This means the gui is a thicker forest, three times as thick, than it need be. Is there any other type of human - machine interface which does this? What if there were three different ways to apply service brakes in an automobile? WMcD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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