I have been using MS Office 2010 since err......2010 and like it a lot, plus I am used to it. I keep getting a message now saying that support will end later this year and suggesting MS 365, (formerly Office 365). How do those of you who use MS 365 find it working in relation to the older MS Office programmes? I am presuming that all my current MS Office 2010 files will still work with MS 365. Finally, I know that MS 365 is subscription based, but would I be better buying MS Office 2019 for a one off charge? Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.
I switched our family PCs over to Office 365 a few years ago, primarily because my son needed compatibility with docs he'd created at school on more modern versions of the applications.
Yes it's costing me £79 a year or something like that, but we make full use of the five device subscription. It's useful that the applications are kept up to date.
We now also use Office 365 at both my work and SWMBO's work, so familiarity with the apps is useful.
I'm an Office 2010 user as well. Haven't had any messages about end of support as yet. I'll probably just stick with 2010. I like the Powerpoint (much better than later versions, I think) and the Publisher is good.
Just make sure that whatever suite of programs that you currently enjoy are covered by any subscription service.
I had a similar conversation with a friend about OS upgrades. He stayed with Win7, but I bought a new PC with Win10. We are both happy!
Mark
Not on your list, but have you considered Libre Office? It's free, supportes and offers an equivalent of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. It doesn't have Access (database) or email (Outlook). It creates directly compatible files and can write direct to pdf documents. My Mother-in-Law recently switched and hasn't had any problems adjusting to the new program.
Steven B.
{Retrieves tin hat, buckle securely fastened, head gingerly put above parapet}
Hi!
I run MS 2010, on a laptop. No problem. But...
...I never let it do application or system updates. I can't stop it doing security updates, but then it's MicroShaft Microsoft so without the daily security updates it'd be a disaster.
You stop automatic updates, delay it by 35 (I think) days, then when it downloads the updates, uninstall them, reboot and repeat.
I put it to you that there's been no updates that have added any benefit to the average user since it was first released.
On the Office front, again, I doubt any 'feature' update is worth paying £80/yr for. I bought one copy of Office that comes with three licences and I think it was £160 three years ago. It's just a Microsoft ruse to increase revenue as, let's face it, Windows and Office reached their full potential probably 5yrs ago, but without flogging constant upgrades/updates they have no revenue stream. Let's be honest, 95% of users could manage happily with Windows7 and that'd be the end of it.
Pin now firmly pulled, I'm off!
:dighole:
Quote. Let's be honest, 95% of users could manage happily with Windows7
No need to go that far. The vast majority use a pc for email,t'internet,the odd letter and a quick blast of solitaire,you could do all that on win 3.11 ,it even came with write,a basic word processor.
I had Office 2010 on my old laptop. I really only use Word so it makes no sense for me to pay a huge annual subscription so when I bought my new laptop earlier this year I bought Office 2019 for about £20 one-off price. Very easy to download and set up, so I'm happy with it.
Cheers,
Chris
Just to add my support to Libre Office 6.4, which includes Word Processor compatible with MS Word, Calc compatible with Excel including password protected files, Impress - Presentation, Base - Database, a Math program and a Draw program.
Tony
stick to Office 2010 - its bulletproof and yopu donr become a Microsoft serf, bound to a life mof eternal upgrades and annual fees!!
I regularly install Office 2003 and it's fine!
BW
NickR
Very happy with Office 365. Moved onto it a few years ago from Office 2013, haven't looked back.
As others have mentioned give libre office a look,it costs nothing.that is its free. 99% of files will work with it,unfortunately micro$oft have a habit of introducing a new file format with every other release that not only stops other software from opening the files,but they aint backward compatible with older versions of office,or they drop support for older file formats making the accounts file from 6 years ago inaccessible without jumping through several hoops.
I'd always been a fan of the disc based versions of Office and begrudged paying MS for unnecessary upgrades, however at the start of the coronavirus lockdown (actually just before luckily) I moved all our work files into the cloud (Sharepoint rather than Onedrive but the idea is similar) and for that I was really glad that we had swapped to office 365 a couple of years earlier. Everything just works and the collaboration tools are great.
That isn't necessarily needed for home versions so there may be little advantage for you.
If you think that you will get another 9/10 years out of any new version then you can work out the financial cost of office 365 subs for the same period. I'm guessing it won't be worth it unless you need multiple copies that come with things like the family subscription.
One thing to watch out for is what exactly is included in each version of Office (365 or disc/one off) - Access is typically not in most versions and if you need PowerPoint check it is included.
Cheers Mike
Pretty much all MS Office versions are fully backwards compatible. The only big change to file formats in the last 15 years plus was the change to xml type file formats (which admittedly MS did to their own format though switching to the open xml format is trivial).
I still use an antique office XP which was 2002, I also use Apache open office 4, main problem I have is Microsoft changed their .doc file format in 2007 to .docx and the old office xp does not understand, but I can still open files of this type (and other office file types) with microsoft Edge (yes the browser), apache will also open them, but they seem to have a slight coding difference and the layout can change slightly
I still use Office 97 although I also use OpenOffice in order to deal with the newer file formats. I think that Office 97 was one of the better Office releases & it works fine on Windows 10.
:thankyousign: to everyone for the replies. I suppose I got what I expected, some for, some against. :). I will however, have a look at Libre. Also, as suggested by @red_death (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=246) , I will work out the yearly costs comparing the stand alone version with the 365 version, (using Office Excel of course! ;) joke!).
My employer recently moved us all from Office 2013 to Office 365. I have a particular issue in often working on trains (in "normal" times) with no decent internet so I keep having to override when it keeps wanting to put files in the cloud and put them on the hard drive instead, where (I think) I've persuaded OneDrive to do a cloud backup.
I've found Excel 365 to be much more flaky when handling large spreadsheets (these are very large though).
Also Office 2013 had some basic help information downloaded and would go to the internet to get more unless you told it not to. 365 has only online help so it's not available when not connected to the internet. And unless you store a file in the cloud via OneDrive I don't think it autosaves every few minutes as older versions used to. Both the above assume there isn't some wonderful setting somewhere that I haven't found but will restore the previous behavior...
I don't use onedrive but sharepoint uses onedrive in the background and I can set it to create a local copy which fairly seamlessly syncs with the cloud version and auto saves.
Been using Office since Windows 3.0 and switched to 365 about 5 years ago. No problems at all. When you think what you get for the money it is a bargain in my view.
Argos has a fantastic offer at present. Annual subscription of Office 365 Home with McAfee anti virus (I don't personally use that) for up to 6 devices for £39.99. This is the cheapest I have seen it.
I have purchased two so that is me covered until 2022. ;)
Hope this helps.
Paddy
FWIW
I was a hardcore "PC Windows 'til I die" IT tech guy, then I bought a Chromebook.
So I'm Office 365, $79/year I think, and I get cross-platform compatibility, OneNote, my documents and photos in the cloud and 1TB of cloud storage for the price and a cool email address because I was an early adopter (first.last@outlook.com) - not hard for anyone to remember.
I'm typing this on a Macbook Air, and there are my Office apps all set to go. (The Mac is my company standard). My PC is for PC-only apps (Anyrail (!) and my crossword constructing software) and that's it. I do everything else on the Chromebook with various browser plug-ins.
Your mileage will certainly vary, but Office 365 fits my bill of needs.
I'm still using Office 2007. It's fine and, following a hard drive failure, I had to reload it earlier this year. No problems. If it does what you want, why change?
I use Office 365 simply because I move from workplace to workplace as a contractor and that is what clients tend to have these days, so familiarity helps and I am guaranteed file compatibility (particularly with Excel and macros). Similarly my children use it, as that is what they have to use at school and the subscription is not too bad since it covers all five of our machines. In a situation where I just needed office apps just for myself and my wife to use at home, I'd stick with an older version (in our case 2007, as I already have a licence for three machines) or use LibreOffice and save myself the money.
I recently put 365 on my laptop (paid about £2.50 for up to 5 devices) and first impressions were that I didn't like it so I downloaded Office 2019 for £2 on my desktop and am far happier with that. I may do similar on the laptop at that cost. I don't think I've ever paid more than £5 for any version of Office.
Quote from: Trainfish on June 01, 2020, 02:28:20 PM
I recently put 365 on my laptop (paid about £2.50 for up to 5 devices) and first impressions were that I didn't like it so I downloaded Office 2019 for £2 on my desktop and am far happier with that. I may do similar on the laptop at that cost. I don't think I've ever paid more than £5 for any version of Office.
??? Office 2019 is just a snapshot of the Office programmes, Office 365 is the same software just upgraded a couple of times per year (at most). Apart from Office 365 giving you more bits and pieces (that may not be necessary for most people!) what differences were you seeing in the software? With my Office 365 account I download the desktop apps as normal.
But real question is how are you paying so little for the software?
Quote from: red_death on June 01, 2020, 03:11:12 PM
But real question is how are you paying so little for the software?
I have seen re-sellers (?) selling licences for the programmes on the web - is that what you bought @Trainfish (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=262) ?
Quote from: red_death on June 01, 2020, 03:11:12 PM
Quote from: Trainfish on June 01, 2020, 02:28:20 PM
I recently put 365 on my laptop (paid about £2.50 for up to 5 devices) and first impressions were that I didn't like it so I downloaded Office 2019 for £2 on my desktop and am far happier with that. I may do similar on the laptop at that cost. I don't think I've ever paid more than £5 for any version of Office.
??? Office 2019 is just a snapshot of the Office programmes, Office 365 is the same software just upgraded a couple of times per year (at most). Apart from Office 365 giving you more bits and pieces (that may not be necessary for most people!) what differences were you seeing in the software? With my Office 365 account I download the desktop apps as normal.
But real question is how are you paying so little for the software?
I haven't really looked at 365 much (on my laptop) but I'm not a fan of cloud based systems or storage and first impressions were that this was the case. I may be wrong there but I will have another look soon. When I had Office 2016 (on my desktop) it also downloaded the updates, I'm not sure if 2019 will do the same yet as I only installed it last week after uninstalling 2016 to try to sort out an Outlook Live issue but failing miserably. I have Word, Excel, Publisher, Powerpoint, Access and probably more but generally only need Word and Excel like most people.
Quote from: dannyboy on June 01, 2020, 03:18:43 PM
Quote from: red_death on June 01, 2020, 03:11:12 PM
But real question is how are you paying so little for the software?
I have seen re-sellers (?) selling licences for the programmes on the web - is that what you bought @Trainfish (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=262) ?
Yes, I have only ever bought licences when I need to rather than the whole programme. You only need the key these days as you download the full programme from the Microsoft site. I've never had a problem with these and if I lose the account/licence details for whatever reason I just buy another for £2 or thereabouts. All of my files have been saved locally so it's never a problem.
Current version of 2019 is advertised on eBay and listed at £2.50 or 'Make an offer'. Offered £2 and they accepted, they may have accepted less! If anyone wants a link just PM me.
Quote from: GrahamB on June 01, 2020, 07:25:09 AM
I'm still using Office 2007. It's fine and, following a hard drive failure, I had to reload it earlier this year. No problems. If it does what you want, why change?
A man of my own heart :thumbsup: .
I still have the full Office 2007 which includes Publisher and Access. I only use Word, Excel and Publisher now and, very rarely, Powerpoint. All works fine and I can read others docs when they send them using 365. I still have bells & whistles, just not the brand new ones ;D.
Old saying comes to mind - "If it ant broke why fix it".
Seems weird to me,as home computers get faster softwares going backwards ,cloud storage, online software, almost sounds like a thin client.
Office 365 does give you proper, downloadable programs and does not require the use of cloud storage. However, if you choose to use cloud storage, you can also access cut-down versions of the apps, online, from any device and access the files in your cloud storage. The Web apps and cloud storage are just an extra, not the main offering.
Office 365 (now Microsoft 365) can be installed locally on your PC and provides full featured versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc. You also get 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage per user included. You do not have to use OneDrive - that is optional.
As for the licenses on eBay etc. - be aware that the legality of these is questionable and are often excess corporate and/or OEM licenses being sold on. This is in breach of Microsoft's licensing T&Cs. Buyer beware.
Personally, I use office so much that I am happy to invest the £60 (typical price you pay in Argos) for an annual subscription. That is £5 a month and it serves my wife, daughter and me. So for £1.67 a month each we all have a full Office suite plus 1TB of Cloud storage.
Better value than the BBC license fee IMHO (ducks for cover!). ;)
Kind regards
Paddy
P.S. I am not a Microsoft employee, just a satisfied (reasonably) customer of 30+ years. :D
Quote from: themadhippy on June 01, 2020, 04:59:25 PM
Seems weird to me,as home computers get faster softwares going backwards ,cloud storage, online software, almost sounds like a thin client.
There is nothing new in IT really - the name changes but the function stays the same. ;)
Kind regards
Paddy
Quote from: Paddy on June 01, 2020, 07:06:30 PM
As for the licenses on eBay etc. - be aware that the legality of these is questionable and are often excess corporate and/or OEM licenses being sold on. This is in breach of Microsoft's licensing T&Cs. Buyer beware.
Yes that would be my concern too, I also believe many of them are OEM licences being sold outside of legit T&C. If the price seems too good to be true, then smell a rat I'm afraid. As an IT professional I wouldn't consider them.
I use 365 and happily pay the annual subscription - usually buying it when Amazon have an offer (you can hold on to a new key until your old subscription expires). I particular like OneDrive - every user gets their own terabyte of storage. Using 365 and OneDrive on my Android phone, tablet and pc means that all documents, spreadsheets, photos etc are accessible and editable across the 3 platforms. 365 is, I think, Microsoft's business model going forward so I get on board telling myself "at least it's not Apple".
I've often wondered about the legality of the £5 licences on eBay for Office, Windows etc. Who is in breach, the seller or the purchaser? There are so many thousands of sellers that I can't imagine Microsoft ever managing to do much about it.
Both are seller and purchaser are likely to be in breach - seller for breaking terms of their licence and purchaser for improperly using said licence if they are from volume licensing arrangements.
I'm happy to take that 'chance'. I'll just plead ignorance. Comes as second nature to me ::)
I forgot to add to this before so here goes. Ebay usually ban/delete the seller after they have been alerted as yes, they are often in breach of MS terms etc. If after purchase you are unable to leave feedback due to eBay deleting them you can then raise a dispute and try to claim your money back, say it didn't work. This is usually successful and your money is returned so it's free in the end. As I said before, I'm happy to take a chance purchasing MS Office this way but I also understand if others are not.
This company, I believe, was known as Software Geeks. I had my windows 10 and Office 2010 off them. They sell genuine licenses, but you have to download the software and if you want it on a CD, you need to burn it yourself.
https://theunitysoft.com/?wmc-currency=GBP
Quote from: Trainfish on July 24, 2020, 01:32:12 AM
I forgot to add to this before so here goes. Ebay usually ban/delete the seller after they have been alerted as yes, they are often in breach of MS terms etc. If after purchase you are unable to leave feedback due to eBay deleting them you can then raise a dispute and try to claim your money back, say it didn't work. This is usually successful and your money is returned so it's free in the end. As I said before, I'm happy to take a chance purchasing MS Office this way but I also understand if others are not.
Seriously? What you are essentially encouraging should tell anyone about the legality of it. The fact that you don't get caught doesn't stop it being illegal...
Yes, seriously. As I said, I'm willing to take the risk and it's up to others whether they are. Doing 71mph on a motorway is also illegal but I bet the majority of us have done it. I think the grown-ups can decide whether they want to do what I do themselves.
This will also be my last comment on this issue as I am aware of some people disagreeing (as shown on this thread) and also people who are happy to purchase this way (as shown by the PMs received). I don't want to see a slanging match about it.
I kinda feel that buying a licence in that way is one thing (I've done it), but then exploiting a loophole, and lying that it didn't work in order to get your money back fraudulently is a whole new level of dishonesty.
The company I work for probably has in excess of 100,000 PCs world wide, this gives the company somewhat better buying power than most. So all employees were given The option of buying office pro, and the latest windows for $10 each. Not surprisingly I've taken advantage of this... All official MS offers..
The at work computers are now mostly on Office 365, this has at times slowed the intranet, down and the internet even though we have direct fibre to the outside world.
Our recent 365 offer was £35 ish pounds a year ( it's an odd amount as a conversion from US dollars.)
Personally I prefer to keep my data at home, note that we have a NAS system, a main PC, a laptop PC and two tablet computers. Data is well backed up. Which reminds me that's due again.
Oh why do we have so many PCs at work? Well for example, we all have our own desk with a PC, but in the main lab we have 40 PCs running test equipment, looked after by half a dozen people, calibrating electronic test equipment, in my lab I have another 3 PCs, I calibrate the equipment, that calibrates the equipment, that calibrates the equipment we make or service.