MS Office 2010 v Microsoft 365 - Opinions wanted

[dannyboy]

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.

[ntpntpntp]

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.

[Platy767]

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

[Steven B]

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.

[emjaybee]

{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!

[themadhippy]

. 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.

[Papyrus]

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

[guest373]

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

[Railwaygun]

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

[GScaleBruce]

Very happy with Office 365. Moved onto it a few years ago from Office 2013, haven't looked back.

[themadhippy]

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.

[red_death]

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

[red_death]

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).

[kardkits]

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

[Thorpe Parva]

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.