Still Using Microsoft Office… Why? - Comments Page 1

For word processing I use EditPad Lite, recommended by you, Bob. It's a real peach and it's free. Best choice I ever made for textwork. So, thanks again.

I have yet to find a free (or inexpensive) office suite that includes a worthy replacement for MS Outlook! Am I missing something? I'm getting tired of the "not responding" announcements in Outlook:(

Maybe I'm just old and set in my ways (72) but Office is like an old trusted friend. I prefer to stay with the tried and true.

Most get MS Office from work at no cost so why learn another system?

Macros is the biggest problem with these Office clones.

Many, if not most macros created in Microsoft Word or Excel will not work in these other Office competititors. If you create or receive documents with very useful macros embedded in them, all compatibility is lost.

But for most casual users, that will never be a problem.

still use ms office 2007 with sp3 have no problems at all do very little on it now retired do not need

I also read "Lifehacker". They have an interesting story related to this
"Why Your Edge Browser Installed Microsoft Office Without Asking"
I cannot show a link to the actual story as that stops my post going live on Ask Bob.
Find the story yourself, you may find it interesting, as I did.

I still use MS Office 2003, which is no longer available. It has lasted me 17 years and still does and has everything I need, and the biggie is that it has the regular toolbars. I will not use any program that has the stupid "ribbon."

Of the other, freebie Office programs, I like Libre Office the best, but with MS Office 2003, I don't need it.

EditPad Lite, version 6, is the best text processor around, but version 6 is no longer available. The current version 8 is a complicated mess for people who just want to process text.

I do indeed have LibreOffice.
But after years and years, I'm still using Office 2003. It ain't broke, so I ain't gonna fix it.
(After my attempt to upgrade to Windows 10 bricked my motherboard in 2015, I decided to fire Microsoft and move to Linux, but the chains of Windows applications have so entangled my life, escape seems a fading dream.)

I use the free Libre Office Suite, I really didn't have to learn anything new. It is almost identical to MS Office, everything saved to Libre without a hitch as I opened old pages in MS Office.

I don't need to worry about paying for the newest updated version, or that an outdated MS Office product will cause security issues as it becomes "obsolete".

I bought and used word7 until XP ran out. Went to Corel with no problems. Found Apache a couple years ago, tried it, liked it, still have Corel installed, but haven't used it for a year or more. I think it was one of Bobs articles that got me curious. Thanks Bob!

When I went to Ubuntu Linux several years ago,Open Office was being offered as part of a package to get people to try Ubuntu.As I was somewhat familiar with Microsoft Office from work,it was no big leap to learn Open Office.

Later Ubuntu went to LibreOffice and there was no big change for me.It is very useful and I hope you will give it a spin to see if it will work for you.

There are some addins I use in Microsoft Office (in particular with Outlook) that I don't think are available with the others. For example, Gsyncit allows me to sync my Outlook contacts, calendar, etc. with Gmail and that way all my contacts magically show up on my Android phone. I edit everything using my PC which is much more convenient then doing it on my phone.

Also, the $100/year covers 6 users. So my wife, kids, etc. all get to install a copy of Office.

I have tried most of the others and don't find them as good.

Like others, I still use Office 2007. I have installed Softmaker Free, but it's failure to handle Excel macros means I only use the TextMaker element. I also use MsAccess from the Office suite and really can't face trying to convert my database apps to another application. For Outlook, I have purchased the standalone Outlook 2016. Online/cloud options are a non-starter for me as the internet where we live for 6-8 months of the year is slow / very unreliable!

I've been using MS Office 2010 Pro since, well, 2010. Since it's "dying" at the end of this year (I think it is) (YIKES, no, it just ended on 13-OCT!), I'll be giving Libra Office another try. I tried it several years ago and wasn't impressed.

Currently tho, I only use MS Word for the occasional updates to my CV, so my infrequent need should be satisfied with FREE rather than updating to newer MS products.

Why did you not mention the free on-line Microsoft version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint (and more) on Outlook.com?

It's closer to "real" office than Google Docs.

I have baen using OpenOffice since before Apache acquired it. The only problem I recall having was that I couldn't move entire rows on a spread sheet when I wanted to do an alphanumeric ordering. (That could have been user ignorance or old age "Idon'tcare". I've been very pleased with it. I think Bob recommended this one, but I can't be sure. I can understand a person feeling like Office is an old friend, but MS? Nah. They are not my friend.Or yours.

Isn't there a quote about "familiarity breeds contempt"?
I am sure there are alternative languages to English which are much easier to learn and use: without the "i before e except when it isn't" or that some four letter words (ummm... such as the word 'fish') can probably be spelled many different ways and/or mean many different things. But does that mean you are going to start speaking Swahili because it is "free"?
Linux, anyone?? It truly is free... For some reason, every time I read the words google+free from AskBob; it always elicits a knee-jerk (snicker) reaction from me!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Just for clarity, the "free" LibreOffice has no connection to Google.

Hi Bob,
Good article as usual. But you left out a couple of things. First, you listed a couple of programs, like Zoho and WPS, but didn't give us any information about whether or not they were worth trying. Why not?
Second, you left out a major competitor to MS Office: the free versions of online MS Office. I personally have a few problems with the freeby version, but it's far from bad and surely should have been on your list. Why not?
Stan Duncan
(who is still your fan, even when I think you should have done better on some things.)

I've been using LibreOffice for years. Its a great alternative but you should take the time to learn the hotkeys and subtleties. But, the autofill in Calc can be dangerous by filling in data you don't want. You must always inspect the fill. Also, it frustrating when you select the formula field to add another cell to the field and when you select the new additional cell, all the highlights disappear. It makes no sense.