MS Office alternative

[redneck joe]

Since i got booted out of corporate america about seven years ago i've been paying whatever a year for 365.

I rarely use excel anymore but it is nice to have sometimes when communicating with my wife (still employed) and a few other reasons.

Word can be replaced with my email email.

Don't use power point at all anymore.

I hate the gmail UI, outlook is much preferred.

There are some free ones out there i see, have yall had experience with any of them?

 

[Jeff J]

I just buy the home and student edition rather than screw with the 365 subscription. It lasts me several years so it saves a lot of money over 365 for the same period of time.

 

[alldodge]

Buy an older version of MS office like 2007 and it still works. Make sure you get the original disk with code

 

[Scott Danforth]

I'm like AD. 2010 version

 

[Pmt133]

The free online version of excel, word and outlook on one drive does like 90% of what I need I've found. Anything beyond that and I should be on the clock. (At work)

 

[dingbat]

There are a number of on-line sellers that sell keys. The older the version of software the cheaper the key.

Bought Office Pro 2021 for $25

 

[Jeff J]

The older versions are fine but at some point someone will send stuff that the old versions cannot open. Not to mention it needs to be compatible with your operating system. For example Office 2013, while only $50 for the download version, will not run on Windows 11 according to the info on the ad.

 

[Lpgc]

The older versions are fine but at some point someone will send stuff that the old versions cannot open. Not to mention it needs to be compatible with your operating system. For example Office 2013, while only $50 for the download version, will not run on Windows 11 according to the info on the ad.

I have run Office 2013 (mostly Word and Excel but had the full package) on W11, it worked but occassionally doing certain things (iIrc scrolling) the screen flashed.

I've got a pile of dead laptops, they tend to last a couple of years because I treat them a bit harshly doing diagnostics and tuning fuel injection systems on vehicles. Only had the latest one a few months and already had to change the screen in it. This one came with W11 and a late version of Word already installed, not owned it long and haven't needed to use Excel etc in that time so haven't installed them yet, if I install Office 2013 I expect it'll work but still flash.

 

[Jeff J]

I think if I was that hard on laptops I would just buy a Toughbook. Mine almost never leaves the office.

Mine will not run without being plugged in. New Dell G15 in 2021 failed the charging system (got scary hot, hot enough I took it outside to open it and pull the battery) under warranty and Dell replaced it free but the replacement failed the same way not long after the warranty expired. The next one will probably be a bargain unit from Walmart.

The one that usually goes to the boats is a 16 year old Alienware. Much better quality than the Dell but not much new software will run on it anymore.

 

[dingbat]

The older versions are fine but at some point someone will send stuff that the old versions cannot open. Not to mention it needs to be compatible with your operating system.

It would have to be very old file format.

I'm running Office Pro 2021 on my work lap top. The only files formats I can't open are those generated prior to the 2007 release of Office when they updated/changed the file formats to thsoe in use today.

The 1997-2003 ffiles formats for Excel, Word and Power Point are still supported as legecy formats

For example Office 2013, while only $50 for the download version, will not run on Windows 11 according to the info on the ad.

The Home and Office release may have issues, but I have no problems with 2013 Office Pro on my backup laptop running Windows 11

 

[Lpgc]

I think if I was that hard on laptops I would just buy a Toughbook. Mine almost never leaves the office.

Mine will not run without being plugged in. New Dell G15 in 2021 failed the charging system (got scary hot, hot enough I took it outside to open it and pull the battery) under warranty and Dell replaced it free but the replacement failed the same way not long after the warranty expired. The next one will probably be a bargain unit from Walmart.

The one that usually goes to the boats is a 16 year old Alienware. Much better quality than the Dell but not much new software will run on it anymore.

I've got an old Toughbook too but the main reason I have that is because it runs XP and has the old (native) legacy serial and parallel ports on it which I need for some old software and ECU's. Heh it's battery lasts about 10 minutes so I need to keep it plugged in while using it but I only need to use it for a short time a couple of times a year and that frequency is decreasing.