www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

I thinking about buying the new version of office..mainly for Word...one of the computers I use in work has it installed..but I really dont like the layout

Someone told me that you can set the layout to open in the older 97-2003 style i.e. without all of those tabs...someone in PC World said they didnt think you could and said the other person may have been getting confused with being able to open the actual word documents themselves.

Any thoughts before I waste my money?

Thanks

I'm not sure about the tabs and stuff since I havent used MS stuff for ages (the last Office I had was 2000) but if you just want it for Word cant you buy that as a stand alone app anymore? If not walk into Curry's etc and say your a student and you will get the student pack for a lot less than usual retail price and they very rarely ask for ID - last time I did it I got a scanner chucked in for free too

Instead of paying for MS Office, why not download this?

http://www.openoffice.org/

Will happily open MS documents for editing etc. Does everything MS Office does.,,,,,,,,,, and,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,It's,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,FREE.

joinerjohn wrote:Instead of paying for MS Office, why not download this?

http://www.openoffice.org/

Will happily open MS documents for editing etc. Does everything MS Office does.,,,,,,,,,, and,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,It's,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,FREE.

another vote for open office,been using it for years
















oh and it's free

northwales4u wrote:I'm not sure about the tabs and stuff since I havent used MS stuff for ages (the last Office I had was 2000) but if you just want it for Word cant you buy that as a stand alone app anymore? If not walk into Curry's etc and say your a student and you will get the student pack for a lot less than usual retail price and they very rarely ask for ID - last time I did it I got a scanner chucked in for free too

Sounds like a plan!!

I never thought of that angle....I can get some stuff like photoshop at a discount because im a tutor...I wonder if I can do the same with Office...hmmmm....

It will be mostly for word..but if I cant configure it in the older style (97-3002) then Ill stick with my old version

joinerjohn wrote:Instead of paying for MS Office, why not download this?

http://www.openoffice.org/

Plus 1 for Open Office.

dont think you can get rid of the ribbon style interface in the new office products, but you can get an education license

I use Office 2010 Professional Plus.

You can't change the appearance as far as I can see.

I got the full package for £35 on the student licence, on line at

http://www.phoenixs.co.uk.. They only asked what school I went to, and you don't need a .ac email address as with microsoft.

When some of the code writers of Open Office had a spat with Oracle, who own OO, they went their separate way and set up Libre Office.

I followed them out of curiosity and found that Libre Office is a nice program that more than suits my needs. It integrates with MS Office and Open Office documents.

This makes an interesting comparison:
LibreOffice VS Openoffice

Worth downloading from my link above and trying it, as it is FREE, the same as OO.

dave

I have had Open Office for a while (very rarely use it apart from spreadsheets) but there must have been a system update not so long ago because mine has switched from Open Office to Libra Office

Cheers all...very interesting views there..I will check those links out

Can't go back to 'old style'. The ribbon is the future, change and you'll like it.

Like anything, it takes a LITTLE bit of time. Change is not always bad.....look at all the die hards clinging onto WinXP and it's slightly older cousins. Windows 7 with it's better UI, nicer control on the hardware and stability is MILES better (if you have a reasonable machine.....but I've seen it run nice on a P4 - belive it or not).

Some of things that are niiiiiiiiiice if you are an educator, or show things:

- SNAP: Drag your windows to the side of the screen for an easy comparison of data (two excel, or excel and work, etc)
- SNAP: Drag to the top to make it full screen
- SHAKE: need to copy somethign to the desktop? Then click and hold on the file/folder and shake the mouse! everything minimises
- Windows + P: quick access to the external monitor output controls if you have second screen or PJ (stretch, extend, mirror)
- IE8/9: Tab features are nice, webslices, etc.

blar blar blar

New office is MILES better than older crappy one. Better help, better wizards, better file support - jump in!

BG

just to add to BG's comment, open office doesnt have conditional formatting or as much control over formulae

OOOH OOOH OOOH !!!!!

I just thought - do you use Power Point?

If you EVER need to do a powerpoint to a group of people, or share stuff over the internet the broadcast features are AWESOME!!!!! You email people links and it sends it all to the web and they get invitations. You are in total control of the content (slides, notes, etc) and can stop it at any time.

Worth it just for that alone.

BG

Another vote for Openoffice