Pros and Cons of updating Microsoft Office

[FLJim]

Office 365

I used to buy the software, but switched to 365 over 6 years ago. I haven't looked back. Also you get free tech support with 365. The cost is worth it to me.

+1
$99 annually is a deal for 6 PC's - 2 desktops in IN, 2 in FL, and 2 travel laptops. Have never needed any tech support for 365

 

[ncbill]

Despite having an older version of Office nowadays I normally use LibreOffive for documents then save & email them as PDF files..

 

[bobandsherry]

For those who have interest in Microsoft 365.... a couple of nice deals.

Get 12 months of Microsoft 365 (1 person/1TB OneDrive Cloud) plus choose one of the following for combo deal - $45.98 (total for both with combo)

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 1 Year 1 Device
AVG Internet Security 2021 5 Devices 1 Year
Kaspersky Internet Security 2021 1 Year / 3 Device
Bitdefender Internet Security 2021 - 1 Year / 1PC

Or

Microsoft 365 Family 15 months (6 people/6TB OneDrive Cloud (1TB per person) plus Norton 360 15 month 1Device - $89.99

I've seen Family for $64.99 and $69.99 with combo offer so may be worth waiting for better offer.

 

[bobandsherry]

Another deal, no combo just Microsoft 365 Personal (1 person / 12 months) - $44.97 on Amazon.

 

[bobandsherry]

+1
$99 annually is a deal for 6 PC's - 2 desktops in IN, 2 in FL, and 2 travel laptops. Have never needed any tech support for 365

FYI - $99 is for Family plan is for 6 people, not PC/Devices. Each person can install on 5 devices each.

You can use Microsoft 365 Personal ($69/yr) and install on up to 5 devices.

 

[bobandsherry]

Another great deal on a Family (6 people - not PC's) on Microsoft 365, 12 month plus AVG Internet Security (5 devices/1yr <- I'd just throw that in the bit bucket, but maybe someone finds value). $59.98 after using the Promo Code TBSAVM365 through a reputable reseller (NewEgg). The 6TB of OneDrive data storage is worth the cost of admission on this alone.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails?ItemList=Combo.4363138

 

[ERObjd]

I use Apache Open Office its free and does the same stuff MSO does.

 

[bobandsherry]

I use Apache Open Office its free and does the same stuff MSO does.

It offers 1TB+ cloud based storage for free too?

 

[jim584672]

Office 2021 / Office LTSC came out Oct. 5th., looks like 2019, minor changes. It is supposed to be Office 365 with some of the cloud features removed. Microsoft is trying to move away from one time purchases so they gimped it on purpose to get you to subscribe to Office 365. They only update security for 5 years, no feature updates / improvements.

 

[easysurfer]

I use Apache Open Office its free and does the same stuff MSO does.

Same here, Open Office suits me fine.

Plus, I can't complain about the cost .

 

[Midpack]

Apparently Apple’s free Numbers spreadsheet now has pivot tables.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021...features-in-iwork-suite-of-productivity-apps/

That’s enough to get me to drop my Microsoft 365 subscription! Unfortunately that’s a hard no from DW even though she doesn’t even use pivot tables. I guess I’ll continue to spend $100/year to keep peace in our house…

 

[Romer]

you can get the stand alone non subscription MS office on ebay as well

 

[bobandsherry]

Here's a great deal for Office 365 Family (up to 6 users) 15 Month Subscription. Plus you also get 2021 H&R Block Deluxe + State Windows. $69.98

https://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails?sdtid=15434914&ItemList=Combo.4407349

I've now extended my Office 365 subscription and set for next years taxes.

 

[USGrant1962]

Here's a great deal for Office 365 Family (up to 6 users) 15 Month Subscription. Plus you also get 2021 H&R Block Deluxe + State Windows. $69.98

https://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails?sdtid=15434914&ItemList=Combo.4407349

I've now extended my Office 365 subscription and set for next years taxes.

That's a really good deal. To confirm, you got a code for O365 that you entered into your Microsoft account and it extended you by 15 months from your prior expiration date?

 

[bobandsherry]

That's a really good deal. To confirm, you got a code for O365 that you entered into your Microsoft account and it extended you by 15 months from your prior expiration date?

Exactly. I already applied the activation code, I was set to expire in September 2024 (I already had a couple of other discounted offers applied), now set to expire December 2025.

As FYI - My original product/subscription was also purchased from NewEgg, so if you have purchased product/subscription from another vendor/source I can't say what will or won't happen.

 

[bobandsherry]

AsFYI - per Microsoft, if you have a "Personal" account, you can upgrade to "Family" and the remaining days on your existing subscription for Personal are automatically added to your new Family subscription.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...personal-3fcc1efc-2722-427f-8efa-db94b9b0a36b

 

[JoeWras]

AsFYI - per Microsoft, if you have a "Personal" account, you can upgrade to "Family" and the remaining days on your existing subscription for Personal are automatically added to your new Family subscription.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...personal-3fcc1efc-2722-427f-8efa-db94b9b0a36b

I'm about to find out. Thank you, this is a great pointer.

Let's hope my luck is better than trying to [-]steal [/-]get the Hulu $0.99 deal.

 

[W2R]

I no longer have any need for anything but Excel, but have found that OpenOffice Calc does everything that I need to do with spreadsheets. So, that's all that I use now.

+1000

When I retired, I immediately transitioned from MS Office (which was paid for by my agency) to Open Office (which is free). Open Office has been terrific and I haven't missed MS Office at all.

Like NW-Bound, all I need these days is Open Office's Excel equivalent. I use it every day for keeping track of my spending, investments, doing projections, and much more. Also the word processor and other functions are there if I should ever need them (but I don't, so far).

 

[Golden sunsets]

+1000



When I retired, I immediately transitioned from MS Office (which was paid for by my agency) to Open Office (which is free). Open Office has been terrific and I haven't missed MS Office at all.



Like NW-Bound, all I need these days is Open Office's Excel equivalent. I use it every day for keeping track of my spending, investments, doing projections, and much more. Also the word processor and other functions are there if I should ever need them (but I don't, so far).

W2R; Do you know how this works if one gives up their current Office product( in my case Office 365) and you want to open an old word or excel sheet? Does Open Office convert the doc automatically?

Sent from my SM-T510 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[bobandsherry]

I have MS Office Pro 2003, and Office Ultimate 2007, but have not used them for a while.

I no longer have any need for anything but Excel, but have found that OpenOffice Calc does everything that I need to do with spreadsheets. So, that's all that I use now.

For me, the value of Office 365 is the cloud storage. With the Family plan and a TB of storage for each of the 6 users, that's worth the price of admission. I know, cloud storage freaks some people our or isn't necessary, but it's a great convenience to me.

Retired myself, I do some volunteer work and then having access to the Office Products is just a plus for the accounting and budgeting I do. However, I find myself using Google Sheets often even with Excel. But for really large sheets, I still go to Excel.

 

[finnski1]

+1000

When I retired, I immediately transitioned from MS Office (which was paid for by my agency) to Open Office (which is free). Open Office has been terrific and I haven't missed MS Office at all.

Like NW-Bound, all I need these days is Open Office's Excel equivalent. I use it every day for keeping track of my spending, investments, doing projections, and much more. Also the word processor and other functions are there if I should ever need them (but I don't, so far).

I have been using OpenOffice Calc for several years and am very happy with it. Mostly just do a lot of spreadsheet stuff.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm about to find out. Thank you, this is a great pointer.

The deal through NewEgg worked great. I had no problem activating it with MSoft, and it automatically converted my "Personal" to "Family" and extended the subscription 15 months. No pain.

 

[jollystomper]

As a 25+ year Microsoft shareholder, I implore everyone to update to the latest versions of Office, (or any other Microsoft software). The biggest pro is that you will be helping my assets grow .

 

[JoeWras]

As a 25+ year Microsoft shareholder, I implore everyone to update to the latest versions of Office, (or any other Microsoft software). The biggest pro is that you will be helping my assets grow .

I'm an index guy and both Apple and MSoft are my largest holdings, surprisingly large.

So yeah, I agree. Update your Office and upgrade your iPhone. Go for it.

 

[W2R]

W2R; Do you know how this works if one gives up their current Office product( in my case Office 365) and you want to open an old word or excel sheet? Does Open Office convert the doc automatically?

No conversions have been necessary, for me, anyway. Open Office saves and loads in the usual MS Office formats (like *.xls ), if you want it to. It has its own formats but I don't use them - - I just save my files in the MS Office formats instead.

Every day I open and use the same Excel workbook that I had for years before I retired and switched to Open Office. It consists of 26 spreadsheets in one file that I call "retirement.xls", and I have never had trouble opening or saving this workbook or any of my old spreadsheets. Everything is fine - - even the graphs and macros.

Since it is completely, 100% free, you would not have to pay a cent to actually download and play around with Open Office. Then you could see for yourself if it is completely satisfactory for your purposes. Given the complexity of MS Office, this double check might be a good idea!