Pros and Cons of updating Microsoft Office

[mpeirce]

Oh, yeah... OneDrive...

Another thing I'll never use is cloud storage. Never mind PAY to use it. Interesting that some of you trust it for your financial stuff. I get the attraction; ease of use and not having to think about it. But if you've followed the headlines lately, you might see why I'm not a fan.

iCloud Drive uses two-factor authentication, encrypts the data on your device, in-transit, and on the server.

The data is probably more secure than the data sitting on your home computer unless you use an encrypted hard drive and are able to avoid all social engineering attacks.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303

 

[bobandsherry]

Oh, yeah... OneDrive...

Another thing I'll never use is cloud storage. Never mind PAY to use it. Interesting that some of you trust it for your financial stuff. I get the attraction; ease of use and not having to think about it. But if you've followed the headlines lately, you might see why I'm not a fan.

Info on OneDrive security. Is it 100%, probably not but seems like they have considered security and have necessary safeguards. But look at how much personal data is already compromised by large companies and networks.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...he-cloud-23c6ea94-3608-48d7-8bf0-80e142edd1e1

 

[Lsbcal]

Oh, yeah... OneDrive...

Another thing I'll never use is cloud storage. Never mind PAY to use it. Interesting that some of you trust it for your financial stuff. I get the attraction; ease of use and not having to think about it. But if you've followed the headlines lately, you might see why I'm not a fan.

My portfolio financial type files are encrypted in Excel before they write to Onedrive.

 

[Bamaman]

I'm old school, and I've got a MS Office copy on DVD. I use Word often, and Excel from time to time.

Unfortunately my laptop is completely worn out , and I'm suffering with it's poor performance for a few weeks. I'm also dealing with the worst cable tv/modem known to man, and it's the only hard wired internet available out here in the country.

Unfortunately, the newer laptops don't have the DVD writer any longer.

 

[camfused]

^^^ you can probably find an .iso image file of the dvd on the web, then you won’t need that physical dvd anymore.

 

[tulak]

I moved to Google Sheets years ago, after Excel made it difficult to import stock prices.

It works well enough. If I was making the same choice today, I’d look at using Numbers, but really have no reason to switch. I do like that GS is multi-platform, in case I ever use Windows/Linux.

 

[Midpack]

I just switched from Office 2013 to Microsoft 365 a few months ago, and while there are subtle changes and improvements, it’s not going to be a night and day difference for most unless they’ve added a specific function(s) you felt was missing.

I started with SuperCalc, then VisiCalc, Lotus 1-2-3 and finally Excel. I never used Multiplan, I was reluctant to give up Lotus until Microsoft cut off their oxygen. I also use iOS Numbers occasionally, and Google Sheets when forced…

 

[Ian S]

Unfortunately, the newer laptops don't have the DVD writer any longer.

Just get a USB external DVD writer. You can get one for $20 or less.

 

[Souschef]

I use office 2007, and have not had any problems with it. However, I have Acrobat 9, and found a couple of PDF's that require a later version. No problem, I just use Acrobat Reader to open them.
I looked to update Acrobat, and they want a subscription-no thanks.

 

[camfused]

...I started with SuperCalc, then VisiCalc, Lotus 1-2-3 and finally Excel. I never used Multiplan, I was reluctant to give up Lotus until Microsoft cut off their oxygen. I also use iOS Numbers occasionally, and Google Sheets when forced…

The first one I used was OxyCalc, in the late 80s. It was a mainframe VM spreadsheet program, I think created by Occidental Petroleum.

 

[braumeister]

Ah, those early spreadsheets were so awesome (or at least seemed so at the time). I was a heavy user of VisiCalc.

But the one I lusted after and could never get my hands on was a proprietary one called BoeingCalc. They referred to it as a "3-D spreadsheet). A friend told me about it in the late 80s, and from the way he described it I got the idea it was similar to the current Excel's pivot tables. Anyone ever use it?

 

[jim584672]

I remember the Office 97 trial disk for $5 at Kinkos. Someone figured out if you change one file you get Office for $5. Microsoft freaked out on him and sued.

 

[Ramen]

Related question. I recently signed up for a free trial of 365. It was supposed to be a month, but it's still working after six weeks. How long before it stops working?

To avoid being badgered into a subscription, I signed up with a junk address (instead of my MS account address). Then after a couple of weeks I deleted my CC from the trial account so it would not be auto-charged. Now the trial account is frozen because there's no CC on file.

Yet the software still works! Since I do have a use for it, I expect I'll go ahead and pay for it at some point through my legit MS account, but I'm just wondering how the free trial can still be working even though it supposedly expired.

 

[zinger1457]

If you don't cancel it some free trials/subscriptions stay 30 days or so in expired status, still usable, giving you additional time to make the purchase.

 

[JT90505]

I updated to 2019 from 2010. With a time machine I would go back and not upgrade.

I don't use any of the sharing/internet features of any of the programs, there were no new features I used, and the interface has seemingly random changes. Even after a year or two of use I still can't find certain menu picks easily. Of course I used 2010 for pretty much a decade.

Regarding sheets, my son swears by it and dislikes excel. I've tried it and although its good, after using excel for give or take 30 years (starting on my Mac IIsi), I know how to do what I want with excel and have no desire to learn the quirks of a new application. Much less transfer existing excel files to sheets and deal with the odd transfer issue.

Unless you see a compelling reason to change I would stay with 2010.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have my trusty Microsoft Office Pro 2003 CD and whenever I get a new computer I load it on. Never had any problems, it's run flawlessly on every operating system since purchased, it does everything I need, and it's been able to open every Word/Excel document I've been sent. I use Word maybe a few times a year, but work with the Excel daily, all day long.

What is your reason for considering switching/updating? Is the 2010 not able to do something you need? That should be your first consideration.

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.

 

[Katsmeow]

I use Office 365. I like that I my DH can also use it. I think it is up to 5 people (don't recall). I have it on my spare computer also.

I think it is foolish to use very old Office software from a security and support standpoint.

Yes I could use Libra Office. But, I've used Microsoft office for many, many, many years. I use Excel every day, may times a day. I like everything being updated automatically. I use Word frequently. Most everything else I use occasionally. I do use Access for a few things and occasionally use One Note. I don't use Outlook. But, honestly, the cost is worth it to me for Excel and Word.

 

[HI Bill]

Yes I could use Libra Office. But, I've used Microsoft office for many, many, many years. I use Excel every day, may times a day. I like everything being updated automatically. I use Word frequently.

. I switched from Office 365 to Libre Office when I was still working. My only complaint about Libre Office is that I had to reformat some spreadsheets, and you can only apply one zoom level at a time to all tabs. It’s updated frequently. I will never go back to MS Suites, as it offers me nothing extra that I don’t have, and is free of MS’s radical menu rearranging!

 

[papaof2]

For personal use, I'm more likely to go with a "freebie" than Microsoft. I like LibreOffice and I've tried several others that have near-equivalent functions. Some of the keyboard shortcuts such as ALT-O-F-L for doublestrike are one keystroke different from Word.

I've become a fiction author in my old age and I'm still using Word 2003 and Excel 2003. My preferred writing platform is an older Dell laptop that's still running Windows XP. No high levels of security in what I'm doing so no need for anything else - although I've discovered that some of the spell check in Word 2003 was done by someone whose first language was not English. A native speaker would never create software that suggests "you is" as a replacement for "you're". Of course, that could have been another example of poor testing from Micrsoft...

I have machines running Windows 10, I just happen to like the keyboard and display on the machine I use for writing, FYI - last year's lockdowns were a bonus for ebook authors - lots more sales in June 2020 than June 2021.

 

[t49eng]

Libre Office works for me

I have used Libre Office for several year, having given up the tribute payments to MS. I edit & publish a retirees' newsletter 4 times a year, & have served as treasurer for a social group. All document & spreadsheet files created in Libre Office can be saved & shared in MS file formats, & all MS files can be read & edited in Libre Office. I gladly support them with a $20 donation whenever there is a Libre Office update.

 

[CRLLS]

Thanks for this subject. It made me go back and try one more time to get my Outlook 2013 functional again. I upgraded from Office 2010 to 2013 due to some communications issues I had while doing some contract jobs back then. Sometime last May, Outlook stopped functioning. Probably something I did. I tried at that time to fix it but I couldn't get it working. I was forced to use an online mail system. I hated having to go to it and as a result I had hundreds of unread emails. I tried again yesterday to get my outlook functioning and finally have it back working.

I looked at various other mail programs including Libre Office and they just didn't "feel" right. Having Outlook back is like having an old friend back again. I guess too many years of corporate MS products has me hooked.

 

[arch57]

I have 3 laptops and an older desktop. Was using Office 2010 but license wouldn’t work on latest laptop so bought 15 months of Office 365 at Costco with the laptop.
You mentioned not needing OneDrive but For me OneDrive was a game changer. No longer needed to use USB drives or mess with “shared” network drives to try and sync files. We would also bring a laptop back and forth to our second home and stay for weeks and all the files I worked on were right there on OneDrive on my desktop when we got home. Plus I’m able to pull files up on my iPhone with OneDrive and that’s saved me time and frustration as well. No more backing up to external drives and forgetting files. I’m sold on it for sure.

 

[SecondAttempt]

A personal 365 subscription is $99/yr and you can share it with 5 more people... includes all the apps (including more obscure ones like Publisher and OneNote) plus 1TB of OneDrive storage for each user. It's a steal in my opinion, particularly if some of those 5 people are also heavy users... students for example. Everybody stays constantly up to date on feature updates (which drop pretty frequently) and security patches. My 2c - totally worth it.

I agree that 365 is a steal! And I have never been a MS fan. But the latest evolution just works which I appreciate. My biggest complaint it that, since covid, my laptop serves more and more as a work and business computer and MS does a very poor job of differentiating. Too often it wants to store my personal budget on my work onedrive!

But the software just works which is what matters to me. I like google sheets etc too but they have more issues for me.

 

[Paulz]

I have Office 2013 via HUP and have used Office 2019. No functional difference really. Office 2019 has a more updated look but that is cosmetic. No compelling reason to update.

I also have Office 2016 via HUP at home, Agree with Jim that there is no difference. I now have Office 365 at work and will never go to that on my personal computers. The differences with Office 2016 are cosmetic but my true aversion is the reoccurring fee to Microsoft. My Office 2016 was a one time cost of $9.99, so thats hard to beat.

 

[mpeirce]

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

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