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this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2023
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Technology
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So, I've been mulling this over. I know Microsoft Word web version is free and I suppose that's their replacement, but it needs to be more accessible if that's the case. Like, for my very Average Mom who buys a laptop, she actually was using Wordpad for years until I got her onto my M365 family plan because it was a built in program and she knows how to navigate the Start menu and open programs.
Assuming a parallel universe where she didn't have access to desktop Word, how does she know Microsoft Word Online is available to her? Is there a shortcut on the desktop, or directly from Edge? Should there be a start menu icon which opens it up directly? Has Microsoft considered this? I would hope they have.
Just install Libreoffice. No reason for MSO unless you work in an org that supplies it.
While I think LibreOffice is great and definitely fills the needs for most people, I wish it was more polished. IMO MS Office just feels so smooth and clean, whereas LibreOffice feels clunky and dated. And I miss Excel when using Calc, although it gets the job done.
I guess I am from the old days. For me MSO has had nothing in terms of needed improvements since about 1998. And thankfully I moved to Libreoffice before the ribbon bar and all the VBA issues with 2013. Libreoffice became usable about 2005. Yes it was Excel for me that was the last to go. Solver in particular. As far as VBA, I switched from that to python about 1998.
As far as dated. I think it depends on who you think defines the standard . For me that is not MS.
As a user of advanced excel features like Power Query and even its plethora of built in functions, LibreOffice Calc just doesn't hold up at all. It lacks all beyond the most basic table features
That is the thing. I would not do anything advanced in a spread sheet. Just not productive. I would use Python.
As an example, I made a spreadsheet that queried WoW's auction house API and showed me items, their crafting components, prices and profits from crafting, that was then easily interactable and extendable in the GUI. Doing the same thing in python would have been great up until the point where I want to display the information... getting python to output a proper front end GUI is definitely a more time consuming exercise than using Excel's built in functionality
Keep in mind Python can interact with spreadsheet formats. So it is very possible to input your data in a spreadsheet , load that data into Python, then dump it into a spreadsheet. Easiest is CSV but I have done direct too.
What approach depends. If you know a spreadsheet really well, then taking it quite a ways makes a lot of sense. On the other hand when one gets to the point of writing more then 100 lines of VBA and especially into the 500 range, it may be time to use another approach. Same when execution times are very long or data very large. Working with large VBA code bases is kind of nutty but people often get too deep into the I have a hammer so every problem looks like a nail thinking. I have had to work with code like that myself.
Have you tried enabling the ribbon interface?
Sure. No thanks.
Libre Office is cool.
If you work with other people's really complex word documents where formatting is important, you kind of do have to use MS word because Libre Office still does not have 100% compatibility (probably Microsoft's fault).
I'm still a 360 holdout though. I hate the subscription model at the best of times and with Microsoft it just seems egregious.
Yes. I use to have to do patent work in MSO. The other issue is presentations. If you just cannot go with a PDF or use your own laptop you kind of have to use MSO since it is often the only program available.
True. Powerpoint is de rigeur in some contexts.
Doesn't have dark theme tbf
LibreOffice does have a dark theme now.
No one uses OnlyOffice? So far it’s been suitable and feels familiar to MSO.
FOSS people would probably use Libreoffice. On the other hand if you must work in the MSO world yes Onlyoffice seems like worth a look. Otherwise chasing MS is kind of a loosing strategy.
Free office is very good to. Better then libre and actually keeps the ribbon system which is awesome and elegant.
Libre has the option to use a ribbon
Ah, it's 6 steps to unlock experimental features that may crash and enable the tabbed UI. Interesting, also, it looks brand new. FreeOffice has constantly kept compatibility with Docx and MSOffice whereas Libre is very well known for having formatting differences between it and MSOffice. FreeOffice is also fairly more stable in my experience. I've never had it crash on me where LibreOffice, even without the experimental features turned on, has crashed or failed to open a lot of files for me in the past.
Overall I'd love to see Libre succeed more than Free but I also have work to get done. I need things to work flawlessly, especially when it comes to documents. If I have to fuss around in experimental settings that straight-up say they may crash then I'm out. I can't be wasting my time like that.
Very valid points. I forgot WordPad existed and I use Notepad way more than I've ever used WordPad. But many people still havent really used computers much in depth beyond specific things they've been shown.
I know I could just use Google Docs or throw LibreOffice in there, but many people now in retirement age have still managed to dodge learning much about computers.
If you deliver a new computer that can't type a letter, send an email, and play YouTube out of the box, that seems like a fail. And I feel many that won't know what do do without something like WordPad also may not have an Internet connection, nor should they have to if they just need a presentable looking doc.
Most of my text files are from Unix/Linux systems, because I don't work much on Windows. So Wordpad is more important than Notepad for me, because the latter one does not handle end-of-lines correctly.
Notepad got unix line ending support a while back. It doesn't do weird old macOS line endings (\r only) but Unix line endings work these days.
Edge has a feature that lets you install websites as PWAs, which appear in the Start Menu like any other app. I assume they plan to have people use Word Online that way.
Whether or not this will be set up automatically is a different (and more important) question. But if they don't do it automatically, it's something that would only need to be done once.
Ms makes it very obvious that O365 is available when you turn on a new machine.
Doesn't fresh installs of windows 11 come with shortcuts in the start menu for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that opens the online versions of the software if you haven't installed office yet?
Oh, if that's the case then it makes perfect sense why Wordpad is being deprecated, and I'm glad Microsoft is keeping things simple and sensible for average basic users. I've only ever used a corporate image for W11 so it didn't have those shortcuts.
When you try to open a docx file the MS store opens and offers you like three versions of Office 365, one of which is free (which eventually opens up the web version of them).
LibreOffice is on the store, but it's also not free for some reason. Apache OpenOffice is free on there. Neither of them appear in the list of apps when you try and open a docx file, although it does show a few programs that appear to be very thinly reskinned versions of OpenOffice on there..
LibreOffice on the store is not official.
Nice, you can just upload somebody else's work and get paid for it.
You could argue that the guy doing that is providing a service.