Software rip-off - how to avoid it!

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Software rip-off - how to avoid it!
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Downsizer Forum Index -> Small Business Questions, Ideas and Advice

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Brownbear

Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 14929
Location: South West

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 8:58 am Post subject:

Chez wrote:

Brownbear wrote:

I prefer OpenOffice but other people don't and send me documents in it) and so on?

Invalid argument, Mr Bear - OpenOffice both reads MS documents and allows you to save in MS format!

Hm. I saved a trifold leaflet from openoffice to word the other day and it chopped all the columns up into pages, changed all the formatting and erased the images.

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 8:58 am Post subject:

Chez wrote:

Brownbear wrote:

I prefer OpenOffice but other people don't and send me documents in it) and so on?

Invalid argument, Mr Bear - OpenOffice both reads MS documents and allows you to save in MS format!

Not Office 2007 files it doesn't.

Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91ï¿½ N

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 9:03 am Post subject:

Brownbear wrote:

Chez wrote:

Brownbear wrote:

I prefer OpenOffice but other people don't and send me documents in it) and so on?

Invalid argument, Mr Bear - OpenOffice both reads MS documents and allows you to save in MS format!

Hm. I saved a trifold leaflet from openoffice to word the other day and it chopped all the columns up into pages, changed all the formatting and erased the images.

Main problem I find with moving documents between open office and ms office are font differences (although I've also found moving between the same apps on different machines a pain if someone has used an unusual font) that will throw alignment and formatting out. Images can be a pain on both systems as they never seem to stay where you want them as soon as you change layout (they both seem to get confused about whether images are attached to pages or text, the former allows text to separate from images, the latter allows images to move which then can have them disappear of page bottoms or onto following pages etc.)

Not really an open office or MS office problem.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28115
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 9:15 am Post subject:

There are people who will tell you Ubuntu just installs and works wonderfully, there are people who will tell you the same thing about Vista. It may be true for a large minority, but you need to be doing a lot better than that for an operating system to be regarded as effective for users.
I would not wish Ubuntu on any non techy. When I can do the following with a fresh install I might consider it.

1) My scanner starts working.
2) My Twin monitor setup does not need geekyness to set up.
3) Sound works solidly.
4) I can install something from the net without using chmod a+x from the command line!

Gervase

Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 9:16 am Post subject:

[small but elegantly-attired troll pokes head over parapet...]
I like the iWork suite of apps from Apple - Pages is a particularly elegant word processor that opens and saves in virtually all known formats. It's free with new Macs, and about £50 if you want to buy it as a bolt-on. And even an anti-nerd like me can use it with confidence. Perhaps the nicest feature is the 'full screen' button, which gives you a completely blank screen with just your words on it. No buttons, toolbars, dialogue boxes, menus; just what you're writing. Bit like a piece of paper, really. Geeks would probably hate it.
[/troll slinks away to play with shiny things]

Brownbear

Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 14929
Location: South West

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 9:17 am Post subject:

jema wrote:

using chmod a+x from the command line!

If that instruction came up in the instructions for a new computer, I'd soil my strides in techterror.

Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91ï¿½ N

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 9:19 am Post subject:

jema wrote:

When I can do the following with a fresh install I might consider it.

1) My scanner starts working.
2) My Twin monitor setup does not need geekyness to set up.
3) Sound works solidly.
4) I can install something from the net without using chmod a+x from the command line!

When I can do the following with a fresh vista install I might consider it.

1) My network starts working.
3) Sound works at all.
4) I can install something from the net without running into security issues.

never tried it with a twin monitor so I'll add

5) it boots without putting itself into 640 x 480 and putting the login prompt off screen.

Perhaps we should just agree to agree that all computers and software are carp

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 9:20 am Post subject:
What ever happened to Ami Pro (before Lotus got their grubby hand on it and ruined what I consider to be the best word processor ever produced)?

gom

Joined: 16 Jul 2009
Posts: 13

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 9:26 am Post subject:

Thanks for the troll comment, much appreciated and a lovely welcome.

I happened across this forum recently and was pleased to find that it contains some really good info, much of which is helpful to me and my small enterprise.

I posted the original message because I thought it might be of help to others, I had no idea that it was a contentious issue here, the latest postings did not reflect this and I haven't trawled back through the pages to check for more, why would I?

I am grateful to Open Office for what they do, and I thought others might be too - nothing more to it.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28115
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 9:27 am Post subject:
AmiPro3 was Lotus and I still think that that is the best word processor I have used. It has label printing and mail merge that operated easily and was generally instinctive and easy to use. It had a spell checker as well. I really struggle to fathom what any word processor since then has added that is relevant to 99.5% of users?

Effie

Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Posts: 1087

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 9:30 am Post subject:
The Guardian opens a large can of worms by asking readers about non techie linux installation They only have 173 comments thus far

Brownbear

Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 14929
Location: South West

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 9:31 am Post subject:

gom wrote:

I'm sure nothing was meant by the troll remark, perhaps someone thought it was a windup. Among the many subdivisions on Downsizer, there is a divide between the weedy, spotty, nerdy, speccy, dungeons-and-dragons-type techies (like the one who recently did a corking job of sorting out my web shop) on the one hand; and upright, sturdy, bluff, give-me-a-pen-and-paper-any-day-Carruthers, don't-know-what-the-world's-coming-to types (old farts) like my self.

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 9:33 am Post subject:

jema wrote:

AmiPro3 was Lotus and I still think that that is the best word processor I have used.

It has label printing and mail merge that operated easily and was generally instinctive and easy to use. It had a spell checker as well. I really struggle to fathom what any word processor since then has added that is relevant to 99.5% of users?

You're right, Lotus Ami Pro was the edition that spoiled it for me when they integrated it into their suite. It had limitations but got full marks for intuitiveness.

Word 2007 is a brilliant piece of software if you have the hardware to run it.

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35934
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 10:08 am Post subject:

Brownbear wrote:

gom wrote:

I posted the original message because I thought it might be of help to others, I had no idea that it was a contentious issue here, the latest postings did not reflect this and I haven't trawled back through the pages to check for more, why would I?

I am grateful to Open Office for what they do, and I thought others might be too - nothing more to it.

I'm sure nothing was meant by the troll remark

Quite - there are a hard core of very technical people here, who enjoy winding each other up - welcome, and jump right in!

What are your areas of interest, gom?

ETA - I must have been lucky swapping between OpenOffice and MS - I've not had any issues.

yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 09 10:46 am Post subject:

jema wrote:

I loved AmiPro too, and still use WordPro in preference to Microsoft Word. That's just on my computer to use with incoming documents.

Do any writing programmes have an easy uppercase/lowercase changing thingie, in the way that the early ones did? I'm always rattling through whole sentences with the cAPSLOCK on, and I haven't discovered any easy way of changing the case without deleting and rewriting

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