I take advantage of been able to install works copy of Office 365 on my home computer so I just do that.

For friends and family It used to be I'd install an older copy of MS Office but with businesses no longer buying the licensed product these days for me to "hand down" its just easier to tell them to use libreoffice for basic home use people don't need half the features either product offers and probably only gets used few times a month if that so definitely not worth a subscription

Although most my documents are on google now. Most my personal stuff is VERY basic and having it accessible anywhere is useful. I only use the full program for things like filling forms that were sent to me in an attachment.

Office is a nice product, but I notice they keep raising the price of it.

I think the world need another (Microsoft?) Works.

A simpler, less bloated, cheaper integrated product that can do most tasks without all the complexities of Microsoft Office / LibreOffice. Most people won't even know about almost 90% of MIcrosoft Office / LibreOffice or even won't use entire programs (i.e.: Access and Visio). IMHO, most people could do their work using only Microsoft Work... or even old versions of Office like Office 2000.

I know there are simpler variants of the modules (simpler word processors or spreadsheets) but I don't know something that feel as coherent or has the integration of works or the "big" Offices.

Zup wrote on 2025-10-05, 06:49:

I think the world need another (Microsoft?) Works.

A simpler, less bloated, cheaper integrated product that can do most tasks without all the complexities of Microsoft Office / LibreOffice. Most people won't even know about almost 90% of MIcrosoft Office / LibreOffice or even won't use entire programs (i.e.: Access and Visio). IMHO, most people could do their work using only Microsoft Work... or even old versions of Office like Office 2000.

I know there are simpler variants of the modules (simpler word processors or spreadsheets) but I don't know something that feel as coherent or has the integration of works or the "big" Offices.

Hmm, Not sure I feel about this (like I have any control)

Our first PC had Works 3.0 and school was using Works 2.0 which was very similar.
It was fine for what we needed but did mean had to somewhat "re learn" how to do things in Office once I went out to the "real world"

I think later versions of works just included MS Word anyway? So no real point having a complete new product with the same apps inside.
Not when it'll be a paid product and you can get LibreOffice for free.

MS were trailing a a free version you could download and install locally. The catch was it would show constant advertising on the side. Nah thats OK. I'll just recommend LibreOffice

Zup wrote on 2025-10-05, 06:49:

I think the world need another (Microsoft?) Works.

I'm using MS Works 9 here. It's the last version, it is Vista+ compatible.
The word processor is nice and tidy, even has spell check feature.
In earlier versions, such as Works 7, it still had a database/assistant tool that would fill out names and addresses for you.

Anyway, Works 9 is more well-behaved than it predecessors thanks to all the new restrictions of Vista.
It also works on XP and older versions of WINE (which previously failed to run Works 7).

Rumors say that Works was killed-off because it rivaled MS Office too much at the time.
Since the classic interface looked more professional than the silly ribbon interface of MS Office at the time.

StarOffice was already a good alternative to MS Office, and it was way cheaper.

The quality of a software is not related to the popularity.

I've been using OpenOffice and LibreOffice for over a decade now, and recommend it to everyone at every occasion.

One of my friends almost switched to LibreOffice last year, but he told me he had to revert to MSOffice after all as there was some files incompatibility reported by his colleagues at work (they're a research institution and mostly work on their home computers). I don't know the details but it's sad that this happened.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-10-05, 09:06:

I'm using MS Works 9 here. It's the last version, it is Vista+ compatible.
The word processor is nice and tidy, even has spell check feature.

The spell check feature has been a part of Works since ages. I am sure that Works 2.0 for DOS included both spell check and a thesaurus, and I vaguely remember that Work 1.05 already had the spell check feature. The quality of that feature was fair for the time (just a simple dictionaty check), but I remember my father telling me he had to turn it off because his stomach hurt from laughing at the suggestions provided by it. The most egregious suggestion was to replace the German word "Lastenheft" (requirements specification written by the customer) by "lasterhaft" (vicous).

All these MS office alternatives are perfectly capable to covers almost everyone's personal needs, the problems begin when you need to exchange files. And while sending your pal a list of your spare VGA cards with a slightly messed formatting is funny, it's not when the recipient is your professor, your boss or a client. Yeah yeah I know "I've never experienced something like that with xOffice", but real life has proven otherwise and made many of us stick to MS Office because it's just what people who you cannot afford to send a defaced document to use.

That said, while I still use a local installation of MS Office I know that a time will come that it'll be no longer possible and no matter how disappointed I am with the direction it's heading, I will eventually pay a subscription for it.

konc wrote on 2025-10-05, 10:21:

All these MS office alternatives are perfectly capable to covers almost everyone's personal needs, the problems begin when you need to exchange files. And while sending your pal a list of your spare VGA cards with a slightly messed formatting is funny, it's not when the recipient is your professor, your boss or a client. Yeah yeah I know "I've never experienced something like that with xOffice", but real life has proven otherwise and made many of us stick to MS Office because it's just what people who you cannot afford to send a defaced document to use.

That said, while I still use a local installation of MS Office I know that a time will come that it'll be no longer possible and no matter how disappointed I am with the direction it's heading, I will eventually pay a subscription for it.

We had a small percentage of our O365 installs defaulting to odt for some reason. We found out because when they would save an existing file it would warn them of possible compatibility issues.
Wanting an easy life we set the default back to docx but I did think if MS was forced to make this change permanent it would cause a lot less problems.

But then I'm sure we all know about MS and open standards

The good thing of 365 is that allow to work multiple users to work on the same document at the same time.
I think today we need an open format that take account that aspect.

The issue I have with micro$oft office is not how much it costs, but the delivery method. If you want to buy it, it has to be online (granted it's that way with everything.) I strongly suspect that even if you buy it online, you don't get to download the whole program, an installer. And it gets locked down to that one computer. And MORE importantly, the subscription model is being crammed down out throats, which I REFUSE to do.
Of course their idea is to have a micro$oft account. And maybe that does simplify things to some extent, but it also solidifies their control over everything. And then before too long a credit card will be required for your account. Isn't that convenient- one bill for use of office and windows!
(sorry if this sounds tinfoil hattish 🤣)

Nowadays, it's common for service providers to aggressively push for subscriptions.
I only need a one-time service - but they insist that I order a lifetime subscription!
And that's why I avoid using credit/debit cards like a plague - too much risk of accidental recurring payment.

konc wrote on 2025-10-05, 10:21:

All these MS office alternatives are perfectly capable to covers almost everyone's personal needs, the problems begin when you need to exchange files. And while sending your pal a list of your spare VGA cards with a slightly messed formatting is funny, it's not when the recipient is your professor, your boss or a client. Yeah yeah I know "I've never experienced something like that with xOffice", but real life has proven otherwise and made many of us stick to MS Office because it's just what people who you cannot afford to send a defaced document to use.

I have to deal with the inverse of this problem: it seems everyone except my mum is using a free office suite and I have to convert the spreadsheets into MSBS format for her. Installing successive editions of Office on her laptops for the last quarter of a century has been testament to the firm existence of de-evolution.

If I ever unplug my modem for the last time I'll go right back to Windows 2000 and Lotus SmartSuite 97. I will never ever pay rent to the technofeudalists.

konc wrote on 2025-10-05, 10:21:

All these MS office alternatives are perfectly capable to covers almost everyone's personal needs, the problems begin when you need to exchange files. And while sending your pal a list of your spare VGA cards with a slightly messed formatting is funny, it's not when the recipient is your professor, your boss or a client. Yeah yeah I know "I've never experienced something like that with xOffice", but real life has proven otherwise and made many of us stick to MS Office because it's just what people who you cannot afford to send a defaced document to use.

That said, while I still use a local installation of MS Office I know that a time will come that it'll be no longer possible and no matter how disappointed I am with the direction it's heading, I will eventually pay a subscription for it.

I had that problem a lot when I was in school, so I spent the extra money on Microsoft Office. Today, I see Office 365 at work slowly breaking to the point where even it "defaces" documents just as badly, and it's agonizingly slow in the process on an i9-12950HX with 128GB of RAM and a good SSD.

I'm keeping a full non-subscription copy of Office around for a few rare documents. For example, I found a series of speaker simulations based around Excel macros that don't work in LibreOffice, and the original creator passed away. I'm never paying a subscription, though. I'll just keep the old version (I have 2010, 2016, and 2019) in a VM if that time comes.

for work MS Office makes sense still, it has momentum from history and in fairness there is a never ending stream of new things that wont be used by many, but are very useful to the few

it no longer makes sense at home though. In my view, libre office feels a lot less sophisticated in navigations and so on but maybe that's coming from MS Office, its actually really good and has more than enough capability for home users (and most business users if functionality is the measure rather than compatibility/interoperability)

As for 'saas' etc, people are used to it, people sign up to things, accept terms and so on - lots will use google docs etc. The era of that one relative who ritualistically installed office 95 on every new computer is largely gone.

I'm fine with libre office, i can forego ms office outside of work

ncmark wrote on 2025-10-04, 22:57:

I take it with a grain of salt, but depending on where you look you can find articles saying that libreoffice downloads are on the rise. I would like to think people are finally starting to get fed up with subscription software.

I think it's that Windows 11 and later builds of 10 having the free version of Outlook bundled, even in it's very limited stripped down form, has allowed people to combine it with Libre Office and forgo paying out for the premium 365 packages. Perpetual licensing is already a tough sell with the pricing stack, coupled with the now 5 year product cycle...makes it and even tougher sell. People accept the limitations of the free Outlook and the free Libre office and pocket the savings.

I've been using both LibreOffice and OpenOffice for a long time. Love them both.

I don't see the point, as an individual, in paying crazy prices or subscriptions for basic office software when the open-source options work just as well. 😀

And a problem with SAAS is that the software may suddenly change in strange unwelcome ways.

Why must all Microsoft Word documents be saved on closing now? Even when there have been no edits. This has only started happening now.

(I sometimes have dozens of Word documents open simultaneously, not being edited but for reference, so this is highly annoying.)