Computer Question (Off Topic)

[Heffle Gull]

I bought a new puter at the weekend, and now find I need some word proceesing software etc. whilst digging around on the net I came accross this little gem:

open Office

does anyone have any experience of using this software? should I avoid like the plague as nothing in this life comes for free.

any advice will be welcome.

 

[Titanic]

Open Office is absolutely fine for most home use etc... and deals with basic documents from M$ Office pretty well.

Great value for money!

 

[Heffle Gull]

Thanks I might give it a whirl then

certainly seems to beat paying £100 or so to Bill Gates retirement fund!

 

[Goring Gull]

Must be someone out there who could get you XP free of charge.

 

[clapham_gull]

I found a few problems with spreadsheet compatibility, but as for word processing why bother buying something when that's for free.

Good find.

 

[Wardy]

Must be someone out there who could get you XP free of charge.

There are a lot of places you can get Microsoft Office free. They might not be legit but if you do not mind that then it is better then paying £100.

 

[Ccider]

There are a lot of places you can get Microsoft Office free. They might not be legit but if you do not mind that then it is better then paying £100.

Why is it better handling stolen goods and committing a crime?

 

[Heffle Gull]

yeah I've seen the "cheap" versions of Office XP. Plenty on Ebay!!

I would rather have legit software on my PC and If that software happens to be free then so much the better.

 

[BensGrandad]

PC has just come back from PC World on its annual check and has lost the time which was displayed on the bottom right of the screen. How do I get it back?

Many Thanks

 

[Juan Albion]

PC has just come back from PC World on its annual check and has lost the time which was displayed on the bottom right of the screen. How do I get it back?

Many Thanks

Right-click on an empty space on the bar at the bottom. Click on Properties. Make sure Show The Clock is ticked.

Should do it.

Alternatively turn it off and then on again and whistle in the wind.

 

[bhaexpress]

Must be someone out there who could get you XP free of charge.

Yes, nick it from PC World. Microsoft are getting pretty wise to license theft and frankly you might as well but it. You could try using Linux though, its a lot cheaper and from what I have seen a lot better, the big limitation of it is a lack of applications you can run under it. I'm seriously thinking of trying it on my aging laptop.

 

[Lammy]

Yes, nick it from PC World. Microsoft are getting pretty wise to license theft and frankly you might as well but it. You could try using Linux though, its a lot cheaper and from what I have seen a lot better, the big limitation of it is a lack of applications you can run under it. I'm seriously thinking of trying it on my aging laptop.

DON'T!!!

Linux is still not designed to run n laptops. There is no power saving for a start so your laptop will only last about an hour at best unless it is hooked up to power.

Then there is the reliability of the applications. I'm having to develop software usiong KDevelop on Linux and I'm constantly having to restart it. That's right peeps restarting Linux!! That's if it hasn't decided to reboot itself over night! We have three laptops with Linux running and they ALL reboot!

By comparison developing on Microsoft Developer Studio is an absolute DREAM!

I don't understand why people who right software should not expect to be paid?

 

[Cian]

erm, there IS power saving on Linux, and has been for quite some years - and indeed on some machines (IBM, Sony), its more efficient than on Windows.

It just usually takes 3-6 months after a computer comes out before it gets supported.

And you know why KDevelop sucks? Because off of Windows, people don't use RAD... text editors and makefiles

 

[Publius Ovidius]

erm, there IS power saving on Linux, and has been for quite some years - and indeed on some machines (IBM, Sony), its more efficient than on Windows.

It just usually takes 3-6 months after a computer comes out before it gets supported.

And you know why KDevelop sucks? Because off of Windows, people don't use RAD... text editors and makefiles

Throw it away and buy a MAC

"lights blue touch paper and retires a short distance behind a filing cabinet"

 

[bhaexpress]

Throw it away and buy a MAC

"lights blue touch paper and retires a short distance behind a filing cabinet"

Matter of fact I have recently had this particular debate with one of my less than brilliant cousins in Canada. She's the nightmare for IT support people, the user who thinks she know more than she actually does.

 

[Lammy]

erm, there IS power saving on Linux, and has been for quite some years - and indeed on some machines (IBM, Sony), its more efficient than on Windows.

It just usually takes 3-6 months after a computer comes out before it gets supported.

And you know why KDevelop sucks? Because off of Windows, people don't use RAD... text editors and makefiles

And 3-6 months after buying a laptop (or any computer) it is OLD and out of date. Useful shelf live of my computers is about 3 years. Then they tend to struggle to run newer software. A 3-6 month lag time with developments means you are losing the best years of your PC.

You will be hard pushed to find a better development environment than Visual Studio!

Linux does one thing very well. It runs in the backgroung without crashing for a long time. As for anyone actually being able to use the damn thing without a Degree in the subject it still has a LONG way to go....