The Village BBS

General Category => Electronic Gear - Computers, Stereo and Home Theater => Topic started by: hawknole on February 05, 2021, 09:46:22 PM

Title: Microsoft Office
Post by: hawknole on February 05, 2021, 09:46:22 PM
I just picked up a new laptop, don’t wanna pay recurring fees to Microsoft, I use Word & occasionally Excel.  I have a copy of Office 2013 but it won’t install.  Thoughts on getting a cheap licensed version of Office or other options?  Thanks
Title: Re: Microsoft Office
Post by: hawknole on February 05, 2021, 11:41:17 PM
I just installed Apache OpenOffice, will give a try.  I tried it years ago and it wasn’t great, will see if it improved.
Title: Re: Microsoft Office
Post by: FUNWIZ on February 06, 2021, 01:38:00 AM
You can add Windows 7 to Windows 10 system, called a dual boot, switch it over to seven and download the older programs and run as needed.
Title: Re: Microsoft Office
Post by: RAW POWER on February 06, 2021, 01:53:26 AM
Google docs and Google sheets work pretty well and support word and excel files
Title: Re: Microsoft Office
Post by: number six on February 06, 2021, 11:32:09 AM
why won't office 2013 install?

Yeah I don't like the new business model of virtually every software company.. let's lock you into yearly fees instead of actually owning the software.

At least in this case for most people the older versions of office are fine.
Title: Re: Microsoft Office
Post by: hawknole on February 06, 2021, 04:31:04 PM
why won't office 2013 install?

Yeah I don't like the new business model of virtually every software company.. let's lock you into yearly fees instead of actually owning the software.

At least in this case for most people the older versions of office are fine.

Repeatedly reports “an unknown error has occurred”
Title: Re: Microsoft Office
Post by: Niloc on February 06, 2021, 05:31:18 PM
Repeatedly reports “an unknown error has occurred”

That is strange, may be a corrupted install file - if you've got a key for it maybe try to find another copy of the same version.

I've got an old copy of Office 2007 that's registered to a college or something for mass installation - that works fine. Interface is dated but it works, runs on Windows 10, etc.

For my current install I splurged on one of those grey-market keys on eBay for "Microsoft Office 2019 Professional Plus" - also works fine. Not sure it'd install a 2nd time and get the all-clear from Microsoft, but I can just reinstall the drive image with it already working so it's fine. I think the key cost like $17, definitely under $20.

Libre Office and other free alternatives work too, but if you're working with people using actual Microsoft versions and sending files back and forth you can never be 100% sure it's going to look the same on their end. Borders, spacing, etc. - may look great on your side but when they open it everything is off and looks unprofessional.
Title: Re: Microsoft Office
Post by: k7 on February 07, 2021, 02:05:59 AM
office 2013 magically "becomes unsupported" or loses it's key under windows 10. whatever.

they know what they do. you can still "km$" 2016 or 2k19. it's all a bag of doughnuts...

screw you Ms 365. i'll run 2003 basic until i die if i need to.
Title: Re: Microsoft Office
Post by: lutesaware on February 07, 2021, 06:28:19 AM
I'm running Open Office 4.1.5, have used it for over ten years.  Works very similar to Word; reads Word files - text, presentations, drawings, spreadsheets, etc.  Has greatly improved over the years, and the best part of it is the cost:  zip! 
Title: Re: Microsoft Office
Post by: JaxGator on February 07, 2021, 04:39:47 PM
openoffice was the only decent one a few years ago when I had to pick a freebie.  It was actually pretty good, so can only imagine its gotten better over the years.
Title: Re: Microsoft Office
Post by: hawknole on February 08, 2021, 10:31:48 AM
Thanks all for the responses, much appreciated
Title: Re: Microsoft Office
Post by: littlewest on March 11, 2021, 02:29:35 PM
I know this is an older post but :

Open Office isn't supported anymore officially,  so we Install Libre Office on our computers for sale, as it is free and is still supported.

OpenOffice.org (OOo), commonly known as OpenOffice, is a discontinued open-source office suite. It was an open-sourced version of the earlier StarOffice, which Sun Microsystems acquired in 1999 for internal use.

Alternatively, you can still purchase Keys to install office like previously, but they are WAAAY expensive:
Home and Student Link https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/office-home-student-2019/cfq7ttc0k7c8?activetab=pivot%3aoverviewtab

Professional https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/p/office-professional-2019/cfq7ttc0k7c5?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

Also, I've had success with Office 2003 and up putting it on Windows 10 with no issues (installing that is) but obviously, they aren't supported and aren't secure, so use at your own risk.