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For 'light-weight' stuff I use Google. If I need to do something a bit more serious, I use LibreOffice - it's free/open source and, (in my experience), totally compatible with MS Word & Excel. And I actually prefer the interface to that of MS.
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Not so long ago, I was forced into using Libre or OpenOffice, cannot remember which one it was, because that was the tool of choice of my son's school. This was the worst experience ever. /edit: 50% probably because I am not used to the tool UI, I reckon, but 50% because the tool was really poor once you used it for something else than writing a few lines and inserting two images.
I know bashing MS Office has been going on for years, but let's be honest, the tools are awesome, and I would not switch to anything else - while the free alternatives are probably good enough for most, they do not come close to the Office toolchain.
At home, I use resold unused Office licences and always got the full professional edition for max 50€ - Currently happily using 2016 version and I do not plan to change it anytime soon.
And generally speaking, I avoid all kind of subscription system, which is the new rip-off trend of software industry nowadays. "recurring revenues", or how to make ten times more money with the same thing.
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Yup.
As a person who has written some Office Add-ins, toolchain is the key here (for me).
I use Softoffice for my personal stuff, does what little I need (Linux user).
When you say that version 2016 is all you need, you define the reasons behind subscription offerings to remain in business for many large shops. I avoid them wherever possible. FWIIW, I can (and have) run Office 2000 on W10, everything but Outlook runs. Well, for me, everything being Word and Excel. That version came without any activation requirements.
One wonders about buying/selling unused licenses. You can get same for Windows itself. Seems to me I read that it is against the EULA to sell them, but I don't know, IANAL. I have none to sell anyway. 
>64
Some days the dragon wins. Suck it up.
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theoldfool wrote: Softoffice
Never heard about it. Google sends more than one link, do you have maybe a link ?
theoldfool wrote: Seems to me I read that it is against the EULA to sell them
There is no clear statements about it, I reckon, so maybe it is not indeed legal everywhere - but tbh instead of leaving an already bought license unused forever, I still find it better to pay again a small amount for it and use it.
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Oops, my mistake, Softmaker office, not soft office. I got an "almost free" version when I bought my scanner software.
Since it is a for sale (either rent or purchase) product, I won't post the link here.
>64
Some days the dragon wins. Suck it up.
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Microsoft Office is overkill for most people -- 90% of the folks use 10% of the features. LibreOffice is good enough, although for those who use more than 10% of the features, LO falls down quickly. It's a distant second best to Office. Also, while each can read the other's formats, translation of moderately complex documents is a one-way trip -- neither MO nor LO plays nice with the other.
The advantage of Google Docs over Notepad is for when I want Google to know what's on my shopping list. And Google wants to convert everything to their format, regardless of what the owner wants.
Folks complain about the Microsoft 365 subscription? For $100 USD I get 6 licenses for all of Office + OneDrive. Each license allows me to install Office on multiple PCs (all access same license materials), plus on tablets and phones. 1 TB of OneDrive space is far more than I'll ever need, and it makes sharing of files across my devices effortless, plus sharing with others.
For $100/year I share with 4 family members, and have a license left over, so my actual cost is $20/person. This doesn't work for everyone, but the cost of what is provided can be quite low.
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BryanFazekas wrote: 90% of the folks use 10% of the features
That is probably closer to 1% than 10%.
As you poitned out, the lacking format compatibility between MO and others is really a pain - and since MS moved to xml content, I hardly understand why it is still that complicated.
BryanFazekas wrote: $20/person
Ok, this sounds more reasonable than $100/year for a single user. What bothers me is not that price in particular, it is the accumulation of subscriptions that you have to do nowadays (phone/tv/sw/storage/, soon it will be cars, and maybe other household things) which brings the monthly bill on a quite high level ! The subscription prices are extremely high - a SW license that you would have paid $150 and maybe kept for 5 years before paying for an upgrade is now around $99.90/year, this is a $150 vs. $500 difference. So maybe OK for subscriptions, but not for the same price as the full license to be paid every year...
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Well, you can always go back to stone tablets and smoke signals if you really want to save money.
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I use LibreOffice with almost no regrets (I reckon PowerPoint is far better than Impress).
"In testa che avete, Signor di Ceprano?"
-- Rigoletto
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License keys are transferable.
Some companies buy in bulk then consign the ones they don't use.
One can buy these license keys at a fraction and that MS honors.
Just keys; no software; you download from MS and activate with your key.
You should be able to reuse your keys; if you can find them.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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I have been using libre office for years. I only use MSOffice at work when I have tooo.
To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer
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Wordle 307 3/6
⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩
⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Wordle 307 3/6*
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have. -Anon
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Wordle 307 5/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Back to 4:
Wordle 307 4/6
🟨⬜🟨⬜🟨
🟨⬜🟨⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I like them greens!
Wordle 307 4/6*
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟨⬛⬛🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
"It is easy to decipher extraterrestrial signals after deciphering Javascript and VB6 themselves.", ISanti[ ^]
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Wordle 307 4/6
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟩⬜🟨
🟨⬜🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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In 2 today - and, somehow, I feel cheated!  It's not like I had figured it out. I just picked a word that would rule in/out some common letters - and bang, it's all over. 
Wordle 307 2/6
⬜🟦🟦⬜⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧
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Not too difficult today:
Wordle 307 5/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟨⬛⬛🟨⬛
⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟩⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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Wordle 307 4/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Sometimes, defensive (employing rules that prevent the user from shooting themselves in the foot) programming/design can come back to bite you. 
Consider this: A simple data collection/reporting application for vending machines. A couple of properties of a machine are initial meter reading and initial meter reading datetime. Once a machine has been setup, users log meter readings and money collected.
The rules are simple:
0: Datetime for a new reading must be greater than the previous reading datetime.
1: Meter reading must be greater than or equal to the previous reading.
If these rules are violated, the screen warns the user and refuses to save.
Did anybody spot the design/logic flaw here? 
For two years and 58 vending machines, this model has worked perfectly, but real life has a way of disrupting the model.
Rule #1 is a problem if the meter gets reset to 0 or the meter/plc gets replaced! Apparently, this just happened on one of their machines, and now the customer is unable to enter a new transaction! 
Sure, there are multiple ways to deal with a 'once in 2 year' glitch:
0: Manual entry (with a note) behind the scenes to force the new entry. This creates a huge overage for that transaction (against actual cash/cc collected) and creates other chaos with the 'order of things' in some reports.
1: Tape a note inside the machine informing the user to add X to the current reading before entering into the system. It's only for a few months until the end of the FY.
2: Create a new vending machine.
3: Alter the previous transactions to negative numbers thereby keeping the flow/order/calculations correct.
1 or 2 is what I'm pushing for, but my bp disagrees and thinks I should modify the app to enable a reset gracefully. I don't disagree, but it's not a priority.
One of the most challenging parts of this job is premonition...anticipating the edge cases before they happen. I do my best, but it's often misunderstood as negativity or introducing unnecessary complexity to a problem. At least it stays challenging! 
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
"Hope is contagious"
modified 21-Apr-22 15:21pm.
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Option 4: Add a setting that is automatically added to the reading. This can be 0 for most machines and a sensible value for the machine you are 'hacking'
Quick and dirty.
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 That's actually a pretty good idea. Thanks!
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
"Hope is contagious"
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