Revamped Microsoft Office Will Be Free on the Web

Competition can level the playing field, but lets get one thing straight.

Nothing is free, you pay for it one way or another.

I do have a question.

When I was in college, in all of my general ed and computer science classes except thing to do with Mechanical Design/Engineering, we Apples. And Apple can a program call VisiCALC, was this program bought out by MS and NS EXCEL evolved from it?

p911

VisiCalc went the way of the dodo bird. Lotus 123 among others overtook Visicalc.

I have heard and do not recall the source that MS bought it for the basis of Excel.....or stole it.

Part of the ongoing trend is to move towards the clouds.

What do you use Word for?

How about Excel, Access Or Power Point?

What level of increased functionality will cause you to purchase more product [software]?

Who's servers are you going to trust is going to be more important than minor differences in functionality.

The ability to collaborate online in real time is probably more important than any of the for pay features

there is an expanded service industry to serve as integration consultants. There are lots of ads from Microsoft hoping to fulfill that role.

Google can offer more freebie's, having the ad revenue to subsidize. Do any of you "Bing"?

The windows 7 cycle will probably be somewhat successful, companies upgrading hardware & moving from XP straight to W7

the trend towards mobile computing will continue to gain market share at the expense of stationary equipment & [mostly MS] operating systems. When you have the ability to connect your Ipad to a large monitor or projector wirelessly, the need for work stations fades in importance....

Dear Microsoft, Google, et al:

We do not like cloud computing. We do not want it. Stop.

Sincerely,

The Masses.

Good response,

.......step into my parlor said the spider to the fly.

Do you rely on MS's security?

Hi all

I think Microsoft office is the worst suite available, I have 2007 after 2003. I tried to make a simple database in Access, records, fields all that easy stuff, but could I? No! I have to use a template. I eventually downloaded Open Office to do it.

Word used to have a wonderful facility to change case to Sentence, Upper, Lower, Title, now you just have Upper or Lower. The menus have been completely changed, I have to hunt for every thing and they use up huge screen space, what happened to drop down menus. Excel seems to be the only program that I can take some pleasure in using and I'm sure they will stuff that up too, given time.

If it ain't broke Microsoft don't fix it.

Tony

New software doesn't just take up huge screen space, but huge computer resources, I'm talking specially about PLC programming software that runs under windows.

For the sake of giving you pretty graphics, they sacrifice real time comms and screen up-dating, so you miss a lot of quick changing conditions (unless you capture them by programing a counter within the original ladder logic). DOS based programs run far more efficiently (out-dated though), and here we are, stuck to Rockwell Software and the like, waiting for a status indicator to change!! It would be faster to walk to the workshop, grab your meter, walk back, set the function and range and connect it to the desired point (hopeless if you're checking a bit).

Look pretty is not enough, we DEMAND functionality, we're not playing at all, we're earning our family's sustenance, while trying to strenghten industry.

Yahlasit !!

While your post may be off topic

The subject is actually more relevant to this audience

you are really caught in the middle hostage to both Allan Bradley & Microsoft

Have you seen this:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/54251/Windows-7-PLC-Ethernet-Connections

I'm sure the OP over there would appreciate any input

Wow, that confirms that Windows based PLC software is a pain in the head, I don't have the solution to this, but I have at least two companies to blame for it.

And I wander: Have any of the MS or A-B software developers, ever aquired the average engineer's (or the smart ass tech's) computer, already loaded with the usual stuff, and that is actually used for the field work, and try to develop their programs in such a manner that they actually work flawlessly on that computer, and justify their claims?

What? Why not!

They could learn about our needs if they were willing to work along with us in the real world and see where their crappy software hangs up, in order to make ammendments.

It can't be our fault, "you're creating conflict between this and that"... Well, I'd say to them: Fix it ! Don't let it happen!, If I open one application, I don't want the previous application to sieze and hold the same resources, because I'm gonna use 'em !!!.

And how come the newer software packages grew to such enormous sizes and are all system resorces thirsty?

Maybe not all of us (but certainly the old school), know that we could do almost absolutely everything on a 486DX with 32Mb ram, except that the software is not compatible anymore.

Come on ! don't be shy, rise your hand and admit it: "I go to DOS when I have to".

Techs of the world, unite !!! We want better perfomance on Windows based software.

Yahlasit

I share your pain

As a tech, I remember having to transplant the mother board from one panelview to another because the software was not compatible without paying $5k to Allan Bradley. Rockwell uses a very similar business model to MS. Use the market share as a weapon

...and, everytime that you "log-on" to that "free" web-based MS OFFICE program, MS will be scanning all the files in your computer looking for "un-registered" copies of all the products that MS sells.

...of course, you'll never know about it being there in the background, spying on you and your computer, because by the act of "accepting & using" their 'free' OFFICE product, the '...fine print...' in the EULA will be signing away all your rights to privacy and confidentiality.

...BIG-brother Goverment has nothing on big brother MS!

...what? you didn't like those MS "pop-ups" about "BUYING MS"? Simple, purchase it.

http://download.openoffice.org/other.html

MS will be scanning all the files in your computer looking for "un-registered" copies of all the products that MS sells.

You are not suppose to have unregistered or pirated copies.

Every successive MS release has gotten more restrictive in this regard, to the point that the present arrangement resembles a lease, with the nosey landlord having the keys to every part of your house

Having illegal software is one thing, that is different, but who's to say that MS has not only been in your house, but has been in it for years.

MS has on record of saying they do not look for pirated software, but since they are connected, who will argue against it.

I don't object to being required to have legal software

I do object to having to repurchase an operating system. I recently had to replace the HDD on this laptop. XP came preinstalled. I was told I would have to buy a new version

Goodbye MS

Hello linex, not nearly as much work as I though it would be. no trojans, no viruses

sure there are some things like I tunes that don't work, but for general surfing, email & the like, no problem.

That is disappointing when you have to accept what they give you.

As far as linex??? as the popularity begins to get a foothold with broader users. trojans and viruses will soon follow.

There are some structural differences that make it less likely

The popularity wouldn't be coming any time soon

more danger from being able to easily reformat your hard drive on the command line

Unbuntu won't ever be more than a small fraction of the market