Re: AUGD: Office 2019 for Mac
Re: AUGD: Office 2019 for Mac
- Subject: Re: AUGD: Office 2019 for Mac
- From: "Randy B. Singer" <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2019 02:31:59 -0800
On Feb 16, 2019, at 12:00 PM, email@hidden wrote:
> if I recall correctly (some days are better than others 😁 anymore), Microsoft
> at one time did have a program for user groups which supplied access to
> training, presentations and to a small portion of software for a variety of
> computer user groups for both Mac and PC group team leaders. They
> discontinued the program years ago from what I recall. With access to
> technology via a range of hardware options and mobile devices for consumers,
> it’s possible that the corporate thought became more “let them come to us
> directly”.
Microsoft has changed it's business model for Office of late. They no longer
break out the individual applications for sale, and while you can still
purchase stand-alone versions of Office, the home version is only licensed for
use on one computer. (The Business version can be used on multiple computers.)
You can use their cloud-based subscription version on multiple computers, but
you have to pay in perpetuity. Also, Microsoft has been pushing people to the
subscription-based version of Office by subtracting features from the
stand-alone version (but not the subscription version), such as customizable
toolbars.
https://products.office.com/en-us/compare-all-microsoft-office-products?&activetab=1
For many years many of the members of my user group have hoped for an
alternative to break Microsoft's hegemony with Office. I've tested all of the
OpenOffice-based products (NeoOffice, LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice)
regularly, and they've come close, but are still disappointing in how well they
can open and render complex Office documents received from Microsoft Office
users.
Recently there is a new contender, and it may be the holy grail. I tested it,
and it does an *excellent* job with Office format documents. Users have been
surprised by how nice a program this is! There is even a free version!
FreeOffice (free)
https://www.freeoffice.com/en/
If you like the free version, you can either stick with it, as it's a pretty
full-featured Office suite..OR you can purchase the commercial (Standard)
version for about $20 through an offer that they will e-mail you for having
downloaded the free version.
SoftmakerOffice
https://www.softmaker.com/en/softmaker-office
Here is a comparison chart of the features and costs (not including the special
offer) of each version of this product from Softmaker:
https://www.softmaker.com/en/comparison-freeoffice-softmaker-office
You can see from the chart that most folks will want either the free version or
the Standard version. The Professional version only adds additional
dictionaries and network administration features. The Standard version is a
steal at the $20 special offer price.
You may want to pass this along to your users. I suspect that
FreeOffice/SoftmakerOffice will cause much rejoicing among them!
___________________________________________
Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)
Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html
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