On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 01:53:55 -0500 Tim & Alethea Larson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > At 12:39 PM -0500 10/16/2004, > > In "running old software on OS X", Tim Larson wrote: > >> > >> I can't justify spending more of my hard-earned $$$ for another > >> version of MS Office to run on OS X when I already have Word > >> 5.1a/Excel 4 and Office 98. AppleWorks isn't quite "there" yet and > >> none of the free alternatives I've seen (like AbiWord, > >> OpenOffice.org) are very polished (i.e. I'm not comfortable letting > >> my wife use them). > > > > We just got a new PB/Panther but have been using AppleWorks (6) for > > years. And I guess I'm asking myself if we really need "more"? > > > > IOW, AppleWorks vs MS Office vs OpenOffice vs ? > > I've got Abiword too, which is my leading contender right at the > moment. > > > What specific features do you need that makes you say "AppleWorks > > isn't quite 'there' yet"? etc... > > Good .doc compatibility. Reality is, most ppl use Word, and save in > that format. Plus, I've got over 10 years experience with those apps > - using something I know is always easier than learning something new. > > I know I've heard that people are running older versions of the MS > apps in Classic. I just wish I could figure out how.
I've not got my Mac systems (ageing and scrounged so far) to a point where I'd sit and use them for much more than browser compatibility testing yet - still keeping my eye out for a well priced (dirt cheap?!) B&W G3 - but I've used a fair variety of applications on everything from 8 bit Amstrads through Amiga, Windows, OS/2 and now primarily Linux. I pretty much stick with OpenOffice these days as it suits my needs nicely. I guess I have been using it on and off since it was still owned by Star Division (as in the base product, StarOffice, at around version 4 or 5 I think) so I should be fairly comfortable with it. I'm not a big receiver of Word .doc format documents, but I've not yet had any problems reading those that I've come across. If you just want to read the document and possibly print it then it should be fine. If, on the other hand, you are regularly updating and returning Word files to other people then I don't see any choice other than to have a copy of Word and make sure it is at the same level as the other person - unless you can arrange an exchange of documents in another mutually readable format like RTF (although this is still open to interpretation). Since Microsoft have control of the .doc format and are continually tweaking it to give them the edge nothing will ever be fully compatible. I remember the same problems when Lotus Smartsuite was the default package at work (version 3.1 for Windows 3.1). If somebody exchanged documents with a MS Office user then there was an immediate request to purchase MS Office, and as soon as the incoming format moved up to a newer version of Office then next request came through. Back then it included a request for Windows 95, which cause all manner of problems because we were OS/2 based and you then had to follow up with pushing back a purchase order for Windows 95, Office 95, a Windows based 3270 package and usually one or two others - finding a better file exchange format would have been a much cheaper option, but who listens to the IT department?! The other issue we had when we finally went for Windows 95 clients was sticking with Smartsuite 3.1 because nobody was willing to spend money on the newer Smartsuite as everyone wanted Office, but at the same time the cost of Office was way too high due to the fact that server based Smartsuite was concurrently licensed, whereas Office would have to have had a license for every single potential user - but I'm digressing!. -- Paul Tansom | Aptanet Ltd. | http://www.aptanet.com/ -- MaX-list is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> MaX-list info: <http://lowendmac.com/linux/max.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/max-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
