Alternitives to microsoft

Fightsback

Nagme wrote: »

Could an excel spreadsheet work on Linux?

Yes, use LibreOffice as it works on Linux.

A._Badger

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

Rather the opposite
They are and will all move to a cloud based rental model - caused sadly by those people like me who buy the software once and never buy new versions so the companies don't make money.
It will be almost back to the days of dumb terminals running programs situated on mainframes from indeed the 1970's & 80's.

Adobe are going that way with their CC versions of the photoshop family of programs....the standalone version already does not have the same facilities as the CC version of the name edition number has.

I expect sometime in the future for upgrades to Win 10 or new facilities or something like it will require yearly licence payments. Hence MS's determination to make you all use it!

The first to sort of try with 'sunset clauses' in their data download capabilities of old versions and then pull out of the market when it didn't work out (in the UK anyway) was Intuit the makers of quicken personal finance who quit the UK in the early 2000's.

Indeed, which was the point I stopped using Quicken, as did most others.

I only hope the market shows similar resistance when Microsoft tries the same thing - which it surely well.

prowla

I'm using an Apple Mac mini with OS X right now; I have M$ Office on it too.
I also use Ubuntu Linux daily.
And Windows 7.

Ubuntu and other Linuxes occasionally force you to get under the bonnet (I've had a display driver not work after an upgrade), so that can be a bit of a bind.

OS X behaves differently to Windows sometimes, and you just have to accept that.

ThemeOne

prowla wrote: »

Ubuntu and other Linuxes occasionally force you to get under the bonnet (I've had a display driver not work after an upgrade), so that can be a bit of a bind.

Depending on your hardware, "occasionally" can easily become "quite frequently" in my experience.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, as you always learn a lot using Linux, but not everyone is always up for that amount of learning.

I recently tried Linux Mint (I usually use Debian) and found it a pretty polished user experience - particularly the Cinnamon version - though my comment about hardware could still apply in certain cases.

Of course not all hardware will work with Windows either, it's just that fixing problems beyond basic in Linux usually needs the command line, which some find intimidating, whereas command line in Windows is rarely needed.

fermi

I use Linux as day to day OS for desktops and laptops. Not for everyone, but worth the effort if you feel inclined, and are not expecting it to be idiot proof.

esuhl

Nagme wrote: »

Could an excel spreadsheet work on Linux?

Fightsback wrote: »

Yes, use LibreOffice as it works on Linux.

Bear in mind that LibreOffice isn't 100% compatible with MS Office. The most common features are available in both, and files can be transferred between the two, but things like VBA scripts aren't supported in LibreOffice, for example.

zarf2007

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

Windows still wins for a desktop OS that doesn't require bespoke hardware (and IMO in useabiltiy terms beats OSX as well).

er have you used that crap known as Windows 8/8.1/10? OS X blows them away and only Windows 7 comes close to being a useful OS but still can't hold a candle to it.

John_Gray

I have a funny feeling that I have been bored by this polarised argument so many times before...

debitcardmayhem

Operating systems all have their own fanbois / evangelistas etc, but at the end of the day each offers what you can or can't do with them, and what they interact with. I use Fedora/Win 7/Win 10/Android and ios. There is not one of them that fully satisfies my full requirements , so (with the exception of Apple O/Ses and their cost of testing, unless have a friend you could put upon) try the other Microsoft and Linux options under a Virtual Machine or a live type distro.

System

Hi

You could try and install VirtualBox (https://www.virtualbox.org/) onto Windows and install another OS inside it.

Another windows version
OpenSuse
PCLos
Mint
etc etc.

Also try the live distro route as suggested.

Install a Linux OS, then VirtualBox and then Windows 7 inside the VB.