This is exactly the same as Google’s online suite. All you have to do is create a Microsoft Account using any working email address – it doesn’t have to be a Microsoft email address – and you can use online versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint with free online storage in OneDrive. In fact, you can already use some Microsoft Office programs online, including Word, without paying Microsoft a penny. As a writer, I have a very large number of Word files, but with Microsoft moving to an annual subscription model, the cost of remaining with Word is looking prohibitive.Is there is a cheaper way of carrying on with Word, or, failing that, an alternative word processor with which I’ll still be able to open and edit my existing Word documents? EdMicrosoft would prefer both Mac and Windows users of Office to move to the online version, Office 365, but it’s still entirely up to you. I chose Microsoft Word for Mac when I switched to a MacBook Pro some years ago.Why use Word?Word is powerful and flexible, but you pay for that utility. Office 365 includes online, desktop, tablet and smartphone versions for both PCs and Macs, Android and Apple’s iOS. I expect this list will continue to grow in the future.So, if you want to use Word, you have three choices: the online version (free), the desktop program (one-off payment), and Office 365 (annual subscription).But if your documents are simple text files, then a lot of programs will load them.I tried to avoid this problem by saving all my files in Microsoft’s. If your documents include multiple columns, embedded images, custom fonts, footnotes and similar features, you can more or less forget about using anything else. This depends on the complexity of your files. That’s why I’ve used it for a couple of decades.The second reason is that you need it to read old files, which is one of your problems. The best is that you like using it, because of its power, rich feature list, ease of use or whatever.
Word Spellcheck Free Online StorageBut even if you switch to a free alternative, you’ll spend time learning a new interface and handling your old documents. If you are not a business, you can certainly live without it or use the free online version. If you’re paying staff, say, £20,000 to £60,000 a year, and can’t afford £100 a year for Office 365 – less for a boxed version – then you have bigger problems.Decide where you are on the spectrum from “I like it” to “can’t live without it”. This applies in spades to files that use VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) and macros, and to Excel spreadsheets where errors can have career-ending financial consequences.This isn’t going to change in a hurry because Microsoft Office is also a platform with hundreds of add-ons and plug-ins, it’s supported by thousands of books, video tutorials, websites and consultants, and it’s what most office workers already know how to use.And when time is money, the cost of sorting out incompatibilities and usability issues is far higher than the cost of Office. But I found I still needed Word to compare files, and to cope with the publishing industry’s use of styles, comments and “ track changes”.The third reason is that we live in a world where Microsoft Office is the de facto standard for business documents, and you absolutely have to be able to read them accurately. Being text based, it’s hopeless for storing images, but it’s perfect for texts with simple formatting. If you lose the activation code, you can’t get a new one without giving Microsoft proof of purchase.Cheaper versions of Office are locked to the PC on which they were originally installed. If you lose the DVDs, you can download the software. Boxed copies have more or less disappeared, but if you own one, you need to keep the code marked on the box to reinstall it. For a family of four, it’s only £20 per year each. Everyone gets their own terabyte of storage, up to 6TB in all. This costs £79.99 a year for up to six users, including friends. (Google charges £57 a year for 1TB, and £24.99 a year for 200GB of Gdrive.)However, the family version, Office 365 Home, is far better value. Windows users also get Microsoft Publisher and the Access database.It’s not a bad deal for £59.99 a year – or £49.75 if you get the activation code by email – if you use the storage. Second, Office 365 has various collaborative and AI-based cloud features. The Office 2019 versions are fixed. First, the 365 programs have more and better features, because they are continuously updated. There’s no need to buy three or more single-machine copies to install them on a desktop, laptop, 2-in-1 tablet and so on.Also, Microsoft claims that Office 365 is better than Office 2019. Excel for mac template sign in sheetIf you only write plain texts, you should be fine. You will need to load and “save as” a few of your most complex documents to see how much of the formatting survives. As mentioned, the success rate generally depends on the Word features you use. Docx formats, and some can also write or export them. Alternatives to WordLots of programs claim they can read Microsoft Word. WPS used to claim 100% compatibility, and it’s actually pretty good. Of course, nothing stops you from using both.I was also going to suggest WPS Office, the suite owned by China’s Kingsoft, but it only has Windows, Linux, Android and iOS versions, not MacOS. It has a free version and a subscription version (£49.90 a year), but you can buy the full SoftMaker Office Professional 2018 for Mac, Windows or Linux for £89.99, after a 30-day free trial.I don’t regard Google Docs as an alternative because it’s online only, and you’d mostly be better off using the free version of Word online. LibreOffice is both open source and free, so it will only cost you the time needed to try it.The less-well-known German suite SoftMaker Office has a ribbon interface and uses Microsoft Office file formats by default, without conversion. Otherwise, your best bet is LibreOffice 6.2.2, which now has its own optional ribbon interface. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that third-party cookies will be set. Users who like it could consider a “lifetime” purchase for $79.99 (individuals) or $119.99 (businesses), but try SoftMaker first.Have you got a question? Email it to article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through andMakes a purchase.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorShawn ArchivesCategories |