Looking for Office/Excel and/or Word & Good Photo Editing Programme???

[Atheling]

Hi,

I've recently been very kindly sent some very interesting files containing Colonial rules that I mean to use but my new laptop does not have Microsoft Word/Office nor Excel on it! Microsoft seem very keen for me to pay for these per annum which I think is a complete rip off.

And a good photo editing programme too!

Does anyone out there know of any alternatives that will accept the files?

Cheers,
Darrell.

[von Lucky]

Some free alternatives:
http://www.techradar.com/au/news/software/applications/best-free-microsoft-office-alternatives-5-suites-to-save-you-money-1139295
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-microsoft-office-alternatives/

I've used OpenOffice a few years ago, they're completely fine once you get used to them (as much change from one version of Windows/Office to another I guess).

[Atheling]

Some free alternatives:
http://www.techradar.com/au/news/software/applications/best-free-microsoft-office-alternatives-5-suites-to-save-you-money-1139295
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-microsoft-office-alternatives/

I've used OpenOffice a few years ago, they're completely fine once you get used to them (as much change from one version of Windows/Office to another I guess).

Thanks, very useful indeed  .

Darrell.

[Atheling]

I'm having a bit of trouble getting my head around all of this! 

Is there anyway I could transfer OpenOffice from my old Laptop to my new one safely?

Darrell.

[Westfalia Chris]

I'm having a bit of trouble getting my head around all of this! 

Is there anyway I could transfer OpenOffice from my old Laptop to my new one safely?

Darrell.

I would suggest you get a fresh download of the latest version and install it anew. Simply "copying" installed programs, especially of this complexity simply does not work due to the way the software "anchors" itself to your operating system.

I support Open Office wholeheartedly. A very good program with pretty much everything the casual user will ever need, and I heard they ironed out most of the file format kinks, too. Installation is pretty straightforward, as well.

Another option - Microsoft used to offer free "reader" versions of their office programs, i.e a small program that lets you display and print the respective files. These lack editing functions, and it's been some years since I last saw them.

[beefcake]

Have you tried emailing the files to someone who could then save them as a PDF file instead of a word file for you. Then you could view them easily. Also check online for "word to PDF" file changers. There are a few out there that you could use easily. They aren't perfect but they do a good enough job. neither of these options might work depending on what the file looks like though but still could be an option.

Edit:
Another option is, if you have a gmail account, uploading the files to google drive which will then change the format for you to one you can view online and then print if necessary.

[Atheling]

Have you tried emailing the files to someone who could then save them as a PDF file instead of a word file for you. Then you could view them easily. Also check online for "word to PDF" file changers. There are a few out there that you could use easily. They aren't perfect but they do a good enough job. neither of these options might work depending on what the file looks like though but still could be an option.

That seems like a long way around the problem. I'd need to have access to the files straight away when needed really.

Darrell.

[beefcake]

I was meaning they could email you the pdf back which you could view at your leisure. Still that's not a "now" fix though. 

[beefcake]

Are you needing to write on the files as well?

[Atheling]

Are you needing to write on the files as well?

Yes. 

Darrell.

[Tactalvanic]

The latest openoffice version seems to be here

its a case of getting used to slightly different icons etc,still you have used it already so..

https://www.openoffice.org/why/index.html

If its a case of tranfering word or other format documents to/from your old machine also - do they not both have a usb port for connecting external storage (usb drive - smart phone or something) then just copy on to that - take it over to new machine - plugin and copy accordingly?

[WillieB]

Darrell,

It's quite simply actually but perhaps we're muddying the waters here.

Download Open Office on you new laptop.
Install.
You can't (usually) just copy programs, they have to be installed.

Copy all the files you want from your old laptop, complete with their directories onto a USB stick/ external drive/CD.
Added bonus is immediate backup of those files

Then copy those files on your new laptop. Done.

For file management I'd recommend the ( free) Total Commander.

Willie

[Atheling]

Darrell,

It's quite simply actually but perhaps we're muddying the waters here.

Download Open Office on you new laptop.
Install.
You can't (usually) just copy programs, they have to be installed.

Copy all the files you want from your old laptop, complete with their directories onto a USB stick/ external drive/CD.
Added bonus is immediate backup of those files

Then copy those files on your new laptop. Done.

For file management I'd recommend the ( free) Total Commander.

Willie

Thanks Willie. I'll do just that. 

[Atheling]

And a good photo editing programme too!

Wow, who would have thought setting up one of these newfangled machines would have been so complicated?

Darrell.

[Connectamabob]

Photoshop is the industry standard for both professionals and regular folk. Pricy though. Used to be they had a cheap cut-down version called "Elements", but I don't know if that's still a thing or not. There's others, but most do one or two things better than PS at the cost of doing everything else a bit less.

The king of the free software realm (on laptops/desktops, that is) is GIMP:
http://www.gimp.org/
It's a bit clunkier than Photoshop, but almost as capable. Biggest downside IMO is some little bits here and there don't work properly outside of the Linux version (the usual GNU/Linux passive-aggressive dev syndrome).

If you've got a smart phone or tablet there's a kabillion apps either for free or for chump change, some of which are quite good. They're usually specialized to one specific task or another, but it's easy to grab 'em by the handful, so if you have the hardware, this is actually the best option for an amateur these days IMO. I was given an iPad mini for Christmas, and I'm quickly finding that having a handful of photo apps on that is waaaaaaayyyyy simpler and more comfortable than using GIMP on my desktop.