4 ms·
For us Microsoft tools were the highest price point and we didn't use 50% of the features. Apple Enterprise is a joke though they are making good progress now.
by seastonATccs 9y ago
For us Microsoft tools were the highest price point and we didn't use 50% of the features. Apple Enterprise is a joke though they are making good progress now. Google had just enough of a tool at a price we could really justify to the tax payers. As for Google evangelism we offer Google docs and office 365 online. Students are free to choose as Google and Microsoft have been awesome at cooperation in tools. We also have a training with outgoing seniors about how and why free accounts exist on websites. I've always told them they can used a paid account to retain privacy. To this date no seniors have chosen this. Most don't even convert accounts but just use takeout, the bulk data download tool.
- dhimes 9y agoI would be very happy if the kids became conversant in libre office. It has all the functionality they need and they would be comfortable with it going into college.
- tsm 9y agoFor basic-to-semicomplex tasks (I'm sure it'd be different if writing a book or something) I've found Google Docs/Slides/Sheets to be easier to use and more feature-rich (…you still can't crop pictures in LibreOffice…)
- jorams 9y ago> (…you still can't crop pictures in LibreOffice…) You can. It has been in Draw and Impress for a long time, and since LibreOffice 5.0 it's supported in Writer and Calc as well. 5.0 was released 2 years ago.
- dhimes 9y agoI agree. I have no problems at all doing any basic stuff in LibreOffice. I've not done any serious programming in it though (db connect to fields in writer etc.)
- seastonATccs 9y agoFor us we only have 2 of us to cover all technology in our district. That is every from servers to networking to security appliances to the apps on the kindergarten iPads to writing custom tools for admin. We have to carefully choose tools we can manage in mass. I wish we could offer more, but there is no money for it.
- dhimes 9y agoI think you make a great point and I must say I really don't understand the downvoting going on in this thread.
- tchaffee 9y agoI'm a big fan of free software. My desktop is Linux. But I almost never use LibreOffice. Can't access and edit the docs on my Android, nor my wife's work Mac. Nor my parent's Windows PC when I visit them. I'm definitely not installing software on my parent's PC. I'll be responsible for the next 100 "something isn't working" phone calls.
- dhimes 9y agoIs there no way to install LO on the Mac or Android? Do you use Google Docs instead?
- tchaffee 9y agoCan't install stuff on my wife's company Mac. But a browser is everywhere. Yes, I begrudgingly use Google Docs. One big challenge to alternative offerings is compatibility. There is usually little resistance to asking someone to accept a Google Doc or an MS Doc. I wish there were a widely accepted open source alternative.
- dhimes 9y agoAgree. I even started using Google Docs with a contractor. Not happy about it, but it more-or-less worked. I'm on a slow network and I find Google Docs annoyingly unresponsive.
- TelmoMenezes 9y ago> For us Microsoft tools were the highest price point [...] Why talk like this? Why not say: "Microsoft tools were the most expensive"? Honestly asking, does the sentence convey any extra information by phrasing it in this weird way? And what's the difference between a price point and a price?