4 ms·

My dad! :-P For non-technical people, I think there's not much difference between using a computer with Ubuntu, Mac or Windows, for regular tasks like browsing

My dad! :-P For non-technical people, I think there's not much difference between using a computer with Ubuntu, Mac or Windows, for regular tasks like browsing the internet, online shopping, sending email, doing stuff in spreadsheets, sharing photographs, etc. Software's mostly the same, in fact. And with this trend to make everything browser based, even more. Of course things can go wrong, but it doesn't really matter which OS they're using. For example, should this last week botched Windows 10-HP upgrade happened to my father, there's nothing he could have done on his own to restore his computer.

jki275 8y ago
That's true only so far as using MS Office is not needed... Most people's computing needs would be adequately served by an iPad -- but those who aren't are typically doing more with their computers than can be met by any OS.
- severino 8y ago
  Right. While Office has still some unpaired features, it's also true that not everybody using Office needs Office, specially the home users who need only daily finance, writting letters, etc.
  - jki275 8y ago
    That's true -- and most of those customers could just as easily use an ipad (or equivalent, it doesn't really matter at that point and I think they all run some subset of Office applications). The age of the personal computer is almost over, unfortunately. Those of us who still use them do expect more out of them though.
  - appleiigs 8y ago
    The non-technical people in my life did not realize you don’t need Office to open Office documents. This important when they interact with accountants, lawyers and such. Once I show them Libre, they still want Office because Libre looks like it’s from Excel 2003 era and loses credibility in their eyes. Then I show them Google Docs and Sheets and it looks nice. Literally all they need is something that looks modern. But in fact Google apps have actually been quite slick. Perfect amount of functionality at the moment. Google seems to follow keyboard behaviour and shortcuts for easy transition (especially Excel). Hope Google doesn’t bloat their apps over time.
    - jki275 8y ago
      All of those applications are ok if you don't actually need to produce commercial documents. Libreoffice and Google Docs aren't good enough, and if you're doing anything other than basic data presentation with Excel it's not compatible with any of them.
      - y4mi 8y ago
        Google sheets isn't the only option available though. You can even use Microsoft's own online implementation if you want compatibility to excel (without vba) https://office.live.com/start/Excel.aspx https://office.live.com/start/Excel.aspx
        jki275 8y ago
        Those are limited subsets of functionality, and vba isn't all that's not there.

jki275 8y ago

That's true only so far as using MS Office is not needed... Most people's computing needs would be adequately served by an iPad -- but those who aren't are typically doing more with their computers than can be met by any OS.

severino 8y ago
Right. While Office has still some unpaired features, it's also true that not everybody using Office needs Office, specially the home users who need only daily finance, writting letters, etc.
- jki275 8y ago
  That's true -- and most of those customers could just as easily use an ipad (or equivalent, it doesn't really matter at that point and I think they all run some subset of Office applications). The age of the personal computer is almost over, unfortunately. Those of us who still use them do expect more out of them though.
- appleiigs 8y ago
  The non-technical people in my life did not realize you don’t need Office to open Office documents. This important when they interact with accountants, lawyers and such. Once I show them Libre, they still want Office because Libre looks like it’s from Excel 2003 era and loses credibility in their eyes. Then I show them Google Docs and Sheets and it looks nice. Literally all they need is something that looks modern. But in fact Google apps have actually been quite slick. Perfect amount of functionality at the moment. Google seems to follow keyboard behaviour and shortcuts for easy transition (especially Excel). Hope Google doesn’t bloat their apps over time.
  - jki275 8y ago
    All of those applications are ok if you don't actually need to produce commercial documents. Libreoffice and Google Docs aren't good enough, and if you're doing anything other than basic data presentation with Excel it's not compatible with any of them.
    - y4mi 8y ago
      Google sheets isn't the only option available though. You can even use Microsoft's own online implementation if you want compatibility to excel (without vba) https://office.live.com/start/Excel.aspx https://office.live.com/start/Excel.aspx
      - jki275 8y ago
        Those are limited subsets of functionality, and vba isn't all that's not there.