3 ms·

And it’s gotten worse, apparently. Had to use Word and Excel for a few days, and there’s an obvious latency to almost any action, on a multi core multi GB comp

And it’s gotten worse, apparently. Had to use Word and Excel for a few days, and there’s an obvious latency to almost any action, on a multi core multi GB computer. Why? It shouldn’t have any delay, period. I’m slowly forming the opinion that it’s been downhill since the Ribbon revamp. Office 2000 was pretty good, and aggressively snappier than 2016.

Bluecobra 4y ago
Are you talking about the smooth moving cursor? That's the first thing I disable in the registry with any new install. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/office-2016-smooth-cursor-disable.html https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/office-2016-smooth-curso...
- benbenolson 4y ago
  No, he's talking about an obvious latency to almost any action, on a multi core multi GB computer.
  - arthurcolle 4y ago
    Do you think it's due to some kind of network call? I think the licensing in general is extremely painful. I've definitely paid like $450 over the last 8 years for various microsoft stuff and I just don't like that. I wish you could easily get device-portable single use licenses that don't just evaporate after the licensing period ends. Word/Excel is decent but has become an immeasurably huge piece of shit over the last two or three years compared to previous eras
    - HankB99 4y ago
      > Do you think it's due to some kind of network call? Good call! (No pun intended.) I often wondered why my fancy Xfinity DVR is so sluggish when I press a button on the remote. It finally connected when my Internet kept going down after some improvement they made and when the Internet could not be reached, the system stops responding to the remote. Can't even pause or exit. It's clear that every button press must make a round trip to Comcast' servers before it is acted on. It's Craptastic!
      - anthk 4y ago
        European user here, with an Android based fiber-TV (Orange top box?) set with the similar slugginness issues.
ta988 4y ago
Thankfully LibreOffice performance and compatibility is getting there. If you have the means, support them.
- KronisLV 4y ago
  LibreOffice has its fair share of problems (Impress performance on Windows is especially bad), but honestly they're great projects regardless. The UI is simple and customizable (want ribbons? sure! dropdown menus? yep!), most of the options are where you'd expect them to be and it just works. The open and free nature helps the project greatly, even though the corpse of OpenOffice still lingering around is a bit cumbersome, since all of the efforts/attention aren't necessarily redirected to LibreOffice. Of course, when there are problems, they can be pretty interesting, like when the bibliography for my Master's thesis broke pretty horribly: https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/libreoffice-bibliography-is-broken https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/libreoffice...
ziotom78 4y ago
I often use Word97 and Excel97 through Wine on my Linux laptop. They are fast and snappy, and it's often more than enough for my needs.
- lproven 4y ago
  Agreed re Word 97. TBH I never found anything I needed Excel for that I couldn't do in LibreOffice Calc, so I install only Word, nothing else. It's small and very fast on 21st century hardware. Works perfectly on WINE, including installing all the MS Service Releases.

Bluecobra 4y ago

Are you talking about the smooth moving cursor? That's the first thing I disable in the registry with any new install. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/office-2016-smooth-cursor-disable.html https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/office-2016-smooth-curso...

benbenolson 4y ago
No, he's talking about an obvious latency to almost any action, on a multi core multi GB computer.
- arthurcolle 4y ago
  Do you think it's due to some kind of network call? I think the licensing in general is extremely painful. I've definitely paid like $450 over the last 8 years for various microsoft stuff and I just don't like that. I wish you could easily get device-portable single use licenses that don't just evaporate after the licensing period ends. Word/Excel is decent but has become an immeasurably huge piece of shit over the last two or three years compared to previous eras
  - HankB99 4y ago
    > Do you think it's due to some kind of network call? Good call! (No pun intended.) I often wondered why my fancy Xfinity DVR is so sluggish when I press a button on the remote. It finally connected when my Internet kept going down after some improvement they made and when the Internet could not be reached, the system stops responding to the remote. Can't even pause or exit. It's clear that every button press must make a round trip to Comcast' servers before it is acted on. It's Craptastic!
    - anthk 4y ago
      European user here, with an Android based fiber-TV (Orange top box?) set with the similar slugginness issues.

ta988 4y ago

Thankfully LibreOffice performance and compatibility is getting there. If you have the means, support them.

KronisLV 4y ago
LibreOffice has its fair share of problems (Impress performance on Windows is especially bad), but honestly they're great projects regardless. The UI is simple and customizable (want ribbons? sure! dropdown menus? yep!), most of the options are where you'd expect them to be and it just works. The open and free nature helps the project greatly, even though the corpse of OpenOffice still lingering around is a bit cumbersome, since all of the efforts/attention aren't necessarily redirected to LibreOffice. Of course, when there are problems, they can be pretty interesting, like when the bibliography for my Master's thesis broke pretty horribly: https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/libreoffice-bibliography-is-broken https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/libreoffice...

ziotom78 4y ago

I often use Word97 and Excel97 through Wine on my Linux laptop. They are fast and snappy, and it's often more than enough for my needs.

lproven 4y ago
Agreed re Word 97. TBH I never found anything I needed Excel for that I couldn't do in LibreOffice Calc, so I install only Word, nothing else. It's small and very fast on 21st century hardware. Works perfectly on WINE, including installing all the MS Service Releases.