4 ms·

You didn't start using libreoffice.org like 15 years ago?

exmadscientist 4mo ago
Most companies didn't, no. Just because alternatives exist for some people some of the time does not mean Office is worthless, or that buying it isn't rational. (Though buying it starts to look a lot less rational when things like this happen.)
- isityettime 4mo ago
  Most Microsoft purchases at a large organization are rational only because of how much the company has already sunk into Microsoft. Microsoft's strategy had never been centered on their software succeeding on its intrinsic merits. Consequently the best part of not buying Microsoft's shitty software is that it spares you from "having" to buy their (other) shitty software.
  - jmward01 4mo ago
    > Microsoft's strategy had never been centered on their software succeeding on its intrinsic merits. Microsoft used to build the best stuff. I'm not sure when that ended, I just remember the decline. I used to -jump- at release day for their latest OS version. Their dev tools were considered top tier and I used to like Word. Now every interaction I have with a MS product is painful and my trust in them is so far negative that I always assume the worst for every interaction. Wanna keep playing Minecraft without an MS account? We -promise- not to stop allowing you to do that after we buy it..... Want to use your computer without us advertising? Want to even use your computer without MS as a gatekeeper for your login? I have no idea why anyone would give them a dollar other than lock-in.
    - ribosometronome 4mo ago
      The span in which it would make sense to be keen on jumping to the latest OS pretty narrow.
    - olyjohn 4mo ago
      XP was their first OS that required an activation code. Ever since then it's been downhill and things have only gotten worse.
    - isityettime 4mo ago
      I dunno what you're talking about. Even the "creation" of MS-DOS wasn't like that. When was Microsoft making the best stuff? When they were selling their version of Basic, before MS-DOS?
  - gucci-on-fleek 4mo ago
    > Most Microsoft purchases at a large organization are rational only because of how much the company has already sunk into Microsoft. Microsoft's strategy had never been centered on their software succeeding on its intrinsic merits. Microsoft has lots of crappy software, and I personally find MS Office rather irritating, but I'd still argue that it's the best office suite currently available. Like yes, it has lots of bugs and weird misfeatures, but all its competitors are either buggier or only have less than a tenth of the features that MS Office does.
Animats 4mo ago
I did. SunOffice, then OpenOffice, then LibreOffice. It still isn't very good, though.
- jijji 4mo ago
  I think you mean "StarOffice" which later forked into OpenOffice, then LibreOffice.
- fithisux 4mo ago
  There is OnlyOffice
- radium3d 4mo ago
  Recent year or two LibreOffice has improved greatly as far as the UX goes and I haven't had to use Word/Excel in decades. When I have to use it for work I use the online app and office online apps are also garbage, especially compared to Google Docs / Sheets stability and performance.
emodendroket 4mo ago
[dead]

Most companies didn't, no. Just because alternatives exist for some people some of the time does not mean Office is worthless, or that buying it isn't rational. (Though buying it starts to look a lot less rational when things like this happen.)

isityettime 4mo ago
Most Microsoft purchases at a large organization are rational only because of how much the company has already sunk into Microsoft. Microsoft's strategy had never been centered on their software succeeding on its intrinsic merits. Consequently the best part of not buying Microsoft's shitty software is that it spares you from "having" to buy their (other) shitty software.
- jmward01 4mo ago
  > Microsoft's strategy had never been centered on their software succeeding on its intrinsic merits. Microsoft used to build the best stuff. I'm not sure when that ended, I just remember the decline. I used to -jump- at release day for their latest OS version. Their dev tools were considered top tier and I used to like Word. Now every interaction I have with a MS product is painful and my trust in them is so far negative that I always assume the worst for every interaction. Wanna keep playing Minecraft without an MS account? We -promise- not to stop allowing you to do that after we buy it..... Want to use your computer without us advertising? Want to even use your computer without MS as a gatekeeper for your login? I have no idea why anyone would give them a dollar other than lock-in.
  - ribosometronome 4mo ago
    The span in which it would make sense to be keen on jumping to the latest OS pretty narrow.
  - olyjohn 4mo ago
    XP was their first OS that required an activation code. Ever since then it's been downhill and things have only gotten worse.
  - isityettime 4mo ago
    I dunno what you're talking about. Even the "creation" of MS-DOS wasn't like that. When was Microsoft making the best stuff? When they were selling their version of Basic, before MS-DOS?
- gucci-on-fleek 4mo ago
  > Most Microsoft purchases at a large organization are rational only because of how much the company has already sunk into Microsoft. Microsoft's strategy had never been centered on their software succeeding on its intrinsic merits. Microsoft has lots of crappy software, and I personally find MS Office rather irritating, but I'd still argue that it's the best office suite currently available. Like yes, it has lots of bugs and weird misfeatures, but all its competitors are either buggier or only have less than a tenth of the features that MS Office does.

Animats 4mo ago

I did. SunOffice, then OpenOffice, then LibreOffice. It still isn't very good, though.

jijji 4mo ago
I think you mean "StarOffice" which later forked into OpenOffice, then LibreOffice.
fithisux 4mo ago
There is OnlyOffice
radium3d 4mo ago
Recent year or two LibreOffice has improved greatly as far as the UX goes and I haven't had to use Word/Excel in decades. When I have to use it for work I use the online app and office online apps are also garbage, especially compared to Google Docs / Sheets stability and performance.

emodendroket 4mo ago

[dead]