6 ms·
> there are solid alternatives to the other products in the office suite Are you sure? Does it not strike you as odd that OpenOffice/LibreOffice still haven't
by wfunction 13y ago
> there are solid alternatives to the other products in the office suite
Are you sure? Does it not strike you as odd that OpenOffice/LibreOffice still haven't managed to replace Word?
- brymaster 13y agoI really think that has to do with Microsoft's lock-in strategy and the fact that people only "know" Office in the corporate space.
- serge2k 13y agoOr maybe, just maybe, it could be that word is actually a market leader in terms of features and interface.
- normloman 13y agoHave you ever been involved in buying software for a company? In my experience, nobody compares the features of different word processing software. In fact, nobody even mentions competing software, as if Word was the only choice.
- oblio 13y agoNow they don't. But they did in the 80s and 90s and guess what, Office won, because it was the best choice. And it's not like they didn't have commercial competitors who couldn't keep up with Microsoft bribes^Wlobbying :)
- brymaster 13y agoNonsense, we're talking about a word processor here and Office/Word has been heavily criticized for it's interface and incremental features (or lack of reasons to upgrade) in each release. Features? 99% of the time you're either writing a letter/resume, reading some lengthy terms and conditions doc or reading someone else's resume. Office/Word is what they learn in school (lock-in strategy) and Office/Word is what corporate apathy and only "knowing" MS software leads to in the workplace. You work somewhere, you use Office. Period.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- Derbasti 13y agoOOo/LO is a straight forward clone of MS Office. It shares all its design weaknesses and adds some of its own. Except foor freedom, I don't see any reason for using it over MS Office.
- Al-Khwarizmi 13y agoI use it for a different reason: no ribbon.
- scholia 13y agoYour loss. Ribbon is a huge advance....
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- MaulingMonkey 13y agoAt home? False premise: It has replaced Word (for me.) That it has not for everyone or as a whole doesn't strike me as odd in the slightest. There are plenty of reasons to use Word. Aside from the fact that it's solid itself, it also has a metric ton of inertia. Those using it already have the license or pirated copy, already know it, have legacy documents using it, and are generally otherwise are left with very little reason to switch to something merely because it's a "solid alternative."
- wfunction 13y agoI know I tried to switch to LibreOffice for a few weeks and then ran back screaming. I know some others who have done the same. I haven't yet met a single person who is happier with OOo/LO than with Word; if that's true for you you're the first such person I've heard of.
- primelens 13y agoI switched to NeoOffice several years ago and currently use LibreOffice. Wrote my dissertation on it. And this despite having access to MS-Office for free through a university license.
- wfunction 13y agoCool! What do you like more about it than MS Office?
- primelens 13y agoI tried it because I wanted to try free (as in freedom) software and never felt the need to switch back as it did everything I required of a WYSIWYG word processor. I guess I have just gotten so used to it now that when I use Word/Excel etc (mostly briefly on someone else's computer) I get all confused about their new panel based menu system. The point is not that they are better but that they are a suitable replacement for all but a very small niche of power users. But people tend to compare the limit cases even if all they'll ever use are the day-to-day functions.