Microsoft refuses to let MS Works die, offers 'free' version
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By Steve Ragan Aug 3, 2007, 15:28 GMT
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Works always came preinstalled on all the cheap computers. I think the reason some people will still use it despite the ads is because they don't know about anything else. Then when they need more functionality they'll buy Office cause they never heard of Oo... Only the families completely in the dark will ever use Works 9.
Yep, I loved to use Works upto Version 4.5... but after that I read that it got really buggy. When I did buy Version 5, it was a much reduced, largely useless piece of software, minus the heart. I successfully used Version 3, 4. and 4.5, but when MS killed it by trying to drive its more serious devotees to MS Office proper. I voted with my feet. I now use OpenOffice and Office 97 only.
Kenneth
The reality is that the $300 PC budget users - the ones who know nothing about PCs in the first place and don't care to learn - will still use MS Works even with ads. People who learn, either will go to MS Office or Sun Open Office. Office remains extremely expensive, and the latest moves by MS to completely redo the layout aren't drawing big cheers. Open Office, all the way.
'The author has obviously never tried to use Open Office on an older PC (remember Pentium II or even III?).'
Obviously not. OpenOffice.org is one of the worst 'mainstream' apps available today. It is an absolute RAM and CPU resource hog, which to me makes it unusable.
Above all an application has to be snappy and responsive. The OOo development team never have - and probably never will - grasp this idea. Thus there's no real alternative to the MS Office suite of applications.
I never liked Works because of its limitations - I stick with MS Office 2000. I know where I stand with it. Though it does not appear to be playing nice with Windows Vista unfortunately!
Every computer I have ever bought, save the current, magically had Works on it. One of the first housekeeping chores has always been removing Works and replacing it with something else. As far as I could tell, I never paid for the lame programs, so it was not a waste. Plus, to me, it was free. Why deal with a newer version with potentially less features (as is the trend), but with annoying ads? If the eggheads at MS had any real creative motivations, they would have made a tweaked version of Office and tested ad revenues on that. As it is, they're just duping unsuspecting advertisers into a scheme that won't amount to much.
Open Office sucks. I have a simple spreadsheet with 600 odd rows and 11 columns. It takes less than a second to load in Excel and about 20 seconds in Open Office. Once it's loaded, Excel is using abour 25MB, Open Office is using about 70MB.
What competition?
Works is not for advanced user, but it may be really useful for simple home tasks. I myself never really care much about it. However, to my surprise, I found it in my in-law's computer. They are just retired folks with no professional obligations so all they need is an easy to use program for simple home tasks. Amazingly they found that Works is so easy to use and that is all they have and they use for their recipes, home budges and church stuff. I forgot which version they use, but it does look very usable to me when I looked at it (I had an old version that didn't let me customize the task list, but theirs allow them to add their own templete as a task list). IMO, if you need a program just for fast and simple tasks, it is even better then MSOffice, because it put everything in one location. Anyhow, I am using linux now and I wish there could be something similar that I could use in linux (the big thing to me is that it can really organize your tasks very nicely into good categories and give to very quick access to the files you want). OOffice is good but it does not belong to the same category.
I COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT THE AUTHOR SAID, OPEN OFFICE IS BETTER AND MATURED???? COME ON.......,
please try it yourself before give any conclusive comments..
Open office is really slow, since it's using java, and we know all java application is damn slow.
people use openOffice only because it copied MS Office menu, then you feel like as if you're using MS Office, and it's free!!!
On the other hand, MS Works is as fast is normal office, since it's written in C++ language, which means fast (Sorry for some people if i go too technical). It's from Microsoft, but it was not free.
Now thing changes, MS Works is now free, so it's actually time for people who do not want to spend money to buy MS Office, and who do not want to use pirate software, to use Works.
Google Docs better ? hey, google bought it from Writeley, among other vendors who made the same application. it super light version of office, the only good thing is you can share doc over internet. But is it good enough to replace offline office ? Oh please, come ooonn....
Can you use them for mail merge, vlookup, xml, quick formatting, pivoting data for OLAP task and integrating with data mining applications?
OpenOffice and Google Docs / Writely are simple and slow version, and somewhat good enough for a few people who do not use a lot, and who hate microsoft for charging too much.
BUT PLEASE, don't say they're better .....
For the people that say OpenOffice is slow because of Java, if you go to Tools|Options|OpenOffice.org|Java, you will note that you can bypass the Java environment altogether. This will speed up OpenOffice under Windows.
When I was using OpenOffice, I felt like using MS Office 6.0, back to the old days, when we're still using Pentium I, applications with flat icons.
If you already have MS Office 2003, Office XP, Office 2000 or MS Office 97, stick to those version. They're still much better than any other options.
oh oh hotdog
Is it true that if you have MS Works, you are allowed to get MS Office at the update/upgrade price instead of having to pay the full retail price? Also, any suggestions as to what to buy if you have 4 computers (includes 2 kids in college)?
I've used both. Had both on my PC. I never had a hiccup with Works 2000. I am finding out the hard way that open office is another matter. I just upgraded to the new version and it isn't opening half of the older versions files. I am fairly certain that would not happen MS Works. Hmmm, which one do you think I'll be partial to in the future? Oh, and as far as the Works freeware, I'll take it.
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AnonymousAug 3rd, 2007 - 16:26:02
The author has obviously never tried to use Open Office on an older PC (remember Pentium II or even III?).
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