Thread: UK Schools advised "Avoid Vista & Office '07 - Consider Linux & OpenOffice"

Originally Posted by Grod

Exactly why I love Microsoft

what,
because through necessity they make you buy the same program (but using a different data file format) again and again
throwing in a half-dozen "new features" that nobody ever uses anyway....

Originally Posted by Ynot

what,
because through necessity they make you buy the same program (but using a different data file format) again and again
throwing in a half-dozen "new features" that nobody ever uses anyway....

One thing on the '07 that I really do like is being able to right-click and select the definition of a word. That helps cut down a bit of time that I used to have to spend in online dictionaries. Also, the spell-checker is a lot better with grammar this time around which I like.

Daeva, to under "paragraph" and click the "line spacing" icon. Then click (or unclick, really) "add space after paragraph."

However, I'm not sure if it will go back to the default once you reopen word. Don't know how to change it permanently...

One office product I genuinely enjoy is OneNote 2007. I use it for class quite often.

Originally Posted by Ynot

what,
because through necessity they make you buy the same program (but using a different data file format) again and again
throwing in a half-dozen "new features" that nobody ever uses anyway....

I was being sarcastic

Originally Posted by Daeva

One thing on the '07 that I really do like is being able to right-click and select the definition of a word. That helps cut down a bit of time that I used to have to spend in online dictionaries. Also, the spell-checker is a lot better with grammar this time around which I like.

Yeah, fine
but that's a feature of the user interface
not of the file format

that feature in no way impacts on the saved file
hence there's no reason for it to "break" the previous file format

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

Daeva, to under "paragraph" and click the "line spacing" icon. Then click (or unclick, really) "add space after paragraph."

However, I'm not sure if it will go back to the default once you reopen word. Don't know how to change it permanently...

One office product I genuinely enjoy is OneNote 2007. I use it for class quite often.

Thank you. It's so fantastic to have a story in a normal format.

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

Daeva, to under "paragraph" and click the "line spacing" icon. Then click (or unclick, really) "add space after paragraph."

However, I'm not sure if it will go back to the default once you reopen word. Don't know how to change it permanently...

One office product I genuinely enjoy is OneNote 2007. I use it for class quite often.

Thanks a lot Mes. I've been wondering how to do that as well. >:{

I liked the Office 2007 UI. And, I enjoyed using it when writing the first (and likely the next two) sections of my dissertation. Why? It's about the only word processor, ignoring plain LaTeX/BibTeX, with a decent bibliography manager. Writing a bibilography in Office 2003 or OpenOffice is just horrible.

Other than that, Open/StarOffice is generally a comfortable choice rather than buying anything. And of course, I should really be writing my dissertation in LaTeX.

And on the subject, TeXmacs is a brilliant piece of software. It's pretty much a word processor for TeX and the output is of a similarly high quality.

I got two copies for free.

Wow, that's the first time I've ever seen Linux recommended for schools (other than computer science departments.) My school tried loading Vista on four of the computers in the computer labs, but no one knew how to use it so they removed it. Our computer science department has had a Linux and Sun lab for a long time now, but this semester are replacing both with high end Macs. I could see Linux being difficult for the average person to figure out.

As for OpenOffice.org... uhg. I don't like it because it's slow (it's got Java code in it) and I think the interface is just as bad as the old MS Office, it seems to emulate that UI. I never understood this: Why does each window in OOo have it's own menu bar? I can't stand that, it looks way to cluttered. For Windows they have to, but not Linux and Mac. There are better alternatives: Corel Word Perfect has ports to all OSs.

I think it's more to do with open standards, rather than interface and general usability

For a long time, kids from poorer families have been stuck in a limbo
they can't do homework on their family computer because of incompatible software, and it's not feasible for dad to buy the latest Office package (which may or may not work with the 3-year-old family PC)
They end up having to use the school machines after hours.

Yes, OOo's interface isn't superb (it's not bad, but there's certainly improvements to be done)

Developers have no design taste
it's an old joke, but is more often than not, true

hopefully, the surge in popularity for OOo will bring with it new people (artists, graphic designers, etc.) and usability can be given the focus it needs


*edit*
Oh, and Ident-X
http://bibliographic.openoffice.org/

I read once (I forget where) that Microsoft bragged that they got requests for Office all the time for features that they had already incorporated. They said that this demonstrated just how feature rich the package was. To us iWork people we just thought that it showed how poorly designed the interface was that these users couldn't find the features. (Anyone using advanced features wouldn't be a Joe Shmo so it wasn't from ignorance.)

Developers have no design taste

Agreed. My concentration is software engineering, but all of my comp-sci electives have been graphics and design. My software always looks and works much better than anyone elses in my classes.

my stuff works well, technical wise
All inputs checked and sanitized, minimal bugs and logical modular designs for components

but they look like arse

Mac OSX is the best for schools. They don't need to upgrade to Vista.

Originally Posted by Grod

Mac OSX is the best for schools. They don't need to upgrade to Vista.

give this guy 10/10 for sheer persistence
you can't fault him on that

Originally Posted by Ynot

give this guy 10/10 for sheer persistence
you can't fault him on that

I wasn't commending Vista or MS Office....

I think Mac's are the best for schools. It's generally the simplest. Linux or MS is not really needed.

My school had Macs!

My university takes it upon itself to upgrade to the newest everything as soon as possible. It has the new office, but not a single computer has Vista. There are a few Linux machines, but the clear winner these days seems to be the Mac. Why exactly is Linux too difficult for the average user, or is that just simply the excuse people use?

It's just so different. If you know how to use it it's not that bad (I use it) it's just that setting things up is difficult. The synopsis package manager is nice, but anything not included in that has to be compiled and added with a bunch of sudo commands. That's difficult for even technical users. Using it is fairly easy for everything that you would use a Mac for.

My school had the new Office too and I pushed for them to leave some computers with the old Office and they eventually did.

Originally Posted by Jdeadevil

My school had Macs!

Yeah, I think every school has Macs for some reason.

Actually, I'd bet that the Macs that they are replacing the Suns with will have Vista on them. I haven't been told that, but that seems like something my university would do.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Actually, I'd bet that the Macs that they are replacing the Suns with will have Vista on them. I haven't been told that, but that seems like something my university would do.

Ok.

I was talking about elementary - High School, I would think colleges would have a mix of OS's.

You'd think they'd have both (Mac and PC) too. They should learn what they will need later in life. Different professions are dominated by different types of computers. I remember when I was in elementary school there was a Mac lab and a lab of Apple IIs. Ah the Apple IIs, I loved Oregon Trail and Dyno Park Tycoon

Originally Posted by ninja9578

You'd think they'd have both (Mac and PC) too. They should learn what they will need later in life. Different professions are dominated by different types of computers. I remember when I was in elementary school there was a Mac lab and a lab of Apple IIs. Ah the Apple IIs, I loved Oregon Trail and Dyno Park Tycoon

Linux has died of dysentry.