What are most of you doing?

This really isn't a Logos type question but then again it is. I presently have Windows XP and if I want to run Logos 5 I must upgrade it, since I'm told Logos 5 won't run on XP.

However if I do upgrade to windows 8 I'm told I must upgrade my Microsoft Office 2003 to 2013. However the pricing of the Office is breaking me.

With office 2003 I could install it on both my Desktop and my Laptop for the price of one copy of the program. Now with Office 2013 I have to buy a copy for each machine OR buy a subscription that must be renewed every year. Both costly options.

Did everyone just give in and buy office 2013 or are you using something else?

Again this is one more nail in the coffin to make me want to sell my Windows equip and go buy all Apple but I think Microsoft is playing the same game there too.

So right now if I want to go to Logos 5 I have to get a new Desktop since my present one won't run Windows 8. And if I do that I must also buy a Office 2013. You know it is getting expensive.

Any ideas. Yeah it would be great to find an old copy of windows 7 or office 2007 but that is like pulling hens teeth. And even if I did I would probably be in the same boat shortly after another upgrade or two.

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Donnie Hale

Now with Office 2013 I have to buy a copy for each machine OR buy a subscription that must be renewed every year. Both costly options.

I'm using the subscription. Note that this allows you to install Office 2013 on up to *5* machines. At $99 / year, that works about perfectly for me; and I'd typically have to upgrade every 3 - 4 years at the cost of $200-300, for a single machine.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the pricing and flexibility of the subscription model. And generally I'm not a fan of that model for end consumers such as myself.

Donnie

Matthew C Jones

Did everyone just give in and buy office 2013 or are you using something else?

I use Libre Office. It is free. You can find it on the Internet

I'm still running Windows 7 on a 5400rpm drive. I have the latest version of Logos 5 and it works for me.

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/564565#Comment_564565

Yep. When you're dealing with planned obsolescence (otherwise known as 'New features!!'), you're best loading up on the early end of the cycle; not the late end of the cycle.

That means when W7 shows to be a winner, you get TWO of them. One to keep and one to sell to the individual who waited too long.

Actually our Win95 and XP machines are just fine and still do their software thing with complete finesse (off the internet of course). Their big brother W7 will be along, in time. No rush.

Ken McGuire

There are other office suites out there. I installed LibreOffice on my dad's Win 8.1 box because Windows will not run his old copy of Office...

Of course, we could wish that Microsoft had a version of Windows that was Windows compatible, but the security changes in Vista on up WERE overdue.

SDG

Ken

Brother Mark

There are lots of options ranging from free to awesomely expensive:

1. Win 7 OEM is still commercially available. For instance Amazon has it.

2. Libre Office as noted in an earlier post is available here.

3. OpenOffice also free is available here.

I prefer Win7 over Win8.x and will be reluctant to eventually leave it when forced to eventually upgrade. As for MS Office, I generally stay a version behind by snagging a SALE! verson for ~$49.... However, OpenOffice is pretty full featured and you can't beat free...

--Bro. Mark

Ed Blough

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/564587#Comment_564587

I also use Word for the Bulletins, special event invites/posters, newsletters, info packets and so forth. What every I use I have to have graphic capabilities. Does these free programs have the same ability to manipulate graphics and create columns and word wraps and such?

Is anyone using Wordperfect these days? How does it seam into Logos?

Lynden O. Williams

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/564830#Comment_564830

Windows 7 Oem. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/search.asp?keywords=windows+7+oem

BillS

I must upgrade my Microsoft Office 2003 to 2013.

I don't believe that's a true statement. I CHOSE to upgrade to Office 2010, but I'm skipping 2013 & will likely go the subscription (ugh!) route when I do eventually upgrade to a LATER version, for cost reasons.

But the ONLY reason I'm aware of that could drive you to 2013 is to take advantage of NEW features AND touch support. I'm not a fan of touch (on my desktop). So I'm happily running 2010 on 8.1....

I'd commend finding a copy of Office 2010... it has features that 2007 (which I had) doesn't, & that made it well worth the upgrade cost (I get the pro version that has Outlook, each time).

Blessings on your decision....

abondservant

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/564832#Comment_564832

Should also point out that there are people on the forum successfully running older versions of office on windows 8... heard of people using 2007 and 2010 office...

Ken McGuire

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/564830#Comment_564830

I also use Word for the Bulletins, special event invites/posters, newsletters, info packets and so forth. What every I use I have to have graphic capabilities. Does these free programs have the same ability to manipulate graphics and create columns and word wraps and such?

"Same" as in identical, probably not. Does it have largely equivalent functionality, yes.

Is anyone using Wordperfect these days? How does it seam into Logos?

I was a Wordperfect user for years, but finally gave up on it with X3. It saddens me that when I was in school, it was ahead of the curve with its WP Character Set letting me set up a Greek keyboard so I only had to draw in accents on my papers, when other people had to write the whole word. But the Unicode standard has happened, and WP was late to support it. This and diminishing market share made me figure I had to jump, and have been MS Office 2007 ever since. I still miss "reveal codes" when something looks off...

Logos did some work in the Logos 4 beta days to have some WP support - much to the Logos programmers regret. But the difference in character set is a serious drawback for something like Logos that uses a lot of Unicode.

Robert M. Warren

Ed:

Are you sure your computer won't run Win 8? I upgraded my wife's c. 2006 Gateway XP machine (2.8GH proc; 3GB RAM) and it runs fine. Win 8 seems to be less hardware hungry than Win 7. I don't quite get all of the silliness of the tile half of the OS.

Regarding Office (2010) 2013, if you work for a company that pays for MS programs under one of several MS Enterprise Licenses, you may qualify for the Home User Program, where you can get Office Pro Plus for $10.

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

However if I do upgrade to windows 8 ...

Windows 8 has a different interface than Windows XP; may want to try test driving Windows 8.

Yeah it would be great to find an old copy of windows 7 or office 2007 but that is like pulling hens teeth.

Dell Outlet has a number of models with Windows 7 installed; for example:

Dell Outlet on Twitter has Business PC coupon of 25 % discount (expires 31 Jan 2014) so $ 669.00 becomes $ 501.75

Keep Smiling [:)]

SineNomine

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/564847#Comment_564847

Should also point out that there are people on the forum successfully running older versions of office on windows 8... heard of people using 2007 and 2010 office...

Like me. I'm using 2007. Works fine.

Floyd Johnson

Did everyone just give in and buy office 2013 or are you using something else?

I divide my time between Office 2013 (subscription) and LibreOffice (currently version 4.2). The cost of the Office subscription allows me to install the computer on multiple machines, a desktop and a laptop for my own use and a laptop for my wife. I had just finished 15 years of work in higher ed teaching office, the decision made sense at the time. Probably will drop the subscription ASAP and use just LibreOffice going forward as the new version 4.2 (released earlier today) has improved compatibility with MS Office 2013.

Ward Walker

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/565023#Comment_565023

I've used lots of "office" packages, but on Win8 chose the Office365 subscription--mostly because I used it a ton and am a power user. Being able to put it on 5 PCs helped cover the family too...although Google Docs is usually good enough for the kids' schoolwork, and is easier to collaborate on.

Jan Krohn

That's correct, as of April, Windows XP will no longer receive security patches. So will Office 2003. Most third party vendors will stop supplying updates and up to date versions for Windows XP soon after (anti virus tools, Logos, and probably many others).

So equipment that's 11 years old will come to an end of life now. That's actually not too bad, and Apple I assume won't do any better here. New equipment and software every 9/10/11 years is actually a very good investment.

Windows 8 support is scheduled to end in 2023 - 9 years from now (3 years more than Windows 7). That's the system to go for.

Office 2003 will no longer work properly on Win 8: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2777626

Office 2013 (as you've already mentioned) is a complete rip-off as it requires one license per computer, and the subscription after 10 years would have cost you around $1000 by then. So that's no real option.

Office 2010 is still available (from Amazon for example). Support ends in 2020 - 6 years from now. It will still be usable afterwards. Risk of security breaches is relatively small if you have a good virus scanner.

Or you go for one of the free options (Libre Office, Open Office etc.) - but just as a heads up - if you're used to Microsoft Office, this would mean a decline in user friendliness. None of the free tools can compare to what MS offers.

What I personally did was subscribing to Technet which used to provide two non commercial Office 2013 licenses, but Microsoft has pulled that offer now. To me Office 2010 still seems to be the best solution that's currently available even if it's not ideal.

(If the one license per computer policy continues, I'm not going to purchase another MS Office until at least 2023 I guess...)

Mark Barnes

However if I do upgrade to windows 8 I'm told I must upgrade my Microsoft Office 2003 to 2013. However the pricing of the Office is breaking me.

Office Home and Student should be $99/year for both computers - or buy an earlier version of Office on eBay or Amazon. But Office 2013 is a big improvement even over 2007, and 2007 is a massive improvement over 2003. It's worth it, in my opinion.

If you have a .edu or .gov email address, or work for a major corporation, it's also worth checking out http://www.microsofthup.com/, too. There are massive savings for some there.

Floyd Johnson

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/565023#Comment_565023

A nice review of LibreOffice 4.2 has just been published by ZDNet:

http://zd.net/1fs1Z7N

Simon’s Brother

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/565063#Comment_565063

i have Office 365 subscription and Win 7. Will move to Win 8 when I purchase a new computer. I find the office 365 great value Sand won't be subscribing to it for 10 years, but instead move up to a subscription to the next version when it is released. I skipped 2010 going straight from 2007 in the middle of last year. As others have said you can use licence on 5 computers. You also get 20gb of storage on sky drive on top of your existing limit and ate able to use Word, Excel and Onenote from any computer with an internet connection. Thus I can work on documents seamlessly at work or home. Generally I have resisted subscription based software besides Anti-virus software but I am happy with office 365 and don't see myself wanting to go back to purchasing a full office license again. It allows me to smooth out the cost rather than paying a lump sum. Generally I upgrade my computer every five years so I don't think I'll run into problem of being stuck paying a subscription to Office 2013 for ten years - I couldn't see myself running Logos on the same computer for ten years. It is primarily my use of Logos that forces me to upgrade my hardware rather than the use of offuce. At least for now.

i do though appreciate your dilemma in what to do. As others have suggested Libre Office is a good substitute it might be wise to start with it, and run alongside Office 2003 on your existing computer - assuming it will run on it - to test out it's functionality before Purchasing a new machine. It may turn out it works for your needs and you can thus stick with Libre Office or Open Office for that matter, on a new machine when you purchase it.

abondservant

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/565191#Comment_565191

One thing I should not fail to point out as a posessor of an .edu email address, is that many schools have a "home use program" - should you be eligible you can have a copy of whatever the lastest version of office is for 10$.

For me this was the best deal... But there again I think you need to have a .edu or .gov email address... This offer is extended to some corporations as well, my dad works for a defense contractor - and he is able to purchase a single 2013 license as well for use at home.

Check your eligibility here:
http://www.microsofthup.com/