Thursday, October 25, 2018

What ever happened to *buying* programs?

I seriously hate Microsoft.  HATE them.

I had to buy a new laptop in July 2017.  It had Windows 10.

I detest Windows 10.

I like the stability, and the fact that it doesn't tend to crash, but I hate the auto-update that cannot be turned off.   I hate that I keep having to turn Cortana back off, and turn the microphone back off, and tell it to not report my location after random updates (not every update, but frequently enough that I've had to do it more than half the times it updates).  I hate that it does this without warning, and doesn't let me put it off.

This last update has really fucked everything up for me.  Firefox is running slower (even after a troubleshoot delete/reload), and everything is...jerky.  I can type faster than it can keep up, which I've never been able to do before.  It's really bad.  It's not just internet issues, either--I have the same issues with word processing.  Even when I'm using nothing else but that program (yes, I checked). 

It's actually worse with the USB keyboard I have.

And, with this update, Word has locked down to where I can't use it. 

Granted, I'd been using Word for free for years.  While I was working for Nameless University, I had the privilege of using the university's license for Office.  And I do like Word's functionality.  If I could buy a copy of ONLY Word, I would.

But no.

I can rent Office for an affordable price for a year (uh, no.  I don't rent programs), or I can buy the whole suite, licensed for one computer only (and then have to do it again when I have to have a new machine).  Or, I could buy a pair of bifocals for about the same price.*    Guess which has higher priority. 

My now-unlicensed copy of Office has locked down.  I can open old docs in it, but cannot modify or add to them.

Which sucks, because I'd had a friend's manuscript almost done in Word, and now I have to start it over with a program I need to get familiar with, because it's going to be what I'll be using for the foreseeable future.

I wish this had at least waited until after I'd finished the manuscript I was editing.  LibreOffice's Writer program's editing/change tracking/commenting is...not precisely user friendly, if not as impossible as Open Office's is.

And I wish I had the focus and brain capacity to learn Linux.  Because Windows 10 is complete and utter shit, despite the stability.  



*I've seen Office (older versions) on Ebay for prices I can afford, but I don't trust that I'd actually get a copy that hadn't already been installed on someone else's computer. 

10 comments:

  1. Try Libre Office. It used to be Open Office, but the code forked.

    I stopped buying the upgrades for all my (allegedly) professional Adobe stuff after they made them all a cloud service.

    Nope, not for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have both Open Office and Libre Office. I prefer the latter, but like Word better than both.

      Delete
  2. I'm agnostic on those myself. If I'm on my Linux machine, I use Libre Office. On this laptop I use Word.

    I liked Word Perfect for some things, but I don't think it's updated any longer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never got to know Word Perfect. I do like the current iteration of Word, but not enough to pay for all of Office just for it.

      Delete
  3. When this box dies, I'm going totally Mac. I've got a Mac Air now as a laptop and don't have any issues or 'wonky' updates. This box is running Vista Pro, which apparently is no longer supported, and I'm running a script to KEEP it from autoloading Win10.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm going to be looking into Linux. Seriously. I detest having the assumption made that I'm too stupid to run security updates. I never failed to do that. I prefer being able to choose WHEN to update, instead of having Microsoft make that choice without warning me to save and close stuff.

      And I really hate it doing that when the restart locked me out of a program I was using.

      Delete
  4. Open Office. Free. Runs in Windows. Looks a lot like MS Office 2000. Saves in MS file formats. I use it on my home computer even though I can have MS Office from work. And it is originally a Linux application, so if you do switch, you can load it and go.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have Open Office--one of the older styles. I may well dump it and find the newest version to see how it works. Currently, I've found Libre Office's writer a bit more user-friendly, though still less so than actual Word.

      Delete
  5. OK, I have to admit. After the cluster f_ck of Windows 8, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Windows 10!!!!!!! I still use Office 2010, and am very happy with it too!!! From my experience with Microsoft (going way back to the DOS days), every other version of Windows sucks massively, but the next version after that is pretty good. So, needless to say, I am dreading whatever comes after Win 10...

    I am way too old to learn LINUX, and will NEVER support the proprietary garbage that is Apple!!! So since I am stuck with Windows, I sure hope that it's Win 10 for a long time to come!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like the stability. I hate the condescension the automatic updates reveals.

      Delete

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