Why Do People Still Use Microsoft Software?

[Owen]

This puzzles me: why do people still use Microsoft Office, let alone 365? Google exists with so much better options, the online thing is you need internet access if you want it saved to the cloud, but now they even allow offline access if you have the software downloaded. For literally $5 per user per month you get business email on your domain name (group emails like help@owenbick.com are free). They have an app store to make all their applications even more powerful. Their search destroys Bing, their entire business suite is literally $5 a month, assuming you use your own domain. If you use a Gmail email, it's free. Why do people still want to use Microsoft that runs at $175.00 and lacks almost all of these features?

[Fulcrum]

I use Windows as an OS and OpenOffice for documents.

[nealrm]

I'm not sure what world you are in, but Google sheets, is at best a stripped down version of Excel. I use both depending on need. Yes, the online collaboration is better than Google sheets, but that is it. If you go out to the support forums there are scores of requests for basic improvements that have been made repeatedly for 10 years. Yet, simple things like border width have not been implemented. That makes me wonder how long Google will continue to support it. In addition, updating of formula values on Google sheets is slow, very slow. (Yes, I do have a very high speed internet connection). In addition the Excel interface is far superior to Google sheets.

I don't want to appear to be knocking Google sheets, it's a good product for the price and the collaboration is good. But it is not in the same league as Excel.

[turboguy]

Personally I don't like the subscription model for software which seems to be the thing these days since it lets them make more profit. I prefer the old way of doing it where you buy the software and when there is enough reason to upgrade you pay up one time and upgrade. I use Microsoft office 10 and when it is so obsolete that I must change then will look for something free or maybe consider Google. The same goes with my other software. I have Adobe CS3 which lets me do anything I can think of that I need to do. I will do my best to avoid going to the current programs which are subscription only. I am sure the new cloud based programs will do more but I can do anything that I know of that I need to do. Five bucks a month isn't bad and actually considering that I went from Office 2002 to 2007 to 2010 it is probably less than I spent. Still, I hate things that are $ x.XX a month and try to avoid as many as I can but of course there are tons you can't avoid.

[Brian Altenhofel]

But it is not in the same league as Excel.

This.

There are still no good alternatives to Excel out there for anyone that needs to do more than 5th grade level math on a spreadsheet. I say that as someone who uses Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc on a daily basis.

[Owen]

What about business email? I see a lot of people using Outlook or their own server...

[nealrm]

Are you talking about Outlook the eMail software for reading and sending emails, or Outlook the email server? The two are different.

The Outlook software is a great program for keeping tracking of and sending email. It allows for easy searching and retrieval. As for the server, it is just another free email provider.

[Harold Mansfield]

This puzzles me: why do people still use Microsoft Office, let alone 365? Google exists with so much better options, the online thing is you need internet access if you want it saved to the cloud, but now they even allow offline access if you have the software downloaded. For literally $5 per user per month you get business email on your domain name (group emails like help@owenbick.com are free). They have an app store to make all their applications even more powerful. Their search destroys Bing, their entire business suite is literally $5 a month, assuming you use your own domain. If you use a Gmail email, it's free. Why do people still want to use Microsoft that runs at $175.00 and lacks almost all of these features?

I use both. I love Google app services. And you're right, it's really cheap. I especially love the ability to manage a fleet of phones, tablets, Chromebooks, and Chromecasts from a single dashboard. That's pretty bad ass.

But it's not for everyone and everything.

I use MS Office because it's good. It's also universal when communicating with other business people, and integrates well with the other MS services that businesses use. MS Word is the standard document creator in the business world. It's kind of hard to do business with people who use it, when you don't have it. You will not convince other people to learn an entire new platform just because you don't have MS Office.


What about business email? I see a lot of people using Outlook or their own server...

Again, I use both. I use Outlook from Office as an email client, but I have my own email server. There's a difference between the free Outlook and the Outlook that is part of Office.

[Sarah K]

Personally, I like the features of Word and Excel, it makes my word my easier. I've used Openoffice Word and Calc, which are just watered down versions of what Microsoft offers.

I guess if I had to actually pay for MS Office though, I'd look for free or cheap alternatives. But MS formats are what all my clients use, so I'd have to convert other program's files extensions into MS ones anyways.

[fossfolks]

I'd hate to have the internet kick off and not be able to access my stuff. I use LibreOffice and save stuff locally.

[pekinwebguy]

I use LibreOffice across the board. I have 2 machines, one runs Windows 10 and the other runs Ubuntu Linux. There are a lot of reasons that folks "still" use microsoft products. In fact, if you're talking operating systems, that's a whole different topic than say... Office suites or other business software. Hands down, with the exception of a few specific job types, the windows experience is way better than the linux one, and linux has gotten pretty darn good.

[JessicaP]

I think it comes from 90s, when Microsoft was the monopolist and extremely popular. Now here are many options, and nobody preserve you to buy microsoft products. We still have torrents :)

[Fulcrum]

We still have torrents :)

While I agree with the bulk of your post, we cannot suggest that business people download paid software. There are pirating laws against this practice and the fines can be quite heavy (into the 7 figures I've heard).

[Harold Mansfield]

I think it comes from 90s, when Microsoft was the monopolist and extremely popular. Now here are many options, and nobody preserve you to buy microsoft products. We still have torrents http://www.small-business-forum.net/images/smilies/smile.png

People in the business world mostly use and buy Microsoft products. It's universal.

As for torrents, besides the pesky problem of breaking the law and stealing from people, P2P and Torrent sites are ridiculously unsafe. Anyone who says otherwise is clueless to how and why people make these things available to you for free. Because they know a certain percentage of people can't resist trying to "beat the system" and sneak around getting something for free, and that greed and disregard for other people's stuff makes them easy targets for installs.

I know, I know, everyone who uses a Torrent or P2P site says the same thing, "I only use reputable stealing sites and only download links that have been thoroughly reviewed by the community". A community of strangers.

My point? This is how people get infected and spread the infection to others. Whenever you start with the premise that you are smarter than the hackers, or people who go to a lot of effort to infect people, some you've still never heard of, you're doomed. When you "get" something online for free from a place YOU KNOW it's not supposed to be free on, you deserve what you get.

Even if 50% of the people stealing from Torrents and P2P sites are "safe" and take all known precautions (and there's the rub. Precautions are generally known after the fact, not before.), the other 50% of the idiots are clueless and infecting us all.

So that's my little rant on downloading things online that you KNOW are not supposed to be free and stealing from people who create stuff.

[Owen]

People in the business world mostly use and buy Microsoft products. It's universal.

As for torrents, besides the pesky problem of breaking the law and stealing from people, P2P and Torrent sites are ridiculously unsafe. Anyone who says otherwise is clueless to how and why people make these things available to you for free. Because they know a certain percentage of people can't resist trying to "beat the system" and sneak around getting something for free, and that greed and disregard for other people's stuff makes them easy targets for installs.

I know, I know, everyone who uses a Torrent or P2P site says the same thing, "I only use reputable stealing sites and only download links that have been thoroughly reviewed by the community". A community of strangers.

My point? This is how people get infected and spread the infection to others. Whenever you start with the premise that you are smarter than the hackers, or people who go to a lot of effort to infect people, some you've still never heard of, you're doomed. When you "get" something online for free from a place YOU KNOW it's not supposed to be free on, you deserve what you get.

Even if 50% of the people stealing from Torrents and P2P sites are "safe" and take all known precautions (and there's the rub. Precautions are generally known after the fact, not before.), the other 50% of the idiots are clueless and infecting us all.

So that's my little rant on downloading things online that you KNOW are not supposed to be free and stealing from people who create stuff.

The only thing I've ever torrented is software and games. If I need to watch a movie that isn't available on Netflix, I watch it on Putlocker. Anyways, I say the same thing. I only download from specific people, a few I have talked to before including Skidrow, Games4TheWorld, Invision-Virus, etc. which are all well reputable. I do have Office on my laptop for school, but I get it for free through the college that we take our dual enrollment through. I did have The Sims 4 torrented for the longest time, but recently bought it along with all the expansions. I will say, there are a few exceptions to my paying for. For example, I'm not going to pay $1,500 for Photoshop and another for Illustrator, plus even more for Premier. I'll risk the virus. I don't torrent music anymore since I just pay for Spotify and all the Steam games are paid for.

Torrenting isn't going to magically go away, nor will it even go away. If the government is going to get rid of the public sites (Kickass, Piratebay, Torrentz.eu, etc.) then there's going to be more privatized ways to get it.

I don't enjoy torrenting, I feel dirty doing it. But in times of desperation, it's better than paying 3 months of part time Staples salary on software when I have to go to school. Again, sometimes it's worth the potential virus.

[Harold Mansfield]

The only thing I've ever torrented is software and games.
It's funny how you say "Only". It's like saying, "Sure, I robbed a bank, but i only stole 5's and 10's."


If I need to watch a movie that isn't available on Netflix, I watch it on Putlocker. Anyways, I say the same thing. I only download from specific people, a few I have talked to before including Skidrow, Games4TheWorld, Invision-Virus, etc. which are all well reputable.
Yep. Everyone says that.

Adobe Creative Cloud is like $20 mo.
Adobe Creative Cloud for students and teachers | Adobe Creative Cloud (http://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/buy/students.html?promoid=N7FDRVG6&mv=other)

My view is that if you can't afford it, you wait until you can. If you can never afford it, then you can't afford to be in business. You don't just take it just because you want it. We all kind of learned that growing up. It's what we expect responsible citizens of our world to act like. Whether it's boosting CD's from a small business or downloading software, it's still the exact same crime and exact same ethics.


Torrenting isn't going to magically go away, nor will it even go away. If the government is going to get rid of the public sites (Kickass, Piratebay, Torrentz.eu, etc.) then there's going to be more privatized ways to get it.

Of course not. Stealing will be around till the end of time. Doesn't mean you have to do it. Heroine didn't go away but I don't see you using the same excuse to partake in that.


I don't enjoy torrenting, I feel dirty doing it. But in times of desperation, it's better than paying 3 months of part time Staples salary on software when I have to go to school. Again, sometimes it's worth the potential virus.

You will think differently when you launch your own products only to find out that people are stealing them rather than paying you for your work.

[turboguy]

As far as torrenting goes to each is own but I don't do it, not that I have always been an angel.

When it comes to the cloud subscriptions I really don't care for that model but I was under the impression that Adobe cloud is much more expensive than 20 bucks a month. I was under the impression that it was more in the $ 59.00 a month range.

I still don't like that model and prefer just to buy software which seems like it is not going to be an option for the future. I will keep using my CS-3 and office 10 until it becomes useless and at that point will see if there is freeware or some other compatible program you can buy for a one time fee. I just don't like having payments and some of that stuff I don't use enough to justify the monthly fee they charge.

[Owen]

Yep. Everyone says that.
But I've like actually talked to them all before, I was a big member of the forum for about 2 years for Games4TheWorld. I used to join Skype calls with Invision Virus.


Adobe Creative Cloud is like $20 mo.
WHAT IS THIS GIFT YOU HAVE BESTOWED UPON ME GREAT ONE?!?!?!


Heroine didn't go away but I don't see you using the same excuse to partake in that.
You don't know what I do outside of here ;)


You will differently when you launch your own products only to find out that people are stealing them rather than paying you for your work.
I mean I can agree, I torrented Invision Power Board and had a bigish forum with 1,000 members when I was 14 then one of them figured out I was using a nulled version and they got my web hosting account banned :(

[Harold Mansfield]

The problem with taking all the precautions and talking to people who claim they know all KNOWN ways to scan for malware, is that the bad guys are always 10 steps ahead of what we know how to scan or look for. By the time we find out about something new, it's been in the wild for weeks or months.

Anti virus malware scans and similar things are reactions, not pro actions. They find what we already know about.

Of course you could go through each file line by line, but I doubt most people are doing that, even if they knew what they were looking for.

There's a phrase in the drug trade (and mortgage leads) called "Stepped on". It means how many hands did it pass through (and what did they dilute it with) before it got to you.

If you can't control the chain from manufacturer to you, you have no idea what happened to it along the way I don't care how many people vouch for it.
Torrent sites and P2P networks are the superhighway of malware infections. It's easy pickens because people are eager to get something for nothing and install things willingly under the guise that they are somehow beating the system.

The malware I can find are never the ones I worry about. It's the ones that I can't find because none of the security pros know about them yet that bother me. The stuff that's on your computer that scans don't pick up.

JMO of course.

[Owen]

The problem with taking all the precautions and talking to people who claim they know all KNOWN ways to scan for malware, is that the bad guys are always 10 steps ahead of what we know how to scan or look for. By the time we find out about something new, it's been in the wild for weeks or months.

Anti virus malware scans and similar things are reactions, not pro actions. They find what we already know about.

Of course you could go through each file line by line, but I doubt most people are doing that, even if they knew what they were looking for.

There's a phrase in the drug trade (and mortgage leads) called "Stepped on". It means how many hands did it pass through (and what did they dilute it with) before it got to you.

If you can't control the chain from manufacturer to you, you have no idea what happened to it along the way I don't care how many people vouch for it.
Torrent sites and P2P networks are the superhighway of malware infections. It's easy pickens because people are eager to get something for nothing and install things willingly under the guise that they are somehow beating the system.

The malware I can find are never the ones I worry about. It's the ones that I can't find because none of the security pros know about them yet that bother me. The stuff that's on your computer that scans don't pick up.

JMO of course.

Like the dude of Shark Tank that runs a security company said: "Hackers are like burglars, you can have a gun and a security system all you want but if someone really wants to do damage to you they'll do it."

[Harold Mansfield]

Like the dude of Shark Tank that runs a security company said: "Hackers are like burglars, you can have a gun and a security system all you want but if someone really wants to do damage to you they'll do it."

I'm sure that same person would recommend against going to the place where burglars hang out, giving them directions to your house, unlocking the door , putting all of your valuables in the doorway and then walking away cause "What the hell, if they really wanted it they'd get it anyway, may as well make it easy for them".

You can come up with all kinds of excuses to talk yourself into believing you have no control, but reality is that crooks like easy targets. You don't have to make yourself an easy target.

[nealrm]

The only thing I've ever torrented is software and games. If I need to watch a movie that isn't available on Netflix, I watch it on Putlocker.
So you steal software, games and movies. Do you also go into stores and shoplift items?? There is no difference, except in one case you hide in your house and in the other you drive to a store. Remember, honesty and integrity is what happens when other people aren't watching.