MS Office alternatives?

[KungFooBob]

The business version of Office365 has a five device/activation limit, assume the home/student version is similar.

If you hit the cap, you can log on to the account online and remove unused devices.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Used Open Office for at least 5 years with no problems

[Count Steer]

In the end I decided it was probably time for me to move off MS completely anyway but will leave the other MS/Office installation on wife's business PC as she still swaps Office docs around with quite a few people.

You can of course convert from most other systems to Office formats, so swapping around is usually ok. I say 'usually' because some fussy formatting stuff might get lunched, but if it's fairly basic text docs or spreadsheets then it's no problem.

True but it's easier just to keep it going until either a) she stops accepting work, which mainly involves producing/editing stuff in Word or b) the HP mini-tower dies.

(Two things I learned from setting that one up is MS Windows Pro version is much less hassle than the lesser version and solid state system drives are ultra-bonzer. It fires up as fast as a tablet, possibly faster).

[Count Steer]

The business version of Office365 has a five device/activation limit, assume the home/student version is similar.

If you hit the cap, you can log on to the account online and remove unused devices.

Cheers. I'll have a look - it is the Home version. I can't think of 5 devices but it may be old phones that I've forgotten about.

[Mr Moofo]

I have been looking a buying Office for a Mac for a while

With a Mac you get Pages, Numbers and Keynote - but I found them very obtuse in setting up, clunky to use and everyday use. Pages is just hateful. It's as though everything has been done to make it "not" like Microsoft
It could be that I used Office all day / everyday whilst working for 25 years and it fell like an old friend - and I miss it for ease of use.
Tried some of the open office stuff years ago - and they always seem like using the "Poundland" version. I am not a computer nerd - I can find my way around them , generally without the manual, so I may also be missing some of the big advantages of other packages.

[Slenver]

I have been looking a buying Office for a Mac for a while

With a Mac you get Pages, Numbers and Keynote - but I found them very obtuse in setting up, clunky to use and everyday use. Pages is just hateful. It's as though everything has been done to make it "not" like Microsoft
It could be that I used Office all day / everyday whilst working for 25 years and it fell like an old friend - and I miss it for ease of use.
Tried some of the open office stuff years ago - and they always seem like using the "Poundland" version. I am not a computer nerd - I can find my way around them , generally without the manual, so I may also be missing some of the big advantages of other packages.

What you're used is always going to be the biggest factor really... there's no substitute for familiarity and muscle memory. Doesn't really matter which is 'the best' for most people if it's less familiar and harder to use.

I've never really been a fan of Pages/Numbers... I wouldn't say I've found them to be obtuse or clunky, but they're a bit simplistic and it's never felt like they've had any real love. Bit more of a box-ticking exercise to have a basic word processor & spreadsheet come free with the Mac, and they do that well enough I suppose, especially with all the cloud storage and syncing, but I'd never use either out of choice. Keynote I'd say is different in that it's a lot more powerful than Powerpoint and they seemed to have tried hard to make it the best.

I know what you mean about the open office stuff. I've tried the main ones in the past (though not for a while) and they were fine and worthy, but I concur with the Poundland vibe

Word/Excel are of course the best-known and probably widest-used, at least historically, and I Imagine Excel is still the most powerful spreadsheet app for those that really need it... though I suspect it's only really data analysts and maybe accountants that would really need the most advanced stuff. But I hate MS software with a passion. It's so familiar to most people and that counts for a lot as I said, but the user experience is generally the worst of any of them. The menus are as bewitching as they are unusable and every simple task is made as difficult as possible.

Which makes Google Docs my favourite because I think it strikes the best balance. It has all the functionality I could need for fairly standard equations/charting etc (more so than the Apple ones), good usability and the best online sharing tools. Plus, in all the kinds of places I work, it's been the standard for the last 15 years or so, so everyone tends to use it. Unless I work in big companies (like currently) where they make us use MS, but then people still use their own Google accounts half the time for simplicity

[Count Steer]

Well I logged into my MS account but couldn't find any way to check what Office instances were installed/in use other than the original purchased copy on the laptop. However that is Home and Student 2013 so I suspect that with the move to Office 365 they have put a crimp on any new usage of my old version.

It doesn't really matter as long as I get on with making sure I convert what I need to to Google equivalents. The Toshiba laptop is getting a bit old now, 7 years I think. It was pretty much the bees knees at the time and the CD/DVD drive and general connectivity is nice to have but it really needs a good clear down/clean up to speed it up - but it won't get replaced. Tablets are just too good now to bother about it as long as the HP PC keeps going if I absolutely need an MS device.