Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/06/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Off-Topic Question, but I'm sure I'll get the answer here: We're becoming a two-computer household. Per my company's agreement with MS, we may buy Office 2003 from the "work at home" program for a nominal fee. But we are only allowed to use it on one computer, or one desktop and one portable. Well, I've now got two desktops. They will be on a simple home network with Internet access. I really don't relish shelling out another $200 (employee purchase) for another copy of the Office suite. Since I wish to be legal here, I'm considering several alternatives: 1. Switch to Sun's OpenOffice suite, which is free, and can supposedly read and write documents in Office's formats. My wife can use the Office Suite. 2. I have an old licensed copy of Word 97 I could use (but it's old). 3. Buy a standalone copy of Word upgrade for $110. She uses that, I use the Office suite. Complications: My wife needs to stick with current MS stuff, as that's what they use at her job. I don't think she needs anything but the word processor, and some multi-lingual capabilities provided through the OS (she's a translator). I don't do a lot of document work at home. I mostly write letters, plus the occasional article, and I mess with the occasional spreadsheet. I'm not sure I want to get involved with something whose user interface is very different from the standard MS stuff, since that's what I support at work. But free is nice, and I don't like The Monopoly and their retail prices. Thoughts, anyone? I'm particularly interested in people who used OpenOffice for themselves when they use MS-Office at work, or collaborate with people who do. Is this practical? --Peter