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Thread: Making sense of all of Microsoft Office Products

  1. #1
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    Default Making sense of all of Microsoft Office Products

    I recently purchased a pre-owned laptop that's "Payton Manning" like as far as it being a stop gap until I can afford a new laptop that may stick around longer than I originally planned, or it may not. Too bad the analogy doesn't extend to it not only out performing all of the new models that have hit the market this year, but also out performing any laptop ever made.

    It had little more on it than just Windows 8 when I purchased it, so I've been getting by with "Open Office." However, that's just a stripped down freeware version of Office that's badly lacking. So I've now got the money to get MS Office, but there's a lot of options these day & I don't understand what the point of buying programs that seam more redundant than innovative. Those would be pretty much all of the ones in the 2nd column, "Related Products": http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/pr...101825692.aspx

    I can see this being like my parents getting over 200 channels on satellite, but only watching few than a dozen. If I had more money than sense, that I could just go a head & buy everything. However, if I did, I'd be evicted from my apartment before the end of the month. Therefore, I need to weigh the usefulness of these products with the cost in order to priorities which products need to be bought in which order & which ones I should never waist my money on. Figuring this out is the main reason for me starting this thread, so I'd appreciate any help on trying to sift through MS propaganda & determine which, if any, of the products would actually be useful to me. I'll use post #2 to bring up other matters least I be accussed of going all "Joel" on all of you.
    I’m an Autistic Self-Advocate. If you have any questions about Autism/Asperger’s, feel free to ask. I’m not offended by any question asked by anyone who has a genuine desire to understand us better.

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    As far as the products that I know I'll be getting, in the past I've simply have gotten the "Home & Student" package, & so it was initially my plan to get the 2007 or 2010 version in order to save money. That would give my the 2 programs that I must have now for my Autism activities: Word & PowerPoint. It also gives me Excel, which has been useful to me in the past, & may someday be useful to me in the future. However, it probably wouldn't used anytime soon. It would also give me OneNote, which supplanted Outlook as the 4th program for this package. I've actually opened up OneNote a couple of times, stared at it for a minute or 2, than closed it without ever trying anything with it.

    However, a different MS package caught my eye today, Microsoft Office 365. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ho...um/#HowDoIKnow

    This give me a different purchasing arrangement on what is essentially the "Professional" package. I get all of the 2013 version of "Home & Student," but 3 others as well: Outlook (which I've had in the past & have had no use for), Access (a database program that could be useful to me in the future) & Publisher. I'd also get a boatload of other features, some of which would be useful for me. It sounds good, but there is a definite cost reward question to consider.

    I can get a 2010 version of the Home & Student package for less than $80 for 1 PC at a non-MS site. The MS Office 365 cost $100 per year for 5 PCs or Macs & 5 smartphones (Windows, Android or I-phones). This gave me the idea of going half & half with my parents on this deal. My step-dad has a server, back-up sever & a laptop (which he rarely uses since getting his tablet). My mom has a desktop that doubles as my step-dad's emergency back-up server. I have a laptop. If my step-dad doesn't use this for his laptop, then we're using up 4 of the 5 PC allotments.

    However, this deal is only half as good as it sounds if tables, which I'm to understand use the same operating system as the above mentioned smartphones, can't be used for the smartphone allotments. Based on my limited tech understand, anything that works on one is supposed to work on the other. If I'm in error, then we've got a problem. My mom, step-dad & I are all in agreement that for all of the benefits that smartphones have to offer, they are just to small to perform any serious work on. The size of tablets provide the perfect combination of portability & usability. My step-dad & I have our own tablets, & my mom is going to get one probably for Christmas. It would be very beneficial for us to use 3 or our smartphone allotments on tables, but a complete waist to use them on smartphones.

    Therefore, I have what seams to me to be an obvious question that needs a simple yes or no answer. Yet, it appears that it never occurred to anyone in the great MS brain trust that someone would ever ask this question. It also appears that it never occurred to anyone in their brain trust that someone want to be able contact an actual human being to ask them questions that never occur for them to answer. I've looked all through their trash heap of excessive links to either find the answer, or figure out how to contact a human being that can give me a simple yes or no answer. I've failed at both.

    So, what is the question? WHAT DO YOU THINK THE QUESTION?!
    I’m an Autistic Self-Advocate. If you have any questions about Autism/Asperger’s, feel free to ask. I’m not offended by any question asked by anyone who has a genuine desire to understand us better.

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    I think what you're trying to ask is what they consider to be mobile devices. Obviously, a smart phone is a mobile device but is a tablet considered as a PC or a mobile device in this case. I'm pretty sure a tablet is considered a mobile device. Not completely positive yet. From what I can tell, if it's running iOS, Android or Windows Phone. I have a question about this pending an answer. I should know sometime tomorrow.
    Merry.

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    If the question is what Day1 stated, a tablet is a mobile device.

    I buy my laptops from a guy I've known for a long time. He always hooks me up with Microsoft Office and an Anti-Virus. On my phones/tablets, I always use "OfficeSuite Pro". It's an app made by MobiSystems. I think I paid $10 or $15. I use it for Word, Excel, PDF, and Powerpoint files.

    I'm not sure if that helps or not.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Day1BroncoFan View Post
    I think what you're trying to ask is what they consider to be mobile devices. Obviously, a smart phone is a mobile device but is a tablet considered as a PC or a mobile device in this case. I'm pretty sure a tablet is considered a mobile device. Not completely positive yet. From what I can tell, if it's running iOS, Android or Windows Phone. I have a question about this pending an answer. I should know sometime tomorrow.
    I know that smartphones & tablets are mobile devices. If both have the same OS, then why wouldn't the program work on both. The answer should be that they will, but MS neither confirms nor denies.
    I’m an Autistic Self-Advocate. If you have any questions about Autism/Asperger’s, feel free to ask. I’m not offended by any question asked by anyone who has a genuine desire to understand us better.

    https://aacphoenix.com/

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    Quote Originally Posted by FanInAZ View Post
    I know that smartphones & tablets are mobile devices. If both have the same OS, then why wouldn't the program work on both. The answer should be that they will, but MS neither confirms nor denies.
    Here is what I found out. A tablet is not considered a mobile device under that license. The product I asked about is Office 365 Home Premium. The tablet must be running one of the following OS's:

    Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2012
    Mac OS X 10.6 or later

    I got this answer from a chat with a MS rep. Hopefully, I got one that knows what they're talking about.
    Merry.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Day1BroncoFan View Post
    A tablet is not considered a mobile device under that license.
    Why? If it works on the device, why not sell a license to use it on the device? If most users agree with my parents & I that the product is useless on such compact interfaces, then including licenses to put it on 5 smartphones is a total sham to make the deal sound far better than it actually is.
    I’m an Autistic Self-Advocate. If you have any questions about Autism/Asperger’s, feel free to ask. I’m not offended by any question asked by anyone who has a genuine desire to understand us better.

    https://aacphoenix.com/

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    Quote Originally Posted by FanInAZ View Post
    Why? If it works on the device, why not sell a license to use it on the device? If most users agree with my parents & I that the product is useless on such compact interfaces, then including licenses to put it on 5 smartphones is a total sham to make the deal sound far better than it actually is.
    It will work if it's running one of those OS's but you have to use a PC license on it is all.
    Merry.

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