I have XP Home in which I am using an old version of Word 97 which I loaded
from an old disk. It works fine still, but I have a couple of questions --

1) Would I find much benefit in buying the latest Word?

2) If so, is this site selling genuine copies?
http://1bj.biz.allsofte.com/ They keep on emailing me!

3) or would it be safer to buy from the MS site?


Many thanks

+Jackson+
.................

"Jackson" wrote in message
...

I have XP Home in which I am using an old version of Word 97 which I
loaded
from an old disk. It works fine still, but I have a couple of questions --

1) Would I find much benefit in buying the latest Word?

2) If so, is this site selling genuine copies?
http://1bj.biz.allsofte.com/ They keep on emailing me!

3) or would it be safer to buy from the MS site?


Many thanks

+Jackson+
................

Buy from your local store!

If you are satisfied with Word 97, there is no good reason to upgrade to
Word 2002 or 2003, but see
http://www.microsoft.com/office/edit...o/compare.mspx. I would be
leery of buying from any site that sends spam. Instead, research for
yourself using Google and buy from a reputable site or (as Chuck suggests)
from a local source such as BestBuy, Office Depot, etc.

FWIW, if you don't need any other Office apps, the most economical way to
acquire Word (2002) is as part of Works Suite 2005 (see
http://www.microsoft.com/products/wo...s.aspx?pid=001), which
you can get for as little as $70 (possibly even less) after the mail-in
rebate.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Jackson" wrote in message
...

I have XP Home in which I am using an old version of Word 97 which I
loaded
from an old disk. It works fine still, but I have a couple of questions --

1) Would I find much benefit in buying the latest Word?

2) If so, is this site selling genuine copies?
http://1bj.biz.allsofte.com/ They keep on emailing me!

3) or would it be safer to buy from the MS site?


Many thanks

+Jackson+
................

Jackson

Your IP address suggests that you are in the UK, possibly in or around the
Sheffield area, and maybe even using Force9 ISP assuming they still exist..
there is a PC World computer store at the following address..

Meadowhall Retail Park
Attercliffe Common
SHEFFIELD
South Yorkshire
S9 2YZ
Tel: 0870 2420444


or go to this site for the store finder in the event that I have your
location all wrong (most likely)..

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/

If price is a first consideration, you may also want to look at WordPerfect
Office and Lotus Smartsuite.. as I remember, PC World stock all of them..
well, certainly five years ago.. :-)


--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User


"Jackson" wrote in message
...

I have XP Home in which I am using an old version of Word 97 which I
loaded
from an old disk. It works fine still, but I have a couple of questions --

1) Would I find much benefit in buying the latest Word?

2) If so, is this site selling genuine copies?
http://1bj.biz.allsofte.com/ They keep on emailing me!

3) or would it be safer to buy from the MS site?


Many thanks

+Jackson+
................

Wow. I can tell you're not a WORD mvp...
Methinks www.openoffice.org is better than WordPerfect!
*******************
~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com


"Mike Hall (MS-MVP)" wrote in message
...
Jackson

Your IP address suggests that you are in the UK, possibly in or around the
Sheffield area, and maybe even using Force9 ISP assuming they still
exist..
there is a PC World computer store at the following address..

Meadowhall Retail Park
Attercliffe Common
SHEFFIELD
South Yorkshire
S9 2YZ
Tel: 0870 2420444


or go to this site for the store finder in the event that I have your
location all wrong (most likely)..

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/

If price is a first consideration, you may also want to look at
WordPerfect
Office and Lotus Smartsuite.. as I remember, PC World stock all of them..
well, certainly five years ago.. :-)


--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User


"Jackson" wrote in message
...

I have XP Home in which I am using an old version of Word 97 which I
loaded
from an old disk. It works fine still, but I have a couple of
questions --

1) Would I find much benefit in buying the latest Word?

2) If so, is this site selling genuine copies?
http://1bj.biz.allsofte.com/ They keep on emailing me!

3) or would it be safer to buy from the MS site?


Many thanks

+Jackson+
................

Anne Troy shared this with us in microsoft.public.word.newusers:

Wow. I can tell you're not a WORD mvp...

Simple!
Show all headers (CTRL+F11 in XanaNews) reveals this:
NNTP-Posting-Host: southcourt.plus.com 81.174.137.93
Geobytes does the rest. (or similar tools)
And Google for the other UI.

Methinks www.openoffice.org is better than WordPerfect!

ACK all the way.

--
Amedee Van Gasse using XanaNews 1.17.5.7
If it has an "X" in the name, it must be Linux?

Anne

I did like WP 7 but later versions of WP are not as good, and I have used
Lotus Smartsuite (9.7) in the past for its compatibility with almost
everything.. however, I lost the LS CD and WP7 doesn't like XP..

Having just trawled the net a little, I can only find LS version 9.7 and 9.8
and both can be bought for peanuts.. have IBM finally killed Lotus
Smartsuite off as a public offering?..

I now use MS Office 2003 Pro exclusively, but the price will put some off
buying it, regardless of how good the product may be..

To the OP..

Maybe buying Lotus Smartsuite (too old) and WP (too arcane) is not such a
good idea.. I have heard less than favourable reports for OpenOffice, so if
funds allow, buy Office 2003 or stick with what you have..


--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User


"Anne Troy" wrote in message
...
Wow. I can tell you're not a WORD mvp...
Methinks www.openoffice.org is better than WordPerfect!
*******************
~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com


"Mike Hall (MS-MVP)" wrote in message
...
Jackson

Your IP address suggests that you are in the UK, possibly in or around
the
Sheffield area, and maybe even using Force9 ISP assuming they still
exist..
there is a PC World computer store at the following address..

Meadowhall Retail Park
Attercliffe Common
SHEFFIELD
South Yorkshire
S9 2YZ
Tel: 0870 2420444


or go to this site for the store finder in the event that I have your
location all wrong (most likely)..

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/

If price is a first consideration, you may also want to look at
WordPerfect
Office and Lotus Smartsuite.. as I remember, PC World stock all of them..
well, certainly five years ago.. :-)


--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User


"Jackson" wrote in message
...

I have XP Home in which I am using an old version of Word 97 which I
loaded
from an old disk. It works fine still, but I have a couple of
questions --

1) Would I find much benefit in buying the latest Word?

2) If so, is this site selling genuine copies?
http://1bj.biz.allsofte.com/ They keep on emailing me!

3) or would it be safer to buy from the MS site?


Many thanks

+Jackson+
................

"Mike Hall (MS-MVP)"
wrote in message
...
Anne

I did like WP 7 but later versions of WP are not as
good, and ...
To the OP..

Maybe buying Lotus Smartsuite (too old) and WP (too
arcane) is not such a good idea.. I have heard less
than favourable reports for OpenOffice, so if funds
allow, buy Office 2003 or stick with what you have..
....

From the peanut gallery:
OpenOffice is "good" for a Word intermediate user,
poor for advanced, but "good to great" for less than
intermediate users. IMO at least. I consider myself
intermediate but not quite advanced. The MVP tests
seem to agree with me (I'm -not- an MVP).

It's definitely a ymmv for many, with cost being the
driving factor of course. I made a pretty good effort
at using OpenOffice, and was impressed, and still do
use it occasionally for specific tasks it's useful for,
like saving to a PDF file, speed for simple things, and
fast open/close times. But, that said it's not ready
for "MY" prime time yet. I don't speak for others.
So, though I keept it installed, and use it for a
few various things now and then, some more often, I am
still with Office in a big way. It's not free, but it
does what I need it to do and, being so well versed in
it, I do have some set ways and enough experience to
know that quite a few things I do in Word are harder or
even less intuitive to accomplish in OpenOffice (Write
et al). That's not a cut against OO, just an
observation; often the "intuition" factor in OO beats
MS right out of the water, but, again IMO, it's just
not able to do everything I want to do yet in the ways
I need to do them.
So if I had to give one up, I'd have to give up OO
at the moment.
I tried OO for web authoring too, with all its bells
and whistles, some of which I really liked, but ...
though it's more intended for writing web pages than
Word is, it still didn't make it. Old Word97, albeit a
simplistic authoring tool, did better IMO, when
combined with FP and a little HTML knowledge. I was
finally able to wean myself from WD97 et al when I
discovered N|VU and now use neither MS or OO for web
authoring. (nvu.org if you care).

I guess, all in all, if you could almost but not quite
use Wordpad for all your needs, you're a great
candidate to check out OO. If you actually use a lot
of Word's features though you may not be so happy with
OO. And, if you're interested in downloading OO, be
aware; it's a huge download but at least it's free and
very functional.

My two cents

Pop

I'm finding, and it's *really* annoying, that my "intuition" is so tuned to
how Word does things that I have to work a lot harder to use anything
else....

But like you say, "best" software all depends on what the person who has to
use it needs to do and prefers to work with.

On 7/25/05 9:32 AM, "PopS" wrote:


it, I do have some set ways and enough experience to
know that quite a few things I do in Word are harder or
even less intuitive to accomplish in OpenOffice (Write
et al). That's not a cut against OO, just an
observation; often the "intuition" factor in OO beats
MS right out of the water, but, again IMO, it's just
not able to do everything I want to do yet in the ways
I need to do them.

I liked your 2 cents, PopS. I keep OO installed only for recovering Word
files, really. But I agree with your "level of user" and the suitability of
OO as an alternative.

If I could only have one version of Office, I'd keep my Office 2000 Premium
with its FrontPage, Publisher, and PhotoDraw; and without its suck-ass
(pardon my french) new Mail merge methods.
*******************
~Anne Troy

www.OfficeArticles.com


"PopS" wrote in message
...

"Mike Hall (MS-MVP)"
wrote in message
...
Anne

I did like WP 7 but later versions of WP are not as
good, and ...
To the OP..

Maybe buying Lotus Smartsuite (too old) and WP (too
arcane) is not such a good idea.. I have heard less
than favourable reports for OpenOffice, so if funds
allow, buy Office 2003 or stick with what you have..
...

From the peanut gallery:
OpenOffice is "good" for a Word intermediate user,
poor for advanced, but "good to great" for less than
intermediate users. IMO at least. I consider myself
intermediate but not quite advanced. The MVP tests
seem to agree with me (I'm -not- an MVP).

It's definitely a ymmv for many, with cost being the
driving factor of course. I made a pretty good effort
at using OpenOffice, and was impressed, and still do
use it occasionally for specific tasks it's useful for,
like saving to a PDF file, speed for simple things, and
fast open/close times. But, that said it's not ready
for "MY" prime time yet. I don't speak for others.
So, though I keept it installed, and use it for a
few various things now and then, some more often, I am
still with Office in a big way. It's not free, but it
does what I need it to do and, being so well versed in
it, I do have some set ways and enough experience to
know that quite a few things I do in Word are harder or
even less intuitive to accomplish in OpenOffice (Write
et al). That's not a cut against OO, just an
observation; often the "intuition" factor in OO beats
MS right out of the water, but, again IMO, it's just
not able to do everything I want to do yet in the ways
I need to do them.
So if I had to give one up, I'd have to give up OO
at the moment.
I tried OO for web authoring too, with all its bells
and whistles, some of which I really liked, but ...
though it's more intended for writing web pages than
Word is, it still didn't make it. Old Word97, albeit a
simplistic authoring tool, did better IMO, when
combined with FP and a little HTML knowledge. I was
finally able to wean myself from WD97 et al when I
discovered N|VU and now use neither MS or OO for web
authoring. (nvu.org if you care).

I guess, all in all, if you could almost but not quite
use Wordpad for all your needs, you're a great
candidate to check out OO. If you actually use a lot
of Word's features though you may not be so happy with
OO. And, if you're interested in downloading OO, be
aware; it's a huge download but at least it's free and
very functional.

My two cents

Pop

PopS shared this with us in microsoft.public.word.newusers:

From the peanut gallery:

Reply from a nutcase:

OpenOffice is "good" for a Word intermediate user, poor for advanced,
but "good to great" for less than intermediate users. IMO at least.
I consider myself intermediate but not quite advanced. The MVP tests
seem to agree with me (I'm -not- an MVP).

Please explain why OpenOffice is poor for advanced users. When I follow
the discussions on Gmane (like news:gmane.comp.openoffice.questions) I
don't get that impression.

I'm not asking this because I disagree (or agree) with you. I'm just
asking this because OOo /needs/ user feedback to get better. Only if
advanced users point out the weak spots something can be done about it.

It's definitely a ymmv for many, with cost being the driving factor
of course.

I disagree on the cost argument. Money is an obsolete argument if you
see that Microsoft is almost giving away software with volume licenses
or student licenses or OEM licenses.

I made a pretty good effort at using OpenOffice, and was
impressed, and still do use it occasionally for specific tasks it's
useful for, like saving to a PDF file, speed for simple things, and
fast open/close times. But, that said it's not ready for "MY" prime
time yet.

What issues hinder you from it becoming "YOUR" prime time?

I don't speak for others. So, though I keept it
installed, and use it for a few various things now and then, some
more often, I am still with Office in a big way. It's not free,

It's not free(gratis) but more important it's not Free(libre) and even
more important it's not Open - I mean not only the software but also
the file format. Here in Europe I see a lot of movement towards open
file formats becoming mandatory by law. For example the Belgian
Department of Justice starts using open file formats because legal
documents made today should be readable in a few years without
acrobatics (I don't mean Adobe). I don't see a lot of interesting
reaction from Redmont...

but it does what I need it to do and, being so well versed in it, I do
have some set ways and enough experience to know that quite a few
things I do in Word are harder or even less intuitive to accomplish
in OpenOffice (Write et al). That's not a cut against OO, just an
observation; often the "intuition" factor in OO beats MS right out of
the water, but, again IMO, it's just not able to do everything I want
to do yet in the ways I need to do them.

That's not intuition, that's how you learned to use Word. You forgot
the initial problems you had when you switched from WordStar to
WordPerfect, or from WP DOS to WP Win, or from WP to MS Word,...

So if I had to give one up, I'd have to give up OO at the moment.

It's a good thing you don't have to.

I tried OO for web authoring too, with all its bells and whistles,
some of which I really liked, but... though it's more intended for
writing web pages than Word is, it still didn't make it. Old Word97,
albeit a simplistic authoring tool, did better IMO, when combined with
FP and a little HTML knowledge. I was finally able to wean myself
from WD97 et al when I discovered N|VU and now use neither MS or OO
for web authoring. (nvu.org if you care).

Neither MS Word nor OpenWrite are web authoring tools. You can't expect
a program that does something "on the side" to excel (no pun intended)
in that feature.
FWIW, you found the better tool with nvu.

I guess, all in all, if you could almost but not quite use Wordpad
for all your needs, you're a great candidate to check out OO. If you
actually use a lot of Word's features though you may not be so happy
with OO.

What exact features are you talking about?

And, if you're interested in downloading OO, be aware; it's
a huge download but at least it's free and very functional.

I don't call 80 MB a huge download - but then again, I'm on broadband.
80MB is rather small compared to the 640MB for an MS Office ISO file
(in Belgium there is a special website where students and teachers can
download student licenses of selected MS Software)

Often OpenOffice also comes on the CD or DVD cover disk you get with
computer magazines. So you can buy it for about 5€ (6$).

My two cents

Mine two (pun intended)

Pop

--
Amedee Van Gasse

Mike Hall (MS-MVP) shared this with us in
microsoft.public.word.newusers:

I have heard less than favourable reports for OpenOffice,

Could you explain? OpenOffice NEEDS user feedback to improve. Also, is
this first hand experience or only hearsay?

--
Amedee Van Gasse

Amadee

I have heard directly from people who have downloaded and used it.. I
haven't done so personally, and I am not likely to do so as I have no desire
presently to get used to the ways of another Office Suite..

All programs need feedback to improve.. having said that, if OpenOffice want
to directly compete with all versions of MS Office, the authors have only to
look at what MS Office can do in its various guises..

Re. 'hearsay'.. I object to the use of that word.. presently, I have only
your word (surely hearsay) that Open Office is worth a look..

And if you think that I am a Microsoft user through and through, then get
this.. I would still be using Corel WordPerfect 7 if it worked with XP.. it
was in my opinion the best version of WP to present day.. it didn't have all
of the features that MS Word had or has, but it was excellent for letter
templates, labels, envelopes et al.. I always secretly hoped that MS (mainly
because they have the funds) would bring out an Office Suite that embodied
the best parts from WP and also Lotus WordPro.. they didn't, of course..
they released Office 2003 instead.. :-)

So, Amadee, how would OpenOffice work for me?.. I use the majority of
features available in Office over the course of time.. would I have to keep
switching back and forth?.. if the answer to that is a yes, then forget it..
I have a legal and full version of MS Office 2003 Pro running on this
system, and I am not about to waste my time messing with something else that
does not cut it the way I would like it to do..



--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User


"Amedee Van Gasse" wrote in message
...
Mike Hall (MS-MVP) shared this with us in
microsoft.public.word.newusers:

I have heard less than favourable reports for OpenOffice,

Could you explain? OpenOffice NEEDS user feedback to improve. Also, is
this first hand experience or only hearsay?

--
Amedee Van Gasse