OK can someone please help me or tell me that I am right.
I bought a computer from the UK (through a friend) it is fine, I love it, it was much cheaper than I would have got it from here (necessary for me) and of course it came with English operating language.
Okay. So I decided to run the Microsoft 2013 Office 365 Family program on one month's free trial. Now I may not want to use all of the package as yet but I do want to use most of it which is why I went for it. Part of that package is 60 minutes of Skype time per month anywhere in the world for nowt, apparently.
So the day before the package was due to run out I tried to purchase to no avail. On the day it ran out I tried to purchase to no avail and the day after, yes you have guessed it to no avail.
Now, part of the problem may be that you apparently, as it did not say so, you have to uninstall before you can reinstall and microsoft give a fix to do so, ah simple you say problem solved. Not so because once it has run out you may not get the offer and secondly the system is now French and the package does not seem to be available in France - every other thing and especially the expensive ones are however - strange that yes. The package I am talking about is the rental per month/year package as this seems to me to be the best way to go as it will update at no charge and also it means that when I have tried it for long enough and should I decide to I can buy it. Of course this package allows you to run the system on up to 5 computers for that rental charge. Now I think it is the case that it is not allowed here even though it is advertised. I looked at buying a dvd package from the UK from a certain well known company and the supplier supplies everywhere but France uhm.
I am going to ring Microsoft UK and ask what the situation is. I am just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if I am being paranoid but it is either that you cannot purchase rental once the month has finished, or that They do not want you to have the 60 Skype minutes and the three other packages that come with it.
Please just tell me I am wrong as I am beginning to feel rather like I am in the middle of an ever decreasing circle of monopoly.
Thank you.
I now have my Office 365 working correctly with the aid of a purchased key from a certain site. I must say that I tried Libre Office and have now got Open Office installed alongside Office 365 instead. For my purposes Word 2013 is great but should my needs change I would probably use Open Office and may very well have to at the end of the rental period.
I found the Libre Office help site and indeed the Ubuntu help site not extremely helpful but this I think is due to the fact that I do not have time to wade through question and answer sites trying things out to see if they work. I just need a system that works for me at the present time and in fast manner. However I would offer my sympathies to anyone trying to install Office 365 if they get the "this is not compatible" message. I ignored it and just let each program stream as I opened it instead of running it from download or as administrator and this has worked (for the moment). And by the looks of the questions and answers page on the 29 May many people were unimpressed with the help given by Microsoft.
A good day and year to all.
Roger,
I wish I had a £ (or €) for every problem that a user finds with products that are "very compatible" with the market leader. MS are naturally trying to milk the position they have reached with the Office suite being ubiquitous, so they keep making little "tweaks" to ensure that they stay ahead of the competition. Why else did they make the changes from, e.g. .doc files to .docx files? Of course, their PR people will tell you of all the wonderful "technical improvements" that they've made, but that's just a smokescreen. PDF files have also evolved over the years, but they're still .pdf. Updates for .pdf readers are free and Adobe's business model doesn't need to sell (or rent) new versions of the software every couple of years. MS wouldn't have the market capitalization it has if it gave away free, or even reduced price, updates for the people that have already bought its products. Back in the day, IBM were also totally dominant in the IT market as it then was, but nearly went under following their own introduction of the IBM PC. They managed to re-invent themselves. It remains to be seen whether Microsoft will be able to do something similar whilst retaining even a fraction of their current profitability. It's all a matter of how many people you can fool and for how much of the time.
Patsie, donu but you may can find this useful: http://fieldworks.sil.org/
Hello I started to run the LibreOffice Writer program last night (12 pm) to compare it for say a transcriber and its usefullness as such. I have to say that at the moment it comes up wanting, I downloaded the manual to operate Writer but could not find a way around the loop that happened when I imported a Word document to edit which is what a transcriber would do. I am sure there is a way but the help desk is not that helpful. I will go on looking at it. Could you tell me if there is a visible clipboard as in Word because if you are typing say Scientific patents you need to be able to clip long chains or difficult to spell scientific words onto a visible clipboard next to the document you are working on and just pick it up to insert when you need that word again? This would certainly make the Writer better for me. It is early days for me but if you were working at speed this would be difficult with writer. This is not a complaint it is a question by the way. Thank you for your help so far.
No problems and thanks for helping me with mine and to all you other lovely people also. Time will tell if everything works as it should - my dad used to say if you are going to be in the shit - make sure it's with friends that way it stinks less - and he is right.
Sorry if you think we missed the point totally. The point I was making is simply that I have found Microsoft to be notoriously unhelpful. If you have a computer running Ubuntu surely it is loaded with Libre Office already. It runs the equivalent of Word, Excel, Access and Powerpoint and it is very compatible.
PS - posted before I read your latest comments.
I had made a reply to this to explain my position but in hindsight do not think the response qualifies an answer as such, except to say that I was updating the operating package on my new computer so as to be in line with others who wish me to be helping them on charity matters and such like and to this end and in those circumstances it pays to be operating on a system that people understand and know. It is not for me to try and change people's perceptions and operating procedures.
I am fully aware of services other than Microsoft and have used Ubuntu for some time on my other computer and have used other free operating packages. I would reiterate my point but see little reason to, except to say that the man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still, I will use my breath better to cool my porridge.
I am of course more than happy that I have made you laugh if only in ridicule.
Yes Patsie.
You can download it and leave it in Downloads or anywhere else you want without installing it. The only drawback is that if you don't install it for some time, it may be missing updates by the time you want it and would require a check for those updates - if any.
As for Skype, I personally find it too intrusive and since it now belongs to Microsoft I avoid it altogether. However, if you really want it I agree it is best downloaded separately in France.
A offer made by MickeySoft in the UK is not binding for MickeySoft-France, that's why you get the French update. Skype then is conflict with French regulations. It's funny how many people are changing their perfectly working OS without any compelling reason even though they know exactly that MickySoft is marketing its products with the clear aim to make a profit. And then they bounce in their journey's through the global cyberspace into national boundaries to find themselves to call to the help-desk in the Philippines... Its realy funny! Skye was bought by MickySoft and is the best example: according to the French regulators Skype violates the Telecom Act. This is good and pleases the orange-sfr-free etc gang and France is right to complain about this monopolist. Judging by the the hassle you have for lousy 60 skype minutes, is this the time and efforts worth to spend? I would recommend you download yourself an older, not so intrusive Version (e.g. 4.2) of Skype. Very old fashion but save.
Hello Roger
My stupidity will now show itself. Can I actually download libreoffice. and just park it in my downloads and then only open it when I want to try it in case my other one crashes before my new disc arrives.
Thank you.
This does indeed look good and I may very well download it as well - which I know sounds cookie but if I have a year to run with the purchased product (providing all is well) then if I run this as well and it as good for my purposes, I will continue to use it. Thank you to all of you for your help.
Hi Patsie,
Couldn't agree more with Robert - Open Office (now Libre Office) is free and does virtually the same as Microsoft Office.
Well worth checking out. Try it and simply uninstall it if you don't like it; nothing lost.
http://www.libreoffice.org/
Good Luck.
wow - learn something new every day - obviously I didn't read that news!
Thank you so much Brian I have actually ordered the 1 year licence package for up to 5 computers that I was trialling, from the UK. It will be delivered to me next week via being mailed to my son and then onto me express. I do not like to be dictated to when it comes to purchasing the installation I require by any place, I became very irritated by it all by 12.30 last night and just thought OK bite the bullet buy it outright for yourself.
Well the situation with Microsoft is this: I rang the 0800 number and explained that I believed the problem was that my address for the free package Office 365 premium had not come up. When it came to me subscribing for the monthly rental it does because I have an English bank account with a French address but also have paypal but that Microsoft wants addresses. The lady on the phone said I will put you through to our subscription department, which she did I went through various things with them, did all they said and came back to the same conclusion. Guess what the subscription department is in the Philipines and no one had told me.
I am now going to buy the package from the UK, have it expedited and expedited here. I only need Word 2013, Excel and Power Point for the moment so any ideas before I completely loose it - please let me know. I need to be operating mode English because that is my easiest language to understand and I wish to work at speed not with a dictionary all the time which I have tried for 4 years now.
I haven't used the programme you mention but I have Microsoft office. I bought the software in the UK on Amazon as it was cheaper than in France and installed it on my computer. As for Skype, I downloaded the free version and for Cloud, I use Dropbox, again free.
Hope this helps
Hi Patsie, without having used this system (so apologies in advance for any misunderstanding)
Skype first - it's not one of Microsoft's programmes. In any case, you only need to download the skype software, put some credit on and use the programme. The credit is there for when you need it - skype to skype is free and calls to landlines and mobiles are often much cheaper than other methods. During setup you should be able to choose the language you want to use.
For the rest, it looks to me like the Office suite is able to be used on up to 5 home computers, and you have roaming ability. It's not clear if you still have access to the office software now the monthly rental has finished. But it shouldn't matter where you are, if you have entered into that contract and have been paying rental, you should still have access to what you are renting. I am curious what Microsoft has to say about it. Good luck.
Hi Patsie,
I did a similar thing last year and had Microsoft Office trial version. I simply deleted it and installed Open Office
It has nearly all the features of the microsoft version but it's free....
Not sure what the problem is with Skype it's a free download as well and free to use whenever. I don't personally like it much as it is a bit intrusive. A little like some of the antivirus software, McAffee, Norton etc.
I hope you get on OK...
Why do you want this programme?