I know that this is not really caravanning stuff ... but as I try not to use software that you pay for where there is a free equivalent .... I thought that I might seek your views.
For the past couple of years, rather than spend a couple of hundred of dollars for Microsoft Office, I have been using 'Open Office' for Word processing, Spread sheeting & Presentations (Power Point). Worked well .. No problems.
Heard a segment on radio that suggested that "open Office" had been taken over by someone who was interested in $s rather than the Open Office philosophy .. & suggested Libre as an alternative.
soo ... I downloaded it from documentfoundation.org
seems to work OK.
I will use it for a bit to see how it goes.
Does any one else know much about these programs?
ps .. I also use Mozilla Firefox & Thunderbird, but pay for Kaspersky Security!
Never heard of it before Cupie, might check it out for my daughter though. She has a lappie but no Office on it so it may be helpful, thanks. I use Firefox as well but not heard of Thunderbird.
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I must be a binge thinker. I do it a lot at times, then, not much at all.
I use the Home/Student edition of MS Office 2007 as I need to use Excel regularly. I upgraded from Office 97 and found it had been changed so much I was back on a steep learning curve!
Last time I downloaded Open Office it was free. Both Open office & Libre have an Excel equivalent that open Excel XLS files.
Firefly ..
Thunderbird is Mozilla's Email client. Similar to Microsoft Outlook Express & Windows Live Hotmail.
Download it free from the Mozilla site. 'getthunderbird.com'
It is a PC based program not like web based mail programs like gmail, yahoo & AOL, in that when you use it to check your mail, it downloads all mail that is in your in box, onto your computer. I think that you can set it up to delete the mail on the SP server when it downloads. Mine does.
The advantage is that you can work on the downloaded mail when you are off line. I like PC based programs, it because it is a case of one click & you are in to your mail box.
(If you go the thunderbird way, then you can still use a web based program to access your mail from any other computer .. or your own if you wish)
(ps. I thought that I had posted this thread on the Techo forum .. sorry)
-- Edited by Cupie on Sunday 8th of May 2011 08:39:45 AM
We have long used a free program called Mailwasher.
By using this you first check your mail with it (it can be easilly set to auto check as frequently as you wish).
If you see an email that looks suspect, unexpected attachment, strange sender name etc you can delete the message from your ISP's server without it ever hitting your computer.
Cheers Neil
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Neil & Lynne
Pinjarra
Western Australia
MY23.5 Ford Wildtrak V6 Dual Cab / 21' Silverline 21-65.3
(non-techies just talk amongst yourselves for a while)
I have used Thunderbird and consider much better than Outlook Express. I now use Windows Live Mail. I have my Gmail account set up for IMAP protocol rather than the more usual (for home users anyway) POP3. I have a specific reason for doing this. I found Thunderbird a bit "flaky" as an IMAP client. This is not an issue for the vast majority of home users. I also have a "private" email account that has to be set up as a POP3 client.
(non-techies, you can come back now)
I use Firefox as my web browser.
-- Edited by jimricho on Sunday 8th of May 2011 09:25:24 AM
(non-techies just talk amongst yourselves for a while)
I have used Thunderbird and consider much better than Outlook Express. I now use Windows Live Mail. I have my Gmail account set up for IMAP protocol rather than the more usual (for home users anyway) POP3. I have a specific reason for doing this. I found Thunderbird a bit "flaky" as an IMAP client. This is not an issue for the vast majority of home users. I also have a "private" email account that has to be set up as a POP3 client.
(non-techies, you can come back now)
I use Firefox as my web browser.
-- Edited by jimricho on Sunday 8th of May 2011 09:25:24 AM
Put me in the non techies basket ..
Not knowing the difference between IMAP & POP3, I googled (actually used Ask.com) "what's the difference ...." & got this ..
"The Difference POP3 works by reviewing the inbox on the mail server, and downloading the new messages to your computer. IMAP downloads the headers of the new messages on the server, then retrieves the message you want to read when you click on it.
When using POP3, your mail is stored on your PC. When using IMAP, the mail is stored on the mail server. Unless you copy a message to a Local Folder the messages are never copied to your PC."
IMAP would probably not be relevant to (maybe) any other forum users. I only mention it as my reason for not using Thunderbird, otherwise I think Tbird is an excellent email client. I don't use Mailwasher etc but I always check my emails using webmail before downloading them. I usually "cull" them out there.
Re MS Office... When I was gainfully(?) employed in a previous life I needed to have my own software compatible with work so I used Office 97 and prior to that WordPerfect/Lotus (back in DOS days). That was before Open Office was available. Office 2007 (Home/Student) came with a 3 user licence as part of a package purchase with a new laptop. I haven't used Open Office so I'm not in a position to compare.
Will Open Office continue to be available free to private users? Will free updates continue to be available to existing registered users? If not maybe existing users can continue to use it until it becomes too obsolete to be useful.
My approach is to use a number of Email addresses.
My most used is a private one that I only provide to personal friends & trusted companies like my banker and health society. Have never had junk mail on it.
Then I have a Hotmail account that I give to all organisations who want one like Woolworths, Wow & regular newsletter people like Caravan mags.The strategy is to abandon the hotmail acct if I start getting unwanted junk mail. To date it is no problem as I mark certain senders as 'junk' & they go straight into a junk file. I empty it occasionally.
When I travel overseas, I set up a special hotmail acct & tell only my close family so that I don't have to wade thru the usual joke mails on my personal mailbox. I just get the important family messages on this. Saves on line time where you are paying for time on line.
We're obviously using similar email strategies Cupie. The private email address works well for me too. It keeps any potential nasties and junk away from the important stuff and the address doesn't fall into the hands of spammers, phishers, and address harvesters.
It's important any friends/relies that have access to this address only use it for "one on one" messages and never for anything that might be forwarded on to others such as jokes etc. If they wish send a joke or anything addressed to multiple recipients they should be requested to send them to one's regular email.
The strategy of checking all emails first by logging into one's mailbox(s) via the internet browser (IE, Firefox etc) before opening the email client enables one to check and delete any unwanted and/or "sus" emails without downloading them.
Cupie, you're obviously across all this but I mention these issues for the benefit of others who may be following this thread.
