Good info. Thanks!
Wow…that’s something to consider. Thanks for the info!
I remember years ago purchasing Office, but then with my laptop/PC, Office was pre-installed and I kind of had to subscribe ($69.99/year is what I pay now).
But I hear that with Windows 11, Office 360 is becoming more intrusive – forcing you to log into your MS account (I use a local account), forcing everything backed up to One Drive (why can’ I choose?!?).
I guess I have some decision-making to do by next year!
I actually think I get a good deal for $70 a year, I get 1 Terabyte on OneDrive, desktop Microsoft Office “rental”. I was paying $40 per year for my task manager alone, RememberTheMilk which is great, but I just felt silly paying for it when I know how to use Outlook Tasks to do the same way, even though it’s not quite as smooth as RememberTheMilk. Also I’ve been fearing that RememberTheMilk might go away someday without warning.
I purchased Microsoft Office Professional 2021 lifetime license in February 2022 from StackSocial and have not had any issues with it.
I have also purchased several other lifetimes licenses from StackSocial, again without problems.
I found that Google does that a lot with things they offer. Reader, Podcasts, Wave, lots of other things Google starts, doesn’t support, then drops.
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You’ve got me thinking on that. I don’t really need MS Office at this point in life. I don’t like One Drive (Dropbox is much better). And I use expansion drives to store files offline.
My subscription ends next Sept, so I have time to consider!!
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If you have any other questions about this please let the good people here know. I am sure someone here will be able to help.
I just found this on Groupon.com and thought you might want to look into it. I have purchased a few things over the years and have not had any negative issues but I have never purchased any software from them.
They have Office 2024 Professional Plus - Lifetime Use for One Windows PC and Office 2024 Home - Lifetime Use for One Mac or Windows PC available.
Office 2024 Lifetime Key for Windows PC or MAC at License Tom LLC
I’ve been on the same $70/yr deal. But I just got an email that on my next renewal, the price will go up to $99.
I have a feeling that it’s funding their stupid AI that I don’t want…
Luckily I have time to look at alternatives to Microsoft Office. I like it at $70…and while $99 isn’t terrible, I’m not sure I really want/need MO anymore.
Comes with free software.
I will take a look at Linux. I guess I’ve always been a bit afraid it might be too technical for me…!
$70 → $99. That’s too bad.
Linux is ok if you want to do simple things, but I find that it becomes complicated - you end up Googling or ChatGPT to find out what you need to type into the command line to install or fix things, and if you don’t know basic Linux commands it will be frustrating. I do know basic Linux so I bluff my way through, but I can see how a non-Linux user would throw up their hands.
I set up my laptop to boot up either as Windows or Linux, I have two computers in one, which is nice.
The free Linux LibreOffice is OK, but I like to use MSFT Excel and Outlook. Outlook is very versatile for handling and viewing to-do lists. These to-do lists I can work with in Linux on the web version of MSFT Tasks, but it’s very crippled compared to the real Outlook.
The computer will still boot up, and run, the issue really is more that the world will slowly leave it behind. software will be made for new operating systems, not old legacy stuff that “shouldn’t be used” anymore.
1: Get a good antivirus - there are free options, do some research. This will be your number 1 priority, as you get left behind off M$'s care, the risk for vulnerabilites will raise. Somewhere online there is a video of an XP machine booting up online for the first time and being overrun with viruses to the point it barely worked within I think 1 hour, but it’s been a LONG time since I’ve seen it… it was fast.
2: if you’re planning a ‘wait and see’ you already see what you’ve got, so if you’re going to wait a year, and have a good antivirus, keep your nose to the ground about stories of Win 10 specific attacks, and once they start to really ramp up, take action.
For companies, the way we log into servers and such, the “upgrades” (service packs) for protection from threats is important, for a regular old computer, you’re far more likely to get caught in a phish than someone just randomly finding your IP address and hacking in, not that it doesn’t happen, I’m saying going with the odds.
Don’t lose sleep over it, you should be able to stretch Win10 for several months, if not maybe up to a couple years. Sorry for the novel of a response!
Microsoft office for the DESKTOP version is available from many places. I use StackSocial.Com. You buy a copy and use it forever. You may pay $35 for versions before this year. For example, MS Office Professional for 2019 is $35 (one time fee).
For about a one-time fee of around $100 at Costco (cheaper hrough Amazon) you buy a multiple terabyte external disk drive, plug it into the USB port on the computer and ‘Bob’s your uncle’ (unless your uncles name is not Bob).
There are other services which will hold your data online if you want for free.
I use Backblaze to store data from my PC. I don’t store operating system stuff, but have massive website copies and tens of thousands of photos and video I have taken. Backblaze stores UNLIMITED files for about $99 a year. I opted for this rather than keep buying disk drives every year or so. Personally I have over 5 terabytes storedd on loine for that $99 a year. If I want I can download a few files or a bunch of files. If I wanted the whole archive, I pay them something like $100. They send a disk with my data, I copy it off and if I retunr the drive within I think it is 30 days, they refund me the $100 minus the shipping cost. So cheap enough!
Maybe it used to be but today it’s easy as pie. I have been running Linux Mint for about 10 years. It looks and feels a lot like Windows 98. In 10 years I can count the number of times I had to use the terminal window (command line) on one hand. You can go to www.pendrivelinux.com and follow the instructions to create a bootable USB. Then you can boot into linux from the USB drive and play around. Then there is an icon on the desktop that say “Install Linux Mint”. One click and it will install on your hard drive if you want it. If you have an older laptop or PC you might want to consider using it as a test sled for Linux. Linux doesn’t run games and it can be clunky getting it to run Windows based software like Quicken. I am not a gamer and I use finance software that is free in Linux (KMy Money). I haven’t had any issues installing external devices like wireless keyboards, printers or usb drives.
This stinks, but it could be an opportunity to get new hardware or jump to a different OS. You can still use the windows 10 past this supported life. It will still work but you are rolling the dice. Operating systems get… funny… after supports ends. I know of systems running XP for years after support and others running 8 or vista breaking within a few months.
But more importantly, this means the end of security updates. If you are using the laptop for sensitive information, it would be wise to switch sooner than later.
Honestly, if you are updating your laptop every time the OS is not longer supported, you have gotten really great life out of the machine. I built my PC in 2016, and I am using this as motivation to build a new one. Hopefully it will last me almost 10 years again.
8 and vista were both dumpster fires from the drop. and in the midwest it was called “weiners visa”, thank you very much LOL
They definitely were. That is why Microsoft gave free upgrades to 10.