MS Office in Win 7

[jbm]

I have just bought a used laptop which has been restored to its original
configuration. That is, Windows 7 Home Premium plus a few other
inconsequential programs, and MS Office 2010 Starter, described as "with
reduced functionality".

My desktop came with the same configuration, and before running MS
Office I uninstalled the provided MSO2010S and installed my own copy of
MS Office 2000. This has run perfectly ever since.

So the questions. What is the so called "reduced functionality" of the
installed version of MSO2010S? Is it worth keeping it? Or will I be
better off dumping it and using my own MSO2000?

jim

 

[VanguardLH]

MS Office 2010 Starter, described as "with reduced functionality".
What is the so called "reduced functionality" of the installed
version of MSO2010S?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_2010#Starter_Edition

For me, from the "lacking features" list, I would miss:

SmartArt
Fullscreen viewing
Tracked changes (for collaboration with co-authors)
Combine docs
Macros (only needed at work -- Starter can't be used for business)
Add-ins
Cross references
Footnotes
Captions
Autotext

and especially for the /*omission of Outlook*/. I'd have to go to some
non-Microsoft e-mail client with the loss of Outlook. While there are
other capable e-mail clients available (and free), I still find rules
more robust in Outlook. Of course, requiring Outlook means requiring
Home and Business, or higher, for editions of Office 2010. That I
demand Outlook automatically precludes Start and Home & Student as
viable suites.

 

[Auric__]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_2010#Starter_Edition

For me, from the "lacking features" list, I would miss:

SmartArt
Fullscreen viewing
Tracked changes (for collaboration with co-authors)
Combine docs
Macros (only needed at work -- Starter can't be used for business)

This. Sweet jesus, this.

Add-ins
Cross references
Footnotes
Captions
Autotext

and especially for the /*omission of Outlook*/. I'd have to go to some
non-Microsoft e-mail client with the loss of Outlook. While there are
other capable e-mail clients available (and free), I still find rules
more robust in Outlook. Of course, requiring Outlook means requiring
Home and Business, or higher, for editions of Office 2010. That I
demand Outlook automatically precludes Start and Home & Student as
viable suites.

I hated the advertising that took up a relatively HUGE chunk of screen real
estate.

 

[Six Underground]

I hated the advertising that took up a relatively HUGE chunk of screen real
estate.

Amen. The copy installed on my Toshiba wanted me to work with my
documents in the cloud as well.

My decision to uninstall it was reached after 10 minutes of using it.

Enjoy the day.

6U

 

[VanguardLH]

I hated the advertising that took up a relatively HUGE chunk of screen real
estate.

I didn't specifically mention the adware behavior of the Starter version
as it is mentioned in the wiki article (first sentence in the section
linked to). Below are some Google Images showing the ads:

http://blog.laptopmag.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/MSOfficeStarter-Netbook.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_f4jz4rHCKAs/S8OlahtEr2I/AAAAAAAAACg/AjqEW6v63Yk/s1600/office+startter.png
http://www.softwarecrew.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Excel.png
http://cdn8.everything-microsoft.co.../11/microsoft-office-word-starter-486x416.jpg

Yep, that right-side ad panel certainly consumes a significant chunk of
screen real estate.

 

[Jason]

MS Office 2010 Starter, described as "with reduced functionality".
What is the so called "reduced functionality" of the installed
version of MSO2010S?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_2010#Starter_Edition

For me, from the "lacking features" list, I would miss:

SmartArt
Fullscreen viewing
Tracked changes (for collaboration with co-authors)
Combine docs
Macros (only needed at work -- Starter can't be used for business)
Add-ins
Cross references
Footnotes
Captions
Autotext

and especially for the /*omission of Outlook*/. I'd have to go to some
non-Microsoft e-mail client with the loss of Outlook. While there are
other capable e-mail clients available (and free), I still find rules
more robust in Outlook. Of course, requiring Outlook means requiring
Home and Business, or higher, for editions of Office 2010. That I
demand Outlook automatically precludes Start and Home & Student as
viable suites.[/QUOTE]

Agreed.

 

[Auric__]

I didn't specifically mention the adware behavior of the Starter version
as it is mentioned in the wiki article (first sentence in the section
linked to). Below are some Google Images showing the ads:

http://blog.laptopmag.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/MSOfficeStart
er-Netbook.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_f4jz4rHCKAs/S8OlahtEr2I/AAAAAAAAACg/AjqEW6v63Yk
/s1600/office+startter.png
http://www.softwarecrew.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Excel.png
http://cdn8.everything-microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/microsoft
-office-word-starter-486x416.jpg

Yep, that right-side ad panel certainly consumes a significant chunk of
screen real estate.

It may not bother you, but I use a spreadsheet every work day that has 25
columns, containing things like names, addresses (x2), account numbers, and
other things that aren't necessarily short. In 2007 I may have to scroll to
see all of the columns, but with Starter, there were times where I had to
scroll just to see the complete address (which is roughly center screen in
2007). I ended up removing Starter before I had my tablet a week because I
found it more than a little annoying.

 

[jbm]

I have just bought a used laptop which has been restored to its original
configuration. That is, Windows 7 Home Premium plus a few other
inconsequential programs, and MS Office 2010 Starter, described as "with
reduced functionality".

My desktop came with the same configuration, and before running MS
Office I uninstalled the provided MSO2010S and installed my own copy of
MS Office 2000. This has run perfectly ever since.

So the questions. What is the so called "reduced functionality" of the
installed version of MSO2010S? Is it worth keeping it? Or will I be
better off dumping it and using my own MSO2000?

jim

Thanks folks. The missing Auto Text and Combine Docs will certainly
upset me, so my mind is made up. Dump the new one and use my trusted old
but functional version.

jim

 

[VanguardLH]

It may not bother you,

It DOES bother me. They might as well as shove a fat black area inside
the program's window since they made that space worthless. I do have
some adware on my computer but its ads are subdued. I don't use Avira
because of its splash window on load and popup window on update (which
can be avoided using workarounds but I prefer polite alternatives) so I
use Avast. Both of those are adware but it's not in your face, like
this Office Starter crap.

but I use a spreadsheet every work day that has 25
columns, containing things like names, addresses (x2), account numbers, and
other things that aren't necessarily short. In 2007 I may have to scroll to
see all of the columns, but with Starter, there were times where I had to
scroll just to see the complete address (which is roughly center screen in
2007). I ended up removing Starter before I had my tablet a week because I
found it more than a little annoying.

Presumably you're using Starter at home because: (1) It's not likely
your employer would be having its employees using the Starter version;
and, (2) Microsoft is dumping the Starter edition in the next version of
Office (so there is no future for that edition). I thought it couldn't
be used in a non-business environ but the EULA doesn't say that
(http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13208). So
I'll assume you using this thing at home because it came pre-installed
(bundled) on your pre-built computer. If I had to dig into my own
pocket to buy an office suite, I certainly wouldn't go with the Starter
edition (which you can't buy anyway since it must come pre-installed by
the OEM) or anything below the equivalent of a Pro edition (which
excludes all the Home variants); however, I'd seriously start looking at
freeware suites that were as capable although I'd have to endure another
learning curve.

Unless I can get a legit copy of Office (Pro minimum) for cheap (like
$40, or less, by defining a search at eBay and usually spending many
months waiting for alerts that match by criteria and culling out the
iffy auctions and sellers), I won't waste my personal funds on that
product. Because of my low-cost, must-be-legit criteria, I end up
finding offers that are 2 versions ago and hunting is successful after
around a couple years since the release of the last version. That's
okay since I don't use probably 90% of the functionality in Office.
About 2 years ago, I got a legit non-OEM Office 2003 Pro for $40 with a
stored eBay search, reviewing, and waiting. If that search had yielded
no potential sources to get an older Office suite for cheap, I wouldn't
waste more money on Office and instead I'd go to LibreOffice. Alas, I'd
have to spend some time migrating the macros (luckily only a couple)
along with having to trial several e-mail clients when I switched from
payware to freeware since the LibreOffice suite doesn't have one.

If I had got stuck with the Office Starter edition (very unlikely since
I build my own computers instead of buy pre-builts), it wouldn't take
but a week's use of getting infuriated with the in-your-face ads to
uninstall it, cleanup the remnant file and registry entries, and move to
something free and far more polite.

 

[BillW50]

... I ended up removing Starter before I had my tablet a week because I
found it more than a little annoying.

What kind of tablet do you have?

 

[BillW50]

On 1/12/2013 5:21 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
[...]

(http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13208). So
I'll assume you using this thing at home because it came pre-installed
(bundled) on your pre-built computer. If I had to dig into my own
pocket to buy an office suite, I certainly wouldn't go with the Starter
edition (which you can't buy anyway since it must come pre-installed by
the OEM) or anything below the equivalent of a Pro edition (which
excludes all the Home variants); however, I'd seriously start looking at
freeware suites that were as capable although I'd have to endure another
learning curve.

Actually you can download Microsoft Office Starter for free. Microsoft
used to have it up on their servers, but I can't find any now (I know it
is incompatible with Windows 8, maybe that is why). But you can search
for without quotes for "Microsoft Office Starter download" and lots of
places still has a copy. I mean if you really like that version.

 

[VanguardLH]

Actually you can download Microsoft Office Starter for free. Microsoft
used to have it up on their servers, but I can't find any now (I know it
is incompatible with Windows 8, maybe that is why). But you can search
for without quotes for "Microsoft Office Starter download" and lots of
places still has a copy. I mean if you really like that version.

The license said Starter could only be included as a bundled product by
an OEM on a pre-built computer.

The software license is permanently assigned to the device with
which the software is distributed. That device is the ´licensed
device.¡

This makes it sound like the OEM must bundler Office Starter for users
to get it. There is a *different* portable version: Microsoft Office
2010 Starter To-Go. The license says:

You may install a copy of the software on a removable storage
device for use by the single primary user of the device with which
the software is distributed.

I don't think anyone here thought the discussion was about the portable
USB-based self-install/uninstall version of Starter.

"Take Office Starter with you"
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/starter-help/take-office-starter-with-you-HA010380216.aspx

I did find an example of the Office Starter "download" you mention at:

http://www.downloadcrew.com/article/26083-microsoft_office_starter

Their link offers a 1.6MB download. What you get is Microsoft's
ClicktoRun download manager. When you run it (I did in a virtual
machine running Windows XP), the Name field in the popup dialog says
"Microsoft Office ClicktoRun Bootstrapper". See here for more info:

"An overview of Microsoft Office Click-to-Run for Office 2010"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982434
Click-to-Run delivery is available for Office Home and Student 2010
and Office Home and Business 2010 when downloading direct from
Microsoft, and is also used for Office Starter 2010.

When you run this program, it *installs* on your host. You'll see it
listed under the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel. However,
in my case, it appears pre-configured to install MS Office Starter 2010
except aborts with "This product requires Windows Vista with Service
Pack 1 (SP1) or later operating system." My VM is running Windows XP so
the test failed. I wasn't going to bother installing the crap on my
real host and than have it phuck up my current Office Pro install only
to uninstall Starter and do all the cleanup.

So the Starter downloads are the ClickToRun download managers and can
install Starter (provided you have Vista SP-1 or later) and it comes
from Microsoft. Well, it's Microsoft's license so I suppose they can
choose an alternate distribution channel other than only letting OEMs
bundle Starter on a pre-built computer.

Since Microsoft's EULA says "The software license is permanently
assigned to the device with which the software is distributed." and
since Microsoft is doing the distribution to your host then the license
hasn't been violated. Still, I think most users of Starter got it
bundled on the pre-built computer that the bought. This is the first
time I've even heard of Microsoft's ClicktoRun Bootstrapper download.

If you can endure the in-your-face ads then I suppose Starter 2010 (it
won't be an edition available in later Office versions) is a possible
selection as a "suite" (but this one only has Word and Excel so it's a
"suite" of just 2 products). Still looks like freeware choices are a
better option. For the folks using or installing Starter, how many are
actually using the Excel product? They're probably only using the Word
product in which case another open source freeware choice is Abiword
which looks a lot like Office Word pre-ribbon crap era. LibreOffice and
AbiWord run on Windows & *NIX.

 

[Auric__]

It DOES bother me. They might as well as shove a fat black area inside
the program's window since they made that space worthless. I do have
some adware on my computer but its ads are subdued. I don't use Avira
because of its splash window on load and popup window on update (which
can be avoided using workarounds but I prefer polite alternatives) so I
use Avast. Both of those are adware but it's not in your face, like
this Office Starter crap.

I use AVG. It has popups but they're small and unobtrusive.

Presumably you're using Starter at home because: (1) It's not likely
your employer would be having its employees using the Starter version;
and, (2) Microsoft is dumping the Starter edition in the next version of
Office (so there is no future for that edition). I thought it couldn't
be used in a non-business environ but the EULA doesn't say that
(http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13208). So
I'll assume you using this thing at home because it came pre-installed
(bundled) on your pre-built computer. If I had to dig into my own
pocket to buy an office suite, I certainly wouldn't go with the Starter
edition (which you can't buy anyway since it must come pre-installed by
the OEM) or anything below the equivalent of a Pro edition (which
excludes all the Home variants); however, I'd seriously start looking at
freeware suites that were as capable although I'd have to endure another
learning curve.

It came bundled with my tablet. Bought the tablet for use in my cab,
decided to try using Starter since it was already installed... sigh.

Unless I can get a legit copy of Office (Pro minimum) for cheap (like
$40, or less, by defining a search at eBay and usually spending many
months waiting for alerts that match by criteria and culling out the
iffy auctions and sellers), I won't waste my personal funds on that
product. Because of my low-cost, must-be-legit criteria, I end up
finding offers that are 2 versions ago and hunting is successful after
around a couple years since the release of the last version. That's
okay since I don't use probably 90% of the functionality in Office.
About 2 years ago, I got a legit non-OEM Office 2003 Pro for $40 with a
stored eBay search, reviewing, and waiting. If that search had yielded
no potential sources to get an older Office suite for cheap, I wouldn't
waste more money on Office and instead I'd go to LibreOffice. Alas, I'd
have to spend some time migrating the macros (luckily only a couple)
along with having to trial several e-mail clients when I switched from
payware to freeware since the LibreOffice suite doesn't have one.

I was given a copy of Office 97 by my workplace because I needed it to do
my job. Ditto Office 2000, but different workplace. 2007 I got from my
sister. (She bought 2010 for herself, I got her copy of 2007 as a hand-me-
down.) I DO NOT pay for office software, but I don't like most^H^H^H^H ANY
of the alternatives, and I've tried many of them. (Started on WordPerfect
for Windows (16-bit) in the 90's, moved to MS Office when I got the copy of
97. I try free alternatives as I find them but since I do a lot of VBA
programming, I *always* go back to MS.)

If I had got stuck with the Office Starter edition (very unlikely since
I build my own computers instead of buy pre-builts), it wouldn't take
but a week's use of getting infuriated with the in-your-face ads to
uninstall it, cleanup the remnant file and registry entries, and move to
something free and far more polite.

I would only go to a free alternative if it had something compatible with
VBA. (OpenOffice is SO CLOSE... and yet so far.)

 

[Auric__]

What kind of tablet do you have?

Acer Iconia Tab W500:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_Iconia_Tab#Iconia_Tab_W500

I could've bought one for a lot less, but I like this one. (My #1 requirement
was "runs x86 Windows"; everything else was fluff in my eyes.)

 

[VanguardLH]

I use AVG. It has popups but they're small and unobtrusive.

Seeing any adware popups is shoving the ads in my face and would
immediately qualify that program for termination (removal & cleanup).
Guess I'll never be trialing AVG freeware.

I was given a copy of Office 97 by my workplace because I needed it to do
my job. Ditto Office 2000, but different workplace. 2007 I got from my
sister. (She bought 2010 for herself, I got her copy of 2007 as a hand-me-
down.) I DO NOT pay for office software,

Other than $40 for Office 2003 Pro (which took me about a year of
waiting for the right low price and legit license at eBay but was mostly
automatic with searches saved there with e-mail alerts), I've never paid
for any Windows or Office software. I get them as perks when I hire on
at a new job (I make sure they give me a single license and not slice it
out of the corporate volume license) or at seminars. That's why if I
feel compelled to leave Office 2003 Pro behind that either it was
because the next version was a perk or super cheap; else, I'd go
freeware.

I would only go to a free alternative if it had something compatible with
VBA. (OpenOffice is SO CLOSE... and yet so far.)

I only have 3 macros and they're not long so, for me, rewriting them
wouldn't be such an onus task. Those are to modify some behavior in a
component of Office, not to code an entire project using Word or Excel
as underlying but invisible components in a much larger project. Such a
situation mandates its own requirements, including the presence of
Office. I bet the OP doesn't have any macros.

 

[Auric__]

Seeing any adware popups is shoving the ads in my face and would
immediately qualify that program for termination (removal & cleanup).
Guess I'll never be trialing AVG freeware.

Ah, sorry. I misunderstood. The popups that AVG displays are strictly
informational. Things like finding a virus, updating (sometimes), disabling
or enabling components, etc.

Other than $40 for Office 2003 Pro (which took me about a year of
waiting for the right low price and legit license at eBay but was mostly
automatic with searches saved there with e-mail alerts), I've never paid
for any Windows or Office software. I get them as perks when I hire on
at a new job (I make sure they give me a single license and not slice it
out of the corporate volume license) or at seminars. That's why if I
feel compelled to leave Office 2003 Pro behind that either it was
because the next version was a perk or super cheap; else, I'd go
freeware.

Honestly, the only thing 2007/2010 has over 2003 is the ability to use the
new XML formats (and there may be a plugin or something that allows 2003 to
do docx/xlsx/etc files, I don't know).

I only have 3 macros and they're not long so, for me, rewriting them
wouldn't be such an onus task. Those are to modify some behavior in a
component of Office, not to code an entire project using Word or Excel
as underlying but invisible components in a much larger project. Such a
situation mandates its own requirements, including the presence of
Office. I bet the OP doesn't have any macros.

I don't know. I have about a half-dozen that I use *constantly* -- nothing
that can't be done without macros, but super-convenient shortcuts. The rest
of them are either one-off macros that I've saved "just because" (and are
generally exported out of the VBA editor to text files and removed from the
documents) or less-commonly-used (but far more important) than the rest.

 

[BillW50]

On 1/13/2013 5:17 AM, Auric__ wrote:
[...]

Honestly, the only thing 2007/2010 has over 2003 is the ability to use the
new XML formats (and there may be a plugin or something that allows 2003 to
do docx/xlsx/etc files, I don't know).

Same is true for Office 2000. It might be the same installation that
works for either 2000, XP, and 2003 for all I know.

[...]

I don't know. I have about a half-dozen that I use *constantly* -- nothing
that can't be done without macros, but super-convenient shortcuts. The rest
of them are either one-off macros that I've saved "just because" (and are
generally exported out of the VBA editor to text files and removed from the
documents) or less-commonly-used (but far more important) than the rest.

I too use about a half of dozen macros too. But I would really hate to
manually type them in every time. Maybe nothing fancy to you, but mostly
made to reformat plain text. Like one removed extra spaces and hard
returns from each paragraph. Some indent plain text paragraphs, etc.

I remember following the Works newsgroup for years. Since most of my
machines came with Works, I would use it from time to time for light
duty stuff. And while Works had tons of features, the one thing it
always lacked was macros. Thus why I and many others had used Office
instead for most tasks.

 

[VanguardLH]

Honestly, the only thing 2007/2010 has over 2003 is the ability to use the
new XML formats (and there may be a plugin or something that allows 2003 to
do docx/xlsx/etc files, I don't know).

I don't like the adaptive ribbon interface. If I move to 2007,
Microsoft botches the interface by using it in all components except
Outlook. You end up with a mix of interfaces: old and new. In 2010,
you're stuck with the adaptive ribbon interface in all components.
Unlike for Windows Vista/7, there is no Classic Shell substitute for the
Office interface. So I'm sticking with 2003 for now and a long time.
If 2003 becomes unusable in a later version of Windows then I'm off to
freeware alternatives; however, with Microsoft's decision to integrate a
mobile-centric UI to Windows in their very late struggle to encompass
that market, and since I'm not really that interested in workarounds to
undo their decisions, I might also be leaving Windows.

 

[BillW50]

I don't like the adaptive ribbon interface. If I move to 2007,
Microsoft botches the interface by using it in all components except
Outlook. You end up with a mix of interfaces: old and new. In 2010,
you're stuck with the adaptive ribbon interface in all components.
Unlike for Windows Vista/7, there is no Classic Shell substitute for the
Office interface. So I'm sticking with 2003 for now and a long time.
If 2003 becomes unusable in a later version of Windows then I'm off to
freeware alternatives; however, with Microsoft's decision to integrate a
mobile-centric UI to Windows in their very late struggle to encompass
that market, and since I'm not really that interested in workarounds to
undo their decisions, I might also be leaving Windows.

Ever looked into Kingsoft Office? I have v8 (aka 2012), but I haven't
really used it much to form a good opinion on it yet. I think it costs
like $69 bucks. They have a free version too I think. Kingsoft has
gotten great reviews and it allows switching between ribbon or classic
menus. I have no idea why Microsoft never added such a toggle for their
software. :-(

 

[BillW50]

Acer Iconia Tab W500:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_Iconia_Tab#Iconia_Tab_W500

I could've bought one for a lot less, but I like this one. (My #1 requirement
was "runs x86 Windows"; everything else was fluff in my eyes.)

Wow! That looks like a really respectable tablet. I didn't know about
this one when I was shopping for one. While I have been using tablets
for many years, I never had a Windows based tablet. As I didn't envision
Windows to be very practical in a tablet environment.

But last month, using Windows 8 got me curious about them. So I bought
two Dell Latitude ST w/128GB SSD. They came with Windows 7 Pro. And
Windows 7 isn't as bad as I thought it would be on a tablet. So one I
upgraded to Windows 8 Pro. Now I can compare them side by side.

Those Dells use way under powered Atom Z670 processors. And you have to
have everything tamed down so the CPU isn't maxed out all of the time to
make it usable just for one task. And I was thinking that XP might run
so much better on these machines instead of Windows 7. Although I didn't
know anything about XP Tablet Edition either.

So I had to learn about them, so I bought a couple of Motion Computing
LE1600 tablets with XP installed. One is a digitizer tablet and the
other is a touch screen tablet. I didn't even know the difference until
I started playing around with them. And it is very interesting to learn
the difference. ;-)