What version of office to buy???

theyearof2010

Just wondering what version of office do they use in tcd? Is it 03,07, 10?

If they use 07 would it in anyway disadvantage me if I purchase office 10 only laptop?

gearoidof

You can use open office or google docs for free, some courses let you download office for free.

.doc is the extension of files, which is the 03 standard.
But you can save .doc's using newer versions too.

snappieT

theyearof2010 wrote: »

Just wondering what version of office do they use in tcd? Is it 03,07, 10?

If they use 07 would it in anyway disadvantage me if I purchase office 10 only laptop?

In general, you just need to submit in a format that lecturers can read, so docx is fine. Office 07 or 10 will do this for you.

By all means, give OpenOffice a shot as has been suggested, but I think it's unusable muck, and useless when you need to actually get something done.

Jammyc

I find open office word is fine. Just the open office version of excel is awful.

Anyone know of any good (free) alternatives? Just need it for plotting graphs, getting slopes of best fit lines etc.

evercloserunion

Just note that with OpenOffice there are minor format incompatibility issues. That is, you can work with the same documents in both programs, but if you edit it in OpenOffice and open it up in Word the format might be a bit messed up, and vice versa. So if (for example) you're emailing a .doc to someone, don't send it straight from OpenOffice, you'll have to edit it in Word first to clean up the format. If you're printing it off directly from OpenOffice, like if you have a printer at home then you should be fine.

Other than that OpenOffice is fine, certainly not unusable muck (IMO).

Kwekubo

I survived for two years with OpenOffice.org, but the slight incompatibilities were annoying, so I gave in. If you're going for Office, be sure to get the Professional and Academic version (not Home and Student). It's cheaper and you get the full suite of applications.

andrew

Jammyc wrote: »

I find open office word is fine. Just the open office version of excel is awful.

Anyone know of any good (free) alternatives? Just need it for plotting graphs, getting slopes of best fit lines etc.

Gnumeric is good, I used it for a stats assignment so it should have everything you need. You can get it here, though I'm not sure how good the Windows version is.

Jev/N

OpenOffice etc. are good but in the long run there are the odd few bits missing which can be annoying...

http://www.software4students.ie/ is a great site for cheap(ish) Office deals.

Also, I wouldn't submit anything to anyone in docx format, just in case. Preferably use PDF for everything, you can get a free converter online if you're not on a Mac.

blubloblu

I'd personally recommend OpenOffice, but if you want to buy MS Office, you can get the complete package for €65 from various students resellers such as Software4Students.ie or by download from Microsoft themselves

andrew

blubloblu wrote: »

I'd personally recommend OpenOffice, but if you want to buy MS Office, you can get the complete package for €65 from various students resellers such as Software4Students.ie or by download from Microsoft themselves

Am I the only one who thought that the link to the website in your sig was for some sort of racist site? :P

blubloblu

andrew wrote: »

Am I the only one who thought that the link to the website in your sig was for some sort of racist site? :P

Pluralization changes everything.

Groinshot

Jammyc wrote: »

I find open office word is fine. Just the open office version of excel is awful.

Anyone know of any good (free) alternatives? Just need it for plotting graphs, getting slopes of best fit lines etc.

Google docs- you get an account with your college mail. Also, what course are you doing? if you have axx to the CSC computers, you can get free MSDN software..