buy windows 7 & microsoft office cheap??

whatlliwear

I bought a reconditioned laptop but it didn't come with either..
Can anyone offer some advice on where I can buy these cheaply?
My friend also needs them so maybe we could go halves & share? Is that even possible? Apologies but I'm clueless. Any advice would really be appreciated.

harney

Not really open source, is it?

Are you a student? Some 3rd level institutions offer it for free.

AnCatDubh

maybe try openoffice.org

open source, free to download and use.

PogMoThoin

whatlliwear wrote: »

I bought a reconditioned laptop but it didn't come with either..
Can anyone offer some advice on where I can buy these cheaply?
My friend also needs them so maybe we could go halves & share? Is that even possible? Apologies but I'm clueless. Any advice would really be appreciated.

You pulling the piss?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source

There are plenty of free alternatives here: http://distrowatch.com/

the_syco

whatlliwear wrote: »

IAny advice would really be appreciated.

What would you be using the laptop for? If only browsing the internet, get Knoppix, and install OpenOffice.Org onto it.

Johnboy1951

whatlliwear wrote: »

I bought a reconditioned laptop but it didn't come with either..
Can anyone offer some advice on where I can buy these cheaply?
My friend also needs them so maybe we could go halves & share? Is that even possible? Apologies but I'm clueless. Any advice would really be appreciated.

Install LibreOffice or Open Office and share it with however many people you wish!

croo

I think this question would be better in the windows section... I'll move it there.

Capt'n Midnight

harney wrote: »

Not really open source, is it?

Are you a student? Some 3rd level institutions offer it for free.

name one.

AFAIK here in Ireland all you get is the option for a discount on an Upgrade version of windows, so no use unless the laptop already has a license, and no use on anyother computer afterwards since upgrade and only licesnsed for students and families for non-commercial use


If it's a Dell laptop you can look up the service tag on line to see which version of windows it was shipped with.

have you checked the bottom of the laptop for a windows license sticker - if it has one then all you need is the media for a reinstall.

you said recondigioned, and not secondhand so I assume you bought it from a company , did they clearly state it would come with no software ?

BTW since a new laptop with windows can be picked up for three hundred odd in your local Tesco you don't want to see the price of a retail copy of microsoft office. Openoffice is a no-brainer (version 3.5 is due out any day now)

It may prove cheaper to sell the laptop and buy an entry level one with preinstalled software than paying retail price for windows

forget the on line sites offering windows for €30 , all fraud with volume license keys that could be revoked anytime by M$


If you truly have a budget of zero for software then I'd advise not to get knoppix, as patching it with apt-get update will break it in strange and interesting ways, if it ever boots up after it (not patching means possible security holes) . Get Ubuntu 10.04 or Mint You can get ununtu 11.x or wait for 12.04 but they've completely jumped the shark with the user interface IMHO. (yet to meet a techie that didn't recoil in horror when the implications sunk in)

Fysh

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

If you truly have a budget of zero for software then I'd advise not to get knoppix, as patching it with apt-get update will break it in strange and interesting ways, if it ever boots up after it (not patching means possible security holes) . Get Ubuntu 10.04 or Mint You can get ununtu 11.x or wait for 12.04 but they've completely jumped the shark with the user interface IMHO. (yet to meet a techie that didn't recoil in horror when the implications sunk in)

Heh, Ubuntu and Fedora have both done a bit of a UI stinker at the same time, what with Unity and Gnome 3. (Though in saying that, Gnome 3 is quite nice if you're using it on a TV media centre box...just woeful at the desktop).

Xubuntu might be an option, given that XFCE seems to be one of the last remaining holdouts for those of us who don't want to see our UI pointlessly overhauled with unnecessary nonsense every couple of years.

Johnboy1951

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

name one.

AFAIK here in Ireland all you get is the option for a discount on an Upgrade version of windows, so no use unless the laptop already has a license, and no use on anyother computer afterwards since upgrade and only licesnsed for students and families for non-commercial use
......

Rather than name any institution, I would like to say that my daughter, who is a 3rd level student, had access through her college, to various pieces of MS software, including a choice of OS versions.

I believe though that the free software is dependent on the course being taken.
If the course is technology related then software will be made available ..... and I think the range available is tailored to the course.

Fysh

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Rather than name any institution, I would like to say that my daughter, who is a 3rd level student, had access through her college, to various pieces of MS software, including a choice of OS versions.

I believe though that the free software is dependent on the course being taken.
If the course is technology related then software will be made available ..... and I think the range available is tailored to the course.

Some computer science courses will, for the duration of the course and with very restrictive terms (eg you are legally obligated to uninstall the software at the end of your course, including Windows itself if you avail of it), provide limited access to Technet for students. It's usually geared more towards the current version of Visual Studio or Windows Server than the desktop/consumer version of Windows, but depending on the institution those may also be available.

That should not be in any way interpreted as "being given a free copy of Windows" - it's more like being provided with an extended loan. If you continue using it beyond the time during which you're at the institution, you're in breach of the licence and these days such licences are usually tethered using a KMS activation mechanism that requires reactivating every six months by connecting to the network with a valid username/password, such that even if you choose to breach the licence you won't be able to do so.

Overheal

You can simply use Open or Libre office. I do prefer MSO myself but then it's for the Skydrive integration and the other online resources. The inclusion of all the MLA and APA standards that I need to use helps a lot also. On the whole though they've done a lot to the 2010 to make it worth the while.

Capt'n Midnight

Overheal wrote: »

You can simply use Open or Libre office. I do prefer MSO myself but then it's for the Skydrive integration and the other online resources. The inclusion of all the MLA and APA standards that I need to use helps a lot also. On the whole though they've done a lot to the 2010 to make it worth the while.

don't forget the OP has a reconditioned laptop

harney

Fysh wrote: »

Some computer science courses will, for the duration of the course and with very restrictive terms (eg you are legally obligated to uninstall the software at the end of your course, including Windows itself if you avail of it), provide limited access to Technet for students. It's usually geared more towards the current version of Visual Studio or Windows Server than the desktop/consumer version of Windows, but depending on the institution those may also be available.

That should not be in any way interpreted as "being given a free copy of Windows" - it's more like being provided with an extended loan. If you continue using it beyond the time during which you're at the institution, you're in breach of the licence and these days such licences are usually tethered using a KMS activation mechanism that requires reactivating every six months by connecting to the network with a valid username/password, such that even if you choose to breach the licence you won't be able to do so.

The caveat I will offer up is that I got my licenses while studying in the UK.

The Microsoft license explicitly stated you did NOT have to uninstall the software after leaving university. It also stated you COULD use the software for commercial use. At the time I was taking a computer science course.

It was around 2008, and I think the precursor to this site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DreamWorks which appears to be available to Irish Universities.

It looks like Windows 7 is not included here, although certain universities may have extra / other options.

I've been told Trinity had a Microsoft education access site which gave access to most software.

Office was never a free option, just the OS and developer tools.