michaeloglesby.com

Living without Microsoft

Is there alternatives to Microsoft Office? – September 2005

Background

Microsoft, the biggest computer software company in the world has a big grip on us working people, and most of us don’t even know it. If you use a computer at work (PC or Mac), the chances are that you are using some version of Microsoft Office to complete that work. But what’s the big fuss I hear you ask? Why would you want to use anything different from Office?

Good question I suppose, and I hope to answer it. The main fuss is that I begrudge paying near £500 for a piece of software that feels half complete. You might feel the same way, especially if you are self employed or a home user. IT managers in big Enterprises (business places were there are more than 500 staff) are always looking for ways to reduce expenditure as their budgets are getting smaller and smaller. Think about. £500 per staff member, and you have 500 staff. That’s a cool £250,000 to equip all your staff with MS Office, now things are getting serious. (Figures are generalised by the way)

Hands up those people who are sick to death with the flaws and bugs within the Microsoft Office software? I guess there would be quite a show of hands; I know for one that my hand would be one of them. If people were honest with themselves, I like to think that most users are sick to death of using Microsoft Office, as the suite of applications has got more and more complicated and more complex for its own good. But what are the alternatives? Are there any alternatives? Are the alternatives any better? Luckily for us the answer is ‘Yes’ and that what’s this webpage is all about.

So I’ve set myself a challenge, similar in style to the challenge set in the film ‘Super Size Me‘. Could I live without MS Office software for a working month? Can it be done, or am I so tied to the world of Office, I can’t get out? We have to wait and see…

The setup

Computer: Apple PowerBook running MacOS X.4.2, freshly installed.
Sorry to say to PC readers, but this experiment will be done on a Mac, but I hope that you find some of this information useful. If you want an alternative to MS Office on the PC, I can’t recommend Corel Office enough. Excellent program. Try it…

Software alternatives

The Macintosh version of MS Office is slightly different to the PC version. I have Microsoft Office 2004 Professional for Macintosh, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Entourage and Virtual PC (No MS Access, use FileMaker Pro instead ). I use these applications in my work life more of less every day, obviously some more than others. The applications that I use the most are Entourage (email), Word (word processing) and Virtual PC (emulation software to access work systems that don’t work on a Mac).

I knew more or less straight away that there was no real alternative for Virtual PC and as I need this application for work, there was no choice but to keep it. I have to point out that the Virtual PC product was bought by Microsoft off a company called Connectix, and in some respects Virtual PC it still is a Connectix product, so I knew that I could get away with this one in this experiment (Microsoft only rebranded it). I would promise myself that I wouldn’t use the Office package in VPC.

Luckily there is a Office suite alternative called The Open Office Project. The software, which is available for any platform in one form or another, is free. Top trumps there. The Open Office suite is based on Sun Star Office, and I had some pass experience with this software. There are other alternatives like AppleWorks 6 or iWorks, but these applications are more for the home user and the interoperability (the ability to open and save other native files) wasn’t that great. Open Office, or NeoOffice for the Mac, has better interoperability, which is what I need, especially in my MS Office working environment.

The biggest question on my mind was, which alternative application to use for my email. The Open Office suite does not come with an email package, so the hunt was on to find one. There are quite a few email clients for MacOS X, so I had to find one that would meet my needs. I decided that I’ll try to find an email client that was similar to Entourage; the reason being, I wanted to minimise my learning curve, pure and simple. A good email client is also important, especially in my line of work, where I could be handling a lot of email on a daily basis. The email clients available are:

• Netscape 7 (now discontinued 02/08)
• PowerMail 5
• Eudora 6.2
• Mozilla Thunderbird
• Apple Mail

The email client that I choose was Mozilla Thunderbird. The reasons being:

• Netscape 7 – I didn’t choose this application because it was slow, buggy and generally unusable. Also, the email client is a part of the web browser and I didn’t want another browser on my hard disk. I have had experience of Netscape email and I didn’t like it, so I avoided it.
• PowerMail 5 – Good little email client, but the biggest flaw is that there was no spell checker. Pretty fundamental for me as I can’t spell, so I didn’t install it.
• Eudora – This application just looks ugly, unfriendly and complicated. Not using a single window but multiple windows made me not choose it. I have used Eudora in the pass (version 5) and it doesn’t look much different now.
• Apple Mail – This application was a close second and the reason that I didn’t choose it was it’s quite different to Entourage, whereas Thunderbird was not.

Microsoft also has a Instant Messaging service (MSN) and you use Microsoft Messenger to access it. Luckily, there are quite a few alternative applications for the Mac and I choose Fire (now discounted 02/08) because you can also access the AIM network as well as the MSN network at the same time.

So, armed with NeoOffice, Mozilla Thunderbird and Fire, I was ready for the experiment. So the words of Fox Mulder “Bring it on…”

Diary

Start: 6th Aug 2005
End: 3rd Sept 2005

Day 1 (06/08)
NeoOffice, Thunderbird and Fire are installed; flawlessly. Fire is up, running and connected to both the MSN and AIM networks in less than 5 minutes. 10 more minutes, I have leant the in’s and out’s of the application, and I feel right at home. NeoOffice is considerably different to MS Office. I feel that it might take some time in getting use to this application, for one, it’s a lot slower than Office. Thunderbird is up and it asks me if I want to import from another email client. As this is a fresh install, and there is no Microsoft Entourage installed, I clicked ‘No’. Thunderbird’s set up process is a breeze and I am checking my personal email in less than 5 minutes. I fill in my details for my private email (it’s a Saturday). I also play around with the preferences, learning my way around the program, getting the general feel. Nice application.

A friend has appeared on MSN. I tell him about my experiment. He wishes me good luck but I’m guessing he’s laughing at me. “You will come back to the Darkside.”

The time has come to set up Thunderbird with my work email settings. I’ve hit my first brick wall. Thunderbird doesn’t support multiple identities in the same way as Entouragedoes, oh no?! I’ve already created a new account, filled in most of the information, but it seems that Thunderbird doesn’t support multiple SMTP settings (if it does, I can’t find it nor figure it out). What do I do? I go to the Thunderbird support website, try and find the solution there. Result. You need to create “Profiles”. Great. I try to do the solution with little success. I can’t understand why the Thunderbird application doesn’t support multiple ID profiles, especially as most users have more than one email account these days and Thunderbird is newer application than Entourage. I resist the temptation to go back. I’ll use another email program instead; Apple Mail. Mail also doesn’t handle multiple IDs either. So, in the end I am using two email applications, Thunderbird: personal and Apple Mail: work.

Day 2
It’s a Sunday. I am using Thunderbird nicely for private mail. I’ve had no call to use NeoOffice yet. Using Fire a lot to talk to friends. Things are going great. No Microsoft in sight.

Day 3 (08/08)
Monday, first day back at work, this is it. This is when things can go well or Pete Tong. I get to work, launch Apple Mail and fill in the details. Works fine. Added bonus is that Mail can access my works LDAP service, great (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, basically the email server address book). iCal unfortunately can’t access the Exchange calendar service; typical. The first day at work without Microsoft goes OK. A few teething problems in the email set up, but most of the solutions were trail and error. I am up and emailing at work and not a Microsoft logo in sight.

Day 4
Email is starting to get to me. I am not use to having two email clients to access my email, something needs to be done. I know that Thunderbird can’t do it, so I look for a solution for Apple Mail. I have an epiphany. Apple Mail can have plug-ins. I ‘google’ the term “Apple Mail plug-ins” and the number one result is a website dedicated to Mail plug-ins. I have a look. I smile. There is a plug-in for Mail to handle multiple IDs. I download it and install it. It works and it works well. The plug-in is actually an application that is similar to Entourage. When you launch Mail it asks you which ID you want to use. Can’t get any better than that. After 5 minutes of using it, I make the decision to ditch Thunderbird. It hasn’t meet my needs. Great email client if you just have the one account or don’t mind having multiple accounts forwarding to just the one, but if you have two accounts that has to be kept separate from one another, then Thunderbird is not for you. I transfer all my personal email into Apple Mail, things are going really well now; I’m happy.

Day 5 (10/08)
Using my new found plug-in, I access my work Apple Mail account. Flawless, I am really pleased. I get email with some Word attachments. I save them to the desktop. I tell my Mac to open all MS Office files with NeoOffice. The documents open and I print them off. Printing is slow, put it does work. Sigh of relief. Sent some emails to fellow colleagues with attachments but there are a few teething problems. It seems that the receiver isn’t receiving the attachments the same way I send them. Need to investigate this one when I have a spare few minutes.

Day 6
I am really starting to miss Entourage now. I can’t believe that I am feeling the lost for a software application. Sure, there a few problems with Apple Mail, but there also a few problems with Entourage. Why am I missing it? No idea. Is it the sense of security with the application? Is it because I feel safe with the program? Is it because I have used Entourage for so long; yes I know the flaws, but also I know the work around for those flaws? I just feel deep down that I can do my job better with Entourage.

I think the main reason is, I am using something new and it doesn’t feel safe. There is a sense of fear there. I fear that I might do something wrong with Apple Mail and embarrass myself. It does feel strange not having Microsoft products on my computer, and I do feel awkward because I don’t want to turn around to a work colleague and say ” I can’t do that, I don’t have Word” or, if I do try and do a certain task in NeoOffice, NeoOffice won’t be able to do it. My work colleague tells me to stick with the experiment. “Cowboy up son!” He’s right. It hasn’t even been a week and I am getting withdrawal symptoms; how bad is that? I need more time to figure out why I am getting upset with not using Office products…

Day 7 (12/08)
My first working week is over. I would lying if I said is was smooth sailing. It was certainly different. I am still missing Entourage in a big way. I have been thinking about this all day, with no real conclusions. I have also spoken to fellow work colleagues about it, again with no real conclusions. Although I don’t miss the other Office applications (Word, Excel etc), I am burning a candle for Entourage. Thinking about it, I have been using a version of that application since 1999, when Outlook Express 4.5 came out for the Mac. That’s 6 years. It’s like a long term love relationship, and the sudden break from Entoruage feels like a ‘break up’. I know this sounds stupid, but I am trying to express in words the emotion that I am feeling. Maybe this will wear off next week, we have to wait.

Got a PowerPoint file today on the email and NeoOffice opened it no problem. I wouldn’t say though that it displayed it correctly as the original author intended, but you could see the content, and that’s what matters. A part from that, another normal day at work.

Day 10 (15/08)
Second week at work without Microsoft. I was asked today to insert a JPEG image into a Word document. I opened NeoOffice and used the import and image command, save it, but unfortunately, the save did not work. The application did warn that the resulting file might not open. It did open, but with no image. Hmm…

It seems that NeoOffice needs some more work doing, especially if it can’t do a simple thing as import a JPEG image. In the end, I just simply sent to work colleague the JPEG to embed; he uses Word.

I regret to inform you that this is now the end of the experiment, not because I want to go back to Office, but due to other work commitments, I have no other choice. It seems that I am moving job position and the new work position requires that I use a PC with IE 5.5. and MS Office installed.

Conclusions

I would be lying if I said that the last 10 days without Office was easy, quite the opposite actually. Making the move away from Office was not easy, purely for the simple reason, everyone else uses it; so I knew I was going against the tide. Being without Entourage has been a killer. Not being fully compliant within the office environment has sent a sense a fear in me. I know that I use a Macintosh but I’ve always had the added security that I’ve had MS Office installed.

It’s a scary thought that we, as a user, have such a dependency on the Office suite. I spent 10 days without it and I found it a struggle. I have a feeling that I was ‘locked in’, with no real path of escape. Yes, there are alternatives for Office, but the choice of alternatives are very limiting on the Mac platform. On the PC, the choice is far greater. You have applications such as Corel Office and Lotus Office, two commerical products that offer a good path of escape. But unfortunately, for us Mac users, we don’t.

Us Mac users do have a few options though. One, take it on the chin and buy Office, and forfeit the mortgage for the month. Two, grip your teeth and use NeoOffice or three, grit your teeth even more and try and use AppleWorks or iWorks. I can’t help feel that Apple could take most of the blame here. It seems that Apple did have a good Office suite (AppleWorks), but Apple haven’t updated this application in years and it’s sadly dying a slow death. Apple are releasing office applications such as Keynote and Pages, but it seems they are doing too little too late.

Lucky for me, I’ve got a work licence of Office, but if I was a freelancer, I would try and a locate a cheap copy of Office, either off eBay, or a very old version, like Office 98.

It feels that because Microsoft have the market share for the Office product, they can charge pretty much what they want, because they know, we will pay for it. The only way to combat this is a ‘user en mass’ switch to another office product, forcing Microsoft to reduce their prices. You think that a multi-billion dollar enterprise such as Microsoft, they would offer Office at a bargain price, or better still, free. But you know what they say, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.