Posted on 09/03/2008 7:10:22 AM PDT by Veto!
So now you know, I'm a computer idiot. I have a nice new Dell Latitude D830 with XP instead of Vista. Far more computer than I need. Firefox3 keeps offering itself free. Is it a good thing? Should I download? Or will it glitch up my XP?
I only use Word, surf a little, and collect my email.
And I basically hate the new Word too. All I want to do is format manuscript pages easily, but Microsoft wants to make me read 23439 pages of gobbledygook to figure out how to get the thing to stop skipping spaces between paragraphs and obliterating the headers I want. (It's like being required to read the entire repair manual to find the window washer on my car. I don't want to know how it works. I just want to know which button to push.)
Any advice on cutting through the considerable Word krep appreciated too.
(Ms.) Veto! (The poster formerly known as PoisedWoman)
Go for it!
And no, it shouldn't do anything to XP. Now what XP might do to it, I can't say as I run Linux. And BTW: There's absolutely nothing wrong with asking questions.
Amazing. I had the feeling they were congratulating themselves for making the bloody thing unusable to all but themselves and other admirers of self-serving technology. What about those of us who want to just use Word for things unrelated to technology?
If I knew the name, I'd march up and down in front of their building protesting. Word 7 is User Unfriendly. I'm NOT kidding. I've already sent hate mail , but had no one to address it to so never heard back.
The ONLY reason I still use Office (2000) is because Outlook hotsyncs with my Palm. No other Windows available email client does that. If Thunderbird would offer it I’d convert to OpenOffice in a minute.
Thanks. My present Firefox is fine.
What do you think of Chrome?!
Any initial impression(s) you’d care to share?
I took a look at Open Office. All I’d ever use is “Writer.” No spread sheets, no powerpoint, nothing. Is Writer like Word 03?
I like my mac with cheese.
Thanks. Good to know it wouldn’t make everything else crash and burn.
Yeah, OO works more like older versions of Office. I haven’t seen Office 2007 so I don’t know anything about it, but I use Word 2002 and OO Writer is quite similar, similar enough that I don’t have any problems. It’s fairly good at importing and exporting Word’s .doc files, too; not perfect, but it should be good enough unless you’re doing extremely complex formatting.
}:-)4
And another recommendation for Google Chrome browser. Takes a little bit to get used to, but absolutely worth the time.
I also strongly recommend searching for ‘Mike's host’ and downloading and installing it from everythinginst.com. It installs a text file that all web programs search through and wipes out most advertising sites and malware sites. I even use that file on my cell phone.
Bottom line, if you like FF 2, stay with it and go to Tools >> Options >> Advanced >> Update tab and uncheck all 3 boxes there then click ok. The update messages will stop.
As for the new Word, I'd suggest hunting down a copy of Office XP or Office 2003...maybe on eBay? Then uninstall 2007.
Thanks. That's where the laughing comes in, however. Seems that I have to know how to build a computer from the ground up to do those simple tasks--the how-to is buried in interminable language far too technical for me.
I’ve had lots of crashes with Firefox 3. It is nowhere near as stable as v2. I also have WinXP sp2.
I’d recommend sticking with Firefox v2.
Ouch, I may have spoken too soon.
Wasn’t aware of any remaining issues.
You don’t have any of the IE betas installed by chance?
No, I have IE7 installed, but I rarely use it.
It’s slightly different and perhaps less cluttered. I am using Firefox right now. Perhaps the most significant difference is that when you click the “+” at the top of the page it brings up in a gallery view all of the web sites that you have already been on and you merely click on the small picture and the web site comes back up. I don’t believe this is offered in Firefox although I have not explored all of the things it offered.
I switch back and forth and there is always a slight learning curve. Firefox is like a comfortable old pair of shoes and Chrome is a brand new pair right out of the box but it is intuitive enough.
You want Firefox 3 then click Tools | Add-ons and get Adblock Plus, Adblock Filterset.G Updater, and United States English Dictionary.
...for me to poop on.
Look at what $44 will buy.
Look at what is free!
I use FireFox exclusively on all my machines, even my good old, POS government machine.
As for the “buy a mac” comment, that’s just silly. Though, I will say I use Linux on two machines at home and Windows XP on one. Wife has Vista on one, and XP on another machine. We both use FireFox only at home.
I JUST set up version 3 on some of the machines and no problems with it at all.
And for the record, Apple is being idiots with trying to FORCE the stupid Safari browser through itunes and such. I don’t appreciate that at ALL.
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