Question Can I buy a laptop with word processing to use offline and WITHOUT any Microsoft products?

[DoubtingThomasina]

Hi, this may be weedy as can be, but I'll try to be clear. I posted in this forum in August about how Word completely disappeared from my system; it never came back, MS issued a ticket and then ignored my emails, and now, Excel has done the same thing. And I'm not the only one this stuff is happening to. So I want to start moving away from MS because it's no accident, and for other reasons as well, I have been thinking about getting a laptop without any online access, just a decent WP program for my own private work, if it wasn't for all the paper, I swear I'd go back to an electronic typewriter if they still have them. Is something that basic, a laptop with no Internet capability but a good WP program, a thing? Price is a consideration, especially since I figure I'm going to have to start migrating to Apple for all of my needs, because I'm NOT going to be railroaded into paying for a 365 subscription from people who are ripping me off, but I really need this now -- I don't want a piece of junk, but I also don't want to buy the proverbial Porsche just to drive it to church on Sunday, you know? I need the advice of experts who aren't trying to sell me anything -- can you help? Thanks!

 

[USAFRet]

LibreOffice
Free, open source.

Home | LibreOffice - Free and private office suite - Based on OpenOffice - Compatible with Microsoft

Free office suite – the evolution of OpenOffice. Compatible with Microsoft .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx. Updated regularly, community powered.

www.libreoffice.org

 

[DoubtingThomasina]

Hi, thanks, I remember you from the thread I posted in August, I just don't trust freeware. There was one file on Excel that would have been a major loss, and I was able to open it with Adobe Acrobat, which MS downloaded on my PC while I was trying to find a solution to the Word thing, and it uploaded it to the Cloud, which I DESPISE, and now, I can't save the file to my hard disk without paying for Adobe, see what I mean? Other stuff I opened on Word Pad, but I really want a system with NO Internet access, where I can start fresh, and where I can be sure that something random I wrote in Word didn't all of a sudden show up on a bunch of YouTube videos on My Vizio TV, you know?

 

[USAFRet]

Hi, thanks, I remember you from the thread I posted in August, I just don't trust freeware. There was one file on Excel that would have been a major loss, and I was able to open it with Adobe Acrobat, which MS downloaded on my PC while I was trying to find a solution to the Word thing, and it uploaded it to the Cloud, which I DESPISE, and now, I can't save the file to my hard disk without paying for Adobe, see what I mean? Other stuff I opened on Word Pad, but I really want a system with NO Internet access, where I can start fresh, and where I can be sure that something random I wrote in Word didn't all of a sudden show up on a bunch of YouTube videos on My Vizio TV, you know?

I use LibreOffice extensively on my secondary systems.
If I did not get MS Office cheap from my employer, and I didn't have to keep current with using it...I would be using LibreOffice exclusively.

For an Office suite...the 2 main options are MS Office (Word), and LibreOffice.

Word or Adobe saving something to "the cloud" is not really a normal thing.
I created a Word doc this AM, and saved locally on one of my internal drives. No problem.

 

[DoubtingThomasina]

I'm happy for you, but my Excel file that I managed to open on Acrobat clearly says it is saved to the cloud, and when you click on the thing saying you want to save it to your system, you get three big lozenges with different prices in them asking you to pick which one you want to sign up for so you'll be able to do it. I'm not an idiot, and I'm not looking for a laptop that uses MS, I want to start migrating toward Apple if I have to, I just want to start simply, but I think in a society where "Alexa, scratch my behind" is becoming the standard for life, I may come off as quaint for starters, and ridiculously backward at worst, but I've always believed in using tech, not having tech use me. If anyone wants to help, I'm grateful, but do remember that many people who can repair and rebuild washing machines often go around with red underwear because they don't know how to do a wash.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm happy for you, but my Excel file that I managed to open on Acrobat clearly says it is saved to the cloud, and when you click on the thing saying you want to save it to your system, you get three big lozenges with different prices in them asking you to pick which one you want to sign up for so you'll be able to do it. I'm not an idiot, and I'm not looking for a laptop that uses MS, I want to start migrating toward Apple if I have to, I just want to start simply, but I think in a society where "Alexa, scratch my behind" is becoming the standard for life, I may come off as quaint for starters, and ridiculously backward at worst, but I've always believed in using tech, not having tech use me. If anyone wants to help, I'm grateful, but do remember that many people who can repair and rebuild washing machines often go around with red underwear because they don't know how to do a wash.

If anything, Apple is more "cloudish" than Microsoft.

A laptop, running Linux, and using LibreOffice, needs zero cloud or internet access.

But if you are shy of "freeware", then I'm not sure what to recommend.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm happy for you, but my Excel file that I managed to open on Acrobat

Why were you opening an Excel file in Acrobat?

 

[DoubtingThomasina]

Someone told me that I could get an Apple laptop or a Mac with Apple's WP software preloaded as part of the purchase, so I would not have to go online to download anything. It was a casual conversation, so I didn't know if it was true, I would still work off of my current desktop PC for online work while I figure out how I'm going to redo my computing life, because I am, but I would be able to write freely and in peace with the new stuff. I didn't know if there was something similar that you folks would know about. I don't have an Apple store by me, and even if I did, like I said, I don't want the song and dance.
I actually wrote about computers professionally for almost 10 years starting when PCs did, and while the tech has changed, the tech companies, and then the biggest, baddest wolf was IBM, always wrapped people around their little fingers trying to sell them stuff to make them feel superior and "in the know" -- that hasn't changed. When you've had guys trying to impress you because they had an AT Key, you don't grow up dying to hear what the folks at the Genius Bar have to say. Thanks anyway.

 

[DoubtingThomasina]

Why were you opening an Excel file in Acrobat?

Because as I said, Excel just disappeared off my system like word did, so when I clicked on the file, it said, what do you want to use to open this, and it had Acrobat, so I clicked on it, and it opened it, and when I went to check and see if I could save it as a .pdf, I couldn't find anything, then i saw it said it was saved to the cloud, so then I swore, and I tried to save it to my system, and got what I told you. I'm not the tin hat sort by any stretch, but there are a lot of dots that are starting to connect here, and I don't think a lot of this would make sense to computer people, because it's beyond the pale. One poor guy who posted on the MS forum has a business with like 2000 computers and a number of them lost Excel like I did, and he got the same thing I did with the ticket from support, and then nothing else. And the only advice the MS experts are giving is to go to that link to restore all of these 2019, 2021 versions, and when you click, it offers you Microsoft 365. Just saying...

 

[lvt]

I've worked with OpenOffice for many years and I liked it.

The best scenario for you could be a laptop with Windows 10 and OpenOffice.

Both are free.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I doubt you'd be able to find a system these days that does not have Internet access. Pretty sure most every software application needs Internet access these days; even if just to "call home" and check for updates.

The last MS Office product I purchased was Office 2007. When MS started pushing me to upgrade to Office 2013, I decided to make a switch and moved to OpenOffice. Completely free and no issues with any of my documents/spreadsheets. Then, for reasons I don't recall, I switched over to LibreOffice around 2018. Also completely free and still no issues with any of my documents/spreadsheets.

I have been using it exclusively since then and everything is saved to my system.

-Wolf sends

 

[DoubtingThomasina]

Thank you both for your help, but I think the big tech stranglehold has gotten so powerful that even people with modest requirements for computing no longer have control over their own home set ups. Understand, I don't doubt the efficacy of the freeware you all have recommended, but I'm not only concerned with the security of this stuff (I may have a different definition of privacy than most today, it's revealed itself elsewhere, plus it's not really free, somewhere, someone is making something off people downloading it and using it, and it's not to the advantage of the user), but to my mind, it's like sneaking around Microsoft, and I've gotten very tired of being bullied by maniacs.

I'm not a Luddite, but I see where we are and where we are going, and it's dangerous. Remember I, and others, paid to use, in my case, Office 2019, but forces beyond my control are ripping out entire applications to force me elsewhere, that's a mob tactic, and it's not just happening to me. But no one seems to be very outraged; I don't mean just here, but I find it extraordinary that we live in an age where people get hysterical about things that aren't the least bit harmful, yet walk right into the blades of Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, thinking it makes them special.

Forgive me, rainy Sunday morning, again, thank you all, and Happy Halloween!

 

[Grobe]

I posted in this forum in August about how Word completely disappeared from my system; it never came back, MS issued a ticket and then ignored my emails, and now, Excel has done the same thing.

But by using Windows OS, you have to give your trust to Microsoft

I need the advice of experts who aren't trying to sell me anything

I just don't trust freeware.

This I think make it hard for anyone to make any help, one reason is I cannot understand what your goal is. Why do you think that any subscription software is more trustworthy compared to open source?

You asked for an "experts advice", and frankly the guys that have being lurking around does know what they're talking about and doesn't get paid from any company to provide the answers for novice users (not as I know at least). Soo, by rejecting the advice from actual experts, I truly don't know how to help on this matter.

What I can say is that I've being using LibO for many years now, and there is absolutely no reason to think this particular software suite somehow isn't safe. Being a user of both software packages (have to use MS Office at work), my personal opinion is that Libre Office is better. But if you somehow are convinced that Open source software are less trustworthy without any solid/valid arguments, why asking this in the first place? If this untrustworthyness of open source, you should have told so in the first post, and asked for only paid alternatives - thought I believe you'd be asked this question still but at least you made your standpoint known from the beginning.

 

[DoubtingThomasina]

Understand, I'm not questioning anyone's expertise, I came here looking for answers beyond my ken, so the very action implies that I am looking to people who know more than I do. The difference for me is that when I do business with Microsoft, I know I am doing business with Microsoft, I make a choice, even if it isn't the kind of choice I want to make, they're not claiming to be giving me anything for free. I've found that most of the people I encounter don't get upset about motive, and believe the end justifies the means, but I do, and I don't! A big focus of my work back when knighthood was in flower was on security and backup, and I am very attuned to that still, companies are asking people to put their socials on the Internet or to email documents with sensitive info and I think that's crazy. And very anecdotally, when you write in your private notes on your computer that you need to remember to buy stuff to make a certain dish, and all of a sudden, YouTube videos are coming up on your TV showing people making that dish, it is VERY disconcerting. Also, and this is NOT a reflection on ANYONE who has helped me here, but I have found that on both forums and comment sections of newspapers, paid shills ranging from political candidates to retail chains to the nursing and care home industries come on like they're just regular users and will fight anyone who expresses an opinion that deviates from their corporate line, and they're all so stupid that they use the same boilerplate malarkey in different forums! So think of it this way, just because I am very wary of walking down a dark street doesn't mean I think everyone I encounter is a mugger. So no, I am not discounting anyone's advice or experience as offered, but I also don't say, oh, OK, problem solved. I have a lot to consider.

I asked an open ended question because that's how you get the greatest variety of advice and perspectives; There could be users in this forum who have other opinions, experiences or advice to offer; I would hope so, just because only one informed opinion on any subject equals the end of any society or culture (oops.) Maybe they don't want to disagree with the prevailing opinion; I have found over the years that people would rather die than express a differing opinion in a forum they frequent, and I'm a stranger here myself, who's going to risk that for me? Please don't construe my wanting to get a variety of opinions, and my failure to just do as I'm told as ingratitude or a knock on the expertise offered here. Perhaps I should just go back to using a typewriter -- anyone have Eddie Vedder's phone number???

 

[Grobe]

I asked an open ended question because that's how you get the greatest variety of advice and perspectives

You got mine at least.

There could be users in this forum who have other opinions, experiences or advice to offer

Yes. But your question is very generic and don't specify what you're using the Office package to (other than being able to work on an offline computer, and now we also know that you only accept office suites that must be paid to use). If you're more specific, there is a chance you get more specific answers.
Actually there is another thing. The request for an office suite that must be paid for and also should work offline (assume you mean to install it offline) is quite hard to get in the first place, because usually a software package that you have to pay for have a tendency to call home (via internet) to verify that the license key is valid.

Perhaps I should just go back to using a typewriter

Why not? The only way you can be hacked is by an actual woodpecker. And every backup copy you have to type out manually.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

If you're that afraid of the world at large then simply disable all network adapters and use either Notepad or Wordpad.

 

[DoubtingThomasina]

Why not? The only way you can be hacked is by an actual woodpecker. And every backup copy you have to type out manually.

My printer prints out stuff from the glass, so I don't have to type out backup, it acts like a thing called a copy machine!! And I thought I made it clear from what I wrote so many posts ago, "Someone told me that I could get an Apple laptop or a Mac with Apple's WP software preloaded as part of the purchase, so I would not have to go online to download anything. It was a casual conversation, so I didn't know if it was true, I would still work off of my current desktop PC for online work while I figure out how I'm going to redo my computing life, because I am, but I would be able to write freely and in peace with the new stuff. I didn't know if there was something similar that you folks would know about. I don't have an Apple store by me, and even if I did, like I said, I don't want the song and dance." I just wanted to be able to write in peace without having to worry about outside interference or some bloated, full-of-itself tech giant deleting apps I paid for outright to try and rip me off some more. Having to dance with the devil from a distance is no fun, but is a lot better than getting on your knees in front of him.

 

[DoubtingThomasina]

If you're that afraid of the world at large then simply disable all network adapters and use either Notepad or Wordpad.

You're a MODERATOR? Good thing, otherwise, a post like that would be deleted for being nasty, angry and dismissive.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

You're a MODERATOR? Good thing, otherwise, a post like that would be deleted for being nasty, angry and dismissive.

Well, you don't want the internet active, you don't want to use paid or free software so what's left?

 

[DoubtingThomasina]

Why not? The only way you can be hacked is by an actual woodpecker. And every backup copy you have to type out manually.

Well, you don't want the internet active, you don't want to use paid or free software so what's left?

Civility, kindness, maturity are a few choices, but at the least, howsabout reading comprehension? Fair play if you don't get something, we all can't be all things to all people, but don't presume to answer a question you don't understand, and then insult the poster in the process.

And Grobe, I don't know why your quote attached here, but forgive it, see, I'm an absolute MENACE on the Internet!!

 

[USAFRet]

With the replies and suggestions given, and your rejection of them....it is difficult to understand what the "question" actually is/was.

 

[Rokinamerica]

You're a MODERATOR? Good thing, otherwise, a post like that would be deleted for being nasty, angry and dismissive.

I see nothing nasty, angry or dismissive. Based on your own posts in this thread, it seems exactly the only way for you to accomplish what you want with what is available.

 

[DSzymborski]

Civility, kindness, maturity are a few choices, but at the least, howsabout reading comprehension? Fair play if you don't get something, we all can't be all things to all people, but don't presume to answer a question you don't understand, and then insult the poster in the process.

And Grobe, I don't know why your quote attached here, but forgive it, see, I'm an absolute MENACE on the Internet!!

Don't presume that we don't understand the question.

If you didn't like that completely anodyne reply earlier, you're certainly not going to like this one. You've presented us with multiple far-fetched conspiratorial scenarios, combined with a complete refusal to explore user error. We see a lot of things like this here, and frankly, in almost all of these cases, it's not the fault of some grand, shadowy corporate conspiracy, but simple user error. To use your terminology here, *you're* the "red underwear guy" in this discussion. We fix things here and every mod basically has decades of experience, some going back to the dawn of home computing, and we have a damn good record of doing just that.

You also asked for an odd recommendation for software that is neither corporate *nor* freeware, basically asking us for software that isn't open source but also not good enough to charge much for.

To even start to address your problems in any kind of practical way that has any chance of resolving your issue, we need to start over at the very beginning of your problem. I'm still not the least bit convinced you even had a legal key for this software; that you had a key doesn't mean anything, and employees of big box stores are just as prone as anyone else to cheaply cutting these corners and using gray market keys subject to blacklisting. Of the myriad reasons for the behaviors you've described, Microsoft deviously deleting your software is *way* down the probability list. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

 

[bignastyid]

Thread closed

 

[4745454b]

You seem to be upset with people, so I'm sorry if my words aren't to your liking. Please understand we are trying to help, not attack you. Breathe.

As mentioned above, Switching to Apple is probably not the best choice. With their backups and cloud storage, storing locally could be harder than you think. I'm also unsure exactly what office software you want. There aren't a lot of options. MS office is the most popular, Libre and Open office are the next two I can think of. I use the latter two simply because they are free don't cost anything. But you said "it's not really free, somewhere, someone is making something off people downloading it and using it, and it's not to the advantage of the user)" So I'm sorry, but we are confused by exactly what you want.

Going from your OP, it seems you want to buy a laptop and not connect it to the net, and come preinstalled with office software. (This is where my words will seem harsh to you, again, I'm sorry.) Do you want a solution to be spoon fed to you? If you search on Amazon you can look for laptops that come with Linux. Here is a random one I found.

Amazon.com

Comes with Linux Mint 19.3. According to this review, that software comes with tools preloaded so you should have office and image software already on it.

Linux Mint 19.3 is here and better than ever

The easiest and best Linux desktop had a new long-term support release during the holidays. Here's what's new and neat in this latest version.

www.zdnet.com

Feel free to look around Amazon or your favorite place and look for something that fits your needs and budget. I'm a windows user so I have no first hand knowledge on these laptops. My uncle uses a Dell XPS with Linux. It's my understanding you can order any of those with Linux pre installed. They are quality units according to him, but pricey.

If open/libre office aren't ok with you, I don't know what to suggest. Those are the best 3 office programs out there. There are of course simple programs like note or wordpad, but those are too basic in my opinion. Good luck with your search.