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Ben Funk over on TechReport has linked to a Terry Myerson blog post where he states that in early 2016, the "Windows 10 Upgrade" update will be changed in status from "Optional" to "Recommended". Therefore, if you haven't changed your Windows 7 system from automatically installing updates to manually notifying, but not installing, now is a good time to make that change, and audit every single "patch" you see. There have already been reports of users unknowingly experiencing ISP bandwidth overages due to downloading a massive 3 GB file due to the "Optional" update that was not requested, but Microsoft seems to be throwing caution to the winds.
In the blog post, Myerson has this statement: "Depending upon your Windows Update settings, this may cause the upgrade process to automatically initiate on your device. Before the upgrade changes the OS of your device, you will be clearly prompted to choose whether or not to continue. And of course, if you choose to upgrade (our recommendation!), then you will have 31 days to roll back to your previous Windows version if you don't love it." Historically, Windows has been far cleaner to install on a blank disk than to upgrade in place, so this sounds like a recipe for many support calls. There also seems to be no backtracking on any of the privacy concerns, or perhaps taking the "zero telemetry, selective update install" functionality promised (but not yet delivered) to Enterprise customers, and extending it to consumer licensees who value their privacy.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Saturday October 31 2015, @06:15PM
*Word* is your reason you need to run Windows?! LibreOffice doesn't do the job well enough?
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Mr Big in the Pants on Saturday October 31 2015, @08:31PM
No, it doesn't.
If all you want is a basic WP with a terrible GUI then Libre works. (most of the time - I have had issues in the past)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 01 2015, @12:41AM
I don't mean to pick on you specifically, but the above statement is parroted over and over. Pointing the finger back at you; what have you done to help improve the GUI of Libre Office? If your answer is "just clone the Word interface" then I can tell you that it won't be done. Mostly because of the insane "look and feel" patents. Libre Office is fine for what it is, but don't complain about it if you are not willing to help improve it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 01 2015, @01:30AM
I found an awkward content-based formatting bug. Have not gotten around to reporting it yet. Essentially image links get corrupted when you change the formatting of the surrounding text. (I do not use MS word though.)
(Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Monday November 02 2015, @05:13AM
I am not parroting. I don't parrot. I make a point of thinking for myself. It annoys people sometimes who are more used to herd behaviour...like you are.
I am not a libre office dev. From the forums I read while researching a formatting bug (one of several) I discovered the devs are not that interested.
I am commenting on what is.
And what is is a cheap knock off of word 97 (or similar).
So your comment on "cloning" is rather amusing.
There are other WPs out there that do it better that are no MS...although their functionality is often lacking also.
In the end this is just my opinion and is worth about the same as used toilet paper but that also insulates me from someone else who has no idea about me or my thought processes "proving me wrong"...
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday November 02 2015, @12:06AM
Having recently needed to use MS office, I can tell you: That interface is so terrible, Libre Office cannot beat it.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Monday November 02 2015, @05:09AM
Yeah yeah yeah...your personal bias has been noted...
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday November 02 2015, @08:13AM
Ah, when I say MS Office has a terrible UI, it's personal bias, but when you say LibreOffice has a terrible UI, then it's a statement of fact?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Monday November 02 2015, @09:27PM
I said in other responses in this thread that part was opinion - although a popular opinion.
Its just a knock off of the other versions of MS Office anyway.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday November 03 2015, @09:42PM
How can LibreOffice's interface be worse, as it's the one we've all been using for the last 20 years and are familiar with?
I'll take "a knock off" with a usable interface over solid gold with shit smeared all over the GUI any day.
Microsoft Office is an office suite of applications, servers, and services developed by Microsoft. It was first announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at COMDEX in Las Vegas.
StarOffice, known briefly as Oracle Open Office before being discontinued in 2011, was a proprietary office suite. It originated in 1985 as StarWriter by StarDivision, which was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1999.
Star Office became Open Office, which got forked into LibreOffice.
Oops. Did I just drop a big pile of reality on this discussion?
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday November 03 2015, @01:58PM
When I tried Lo its interface was fine. Oo has a decent interface, Word has that damned ribbon interface.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday November 03 2015, @01:54PM
When I tried Libre Office it had no full justification, and at any rate I would need to be sure it came out right in Word, because that's the format the magazines demand. It sucks, because I hate Word's interface.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday November 03 2015, @09:48PM
Maybe you should take another look. Compatibility with .doc is never going to be perfect, but it's pretty damn good.
I vaguely recall the first couple versions of LO being pretty rocky. Missing full justify back then wouldn't surprise me, I guess. It has one now.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday November 07 2015, @05:33PM
Just installed kubuntu on this notebook yesterday, and its default word processor is Lo. It did indeed have full justification, but there's no font compatibility. I opened a document that was written in Oo in Windows, and instead of Gentium Book Basic it gave me some cartoonish-looking sans serif font. Unlike Oo it did open a .doc file written in Word, and its Courier fault was likewise replaced with a sans serif font. Changed it to kubuntu's Courier, and there's no way the magazines would take it.
They're really picky about font, spacing, and a bunch of other things. Also, Lo had a function to output an RTF file, but few will accept anything but DOC. None accept ODT. It's a pity.
I'm REALLY disappointed with what they did to kubuntu, looking in to some other distros. I hear XCFE is pretty good. I plan on journaling about it in a couple of days.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Saturday November 07 2015, @08:24PM
There are how-to's for copying the Microsoft fonts over to Linux, and even a package in the manager for the basic ones IIRC. Does opening a document actually change the font, though? Or does it just pick the closest available one it can for display but still correctly store the "actual font" internally.
As for spacing/kerning that might be more difficult. LO can export to PDF as well, but it does support saving as .doc(x). Saying "just use Word" of course makes their job a lot easier :/
I myself stay on solely XFCE these days, Linux Mint XFCE specifically.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Wednesday November 11 2015, @11:28PM
Yes, I've added fonts to Oo in Windows and am sure that won't be so much of a problem, but editors are REALLY picky. The only way I can be absolutely sure is to use Word to make sure it's right.
I downloaded xcfe last night, plan on trying it this week.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org