
Just Say No, kids
It's a gateway drug to subscription everything from MSFT
Microsoft has updated the My Office app and would like to remind users that there's a free, online version of the suite. The purpose of the new Office app is to act as a hub for all things Office-y. Be it documents the user has recently worked on, or shortcuts to the Office apps themselves. And, oh, if you don't have that …
"(I do tend to use Python/Pandas for CSV etc. when I can through)"
I have to ask, what the hell is going on with CSV inside office apps in 2019? CSV as a user data document seems odd, I can't think of anything that is _not_ better than CSV for non-machine purposes. Are you parsing machine code with your office app or something..?... shit"s gettin' crazy.
A spreadsheet is a decent way of quickly showing data in a graph when I don't feel like importing matplotlib and scripting it.
Generate data, export to csv, open it up and have a play around.
Actually, I often do this when deciding what graphs to script when processing data properly.
Regarding csv files,
Obviously you haven’t tried to do a bulk update in management systems, the easiest way to do this is export as csv, load into a spreadsheet, manipulate data, import back into system.
Did this the other day to add 60 wireless access points to an ISE system, far faster than using the gui.
Nope, StarOffice had it already since at least 1997. StarOffice got open sourced as OpenOffice, and OpenOffice got forked as LibreOffice.
StarOffice optionally even offered an alternative shell including a desktop and startmenu for Win9x, just like Internet Explorer 3/4 offered an alternative improved shell for Win95, that came preinstalled with Win98 and onwards.
Finally found a use for a Win10 convertible 10" netbook / tablet.
Not this gateway drug but a dedicated PDF reader. PDFs are useless on ereaders due to lack of screen size, eink and monochrome (all of which makes them perfect for novels).
Summatra is far too slow. Except touch works to change page.
Foxit has got too bloated and adverty.
Adobe, less said the better unless your company is paying you to use it to create/edit PDFs.
Browser: Madness.
Nitro: Gathering names & emails for free download.
PDF-xchange: You need to install minimal free options and then change settings. Fast enough on a sad Win10 Atom tablet / Netbook, Can only use status bar with touch to change page with it undocked from keyboard / mouse. Unlike Android apps that can use physical volume keys to turn page.
Years ago I did have Ghostview on XP for PDFs and Postscript viewing as well as export to PNG image format.
I only create PDFs to upload for paper printing/proofing. Using LibreOffice. It's horrible for anything else, but loads of ancient stuff is scanned books, magasines and such that are out of copyright, OCR badly and often 1080 lines isn't tall enough, 1600 x1200 was better. Portrait works.
I do actual work on Linux Mint (Mate desktop and customised version of TraditionalOK theme). LibreOffice and Mint's default PDF reader, plus Calibre for ebooks.
Bluefire for PDF reading on 7" Android tablet and Android phone (both too small for most PDFs).
Jottr text editor for notes on Android.
There are bigger e-paper readers that display normal PDFs very well and fast. (just in shades of grey, not color usually; despite e-paper tech would already support colors)
Just your average Amazon Kindle is too small. Look for asian full size epaper readers elsewhere, that come with full Android.
My problem with the assumption that most will need to link to access (work) documents across multiple devices is not what I see. Where I work, we are issued a laptop which allows us to work either in the office or remotely via a VPN. Very few of the staff are issued a company phone or tablet in addition to the laptop (I personally do not know of anyone who has a phone or tablet). So, the only approved way for most of us to access company documents is through the company laptop. With my personal stuff, when I am traveling I typically am not keeping up with email or typically actively working on a project. If I plan to, it is just as easy to put the documents on a thumb drive and use that for syncing. Also, when actively working on a document, etc. a laptop is the minimum device that works reasonably well.
There are use cases were something like this would be useful but I suspect they are more niche than common. What I see is an effort to convince a PHB to waste money on something they do not need by talking up features very few if any in the company will use or need. Essentially pure profit for Slurp. Slurp is trying to shakedown companies with marketing babble that make the 'feature' sound as if it will do wonders for employee productivity when in fact it will have minimal impact on productivity and cost money. This is a problem with Orifice and Bloat, much of what is touted as a 'must have feature' is at best a niche feature; there will be few who will use it heavily but the rest will no real use for it or ever use.
The online version of MS Office has bugs: The online version is quite limited in its functionality. If you open a file that has been created on the desktop version, using features that are not supported by the online version, the online version may change/corrupt the file. Be careful!
> That would seem to be typical MS behavior: Left hand doesn't know or care what the right hand is doing or supports and vice versa.
Also typical MS behavior: create multiple products with the same name which are in fact completely different, to cause maximum confusion.
(Skype / Skype For Business, Windows / Windows Phone / Windows RT, Outlook / Outlook Web Access, Active Directory / Azure Active Directory, etc etc)
...of form over function
The new app has also received the snazzy new Office icons. Whoop Dee Doo.
Kinda says it all. Maybe, someday, before the Apocalypse, Micros~1 (and their Stockholm syndrome-addled Millennial Marketeers) will deign to worry more about functionality and less about whizzy.
/me is not holding my breath....
Well, 'My' Internet connection is down again. So it's off to the coffee shop to get some work done.
Damned! No network neutrality and Microsoft hasn't paid the coffee shop ISP their access fee. I guess I'll just be spending the day, posting garbage on comment sites again.
If I could travel back in time, one of the things I would do is have a 'quiet word' with whoever came up with the idea of prefixing everything with "My..." back in Windows 95.
It's responsible for endless lazy variable names too.
Then I'd move on to whoever had the bright idea of calling both the browser and the file viewer "Explorer".
Just whoever had the bright idea of allowing spaces in filenames so I have to quote almost everything.
Whoever pushed through the change from "C:\My Documents and Settings\USER\My Documents\" to C:\Users\USER\Documents\ despite the momentum of history deserves a medal.
I don't need yet another junk app to replace what I have got, I have shortcuts in my start menu and file associations for my current version of office thank you.
If there is any more "Hey it looks like you are running an old version of Office, would you like to upgrade for only £200" its to the uninstall panel and replaced with LibreOffice with you!
But fucking useless
I've used word extensively for all things word processor related, including some documents running into the 100's of pages, you know chapters, references, indexes, blah, blah blah. I've used excel extensively as well. Even had to use powerpoint for the various crayon departments ( marketing and upper management ) who's attention spans are measured in fractions of seconds.
Over past 2 decades with all that usage, weird arsed requests or suggestions made by bosses and other finger painters, there has not been a feature that I have used or needed that was not in Office '97
/rant
Now get off my lawn
Over past 2 decades with all that usage, weird arsed requests or suggestions made by bosses and other finger painters, there has not been a feature that I have used or needed that was not in Office '97
That may be you, but my low literacy/dyslexic students absolutely love the immersive reader & dictation tools that appeared over the last year. The accessibility checker feature is really handy for me finding issues with documents that trip these tools, and screen readers up.
I run lines like
Get-AppxPackage *phone* | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage *mixed* | Remove-AppxPackage
Through powershell (run as admin).
It clears off most of the rubbish nicely. There are a couple of items to be removed through the control panel and the Get-Office one can be right clicked on and told to uninstall itself. I am aware that this does not stop the data slurp though. That is more a job for the firewall - perhaps SEP.