Stuff gets done

Installed Office 2003 yesterday, and then managed to finally begin navigating the Linux directories (in a long process of trying to use a completely free and legal computer). I use myself as a test for the rest of the organisation in regards to new things computery, so it can often be quite a ride, getting it all working straight.

There are three moments in your life you seem to remember...
1. Getting married
2. Emmigrating
3. Being in the limbo world, that is having no Outlook on your system. Sort of like in between moving houses, and all your stuff is in the van and not in any one place.

So far so good, Outlook 2003 has behaved and all is quiet on the front right now. Looks cuddly too, but they decided to keep the stupid office assistant thing!! Oh and another weird thing happened. I exported all my Outlook data, as one does before such massive undertakings. I then proceeded to remember RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of the uninstall (as I ALWAYS DO) that I didn't make a note of server settings and other assorted email configorations. So I resigned myself to an age of getting them all back from the relevant dustier portions of the relevant websites, spending ages trying to figure out why I wasn't getting mail etc. The strange thing was that on first run, Outlook 2003 decided to grab all my Outlook settings and place it in er... place, so no need to do anything. NOT EVEN import my Outlook .PST file again!

The install decided to hang for a LONG time and then inform me it was complete. So anyone out there taking the plunge, be calm and sit it out if you have to.

All folder setups were there, all email accounts in place, everything. Just ran in again and everything worked. I uninstalled first so there would be no problems setting up with the new one. I know by now never to do ANYTHING automatically if I can help it on the computer. I believe it has been Microsoft who have been leading the field in this area of my education....

The first round of email (most of mine is junk anyway) was ok. It got two of the three emails that were junk. As for the other programs, I will have to see what is useful. Coming from a long time of Office 2000, the bells and whistles are a refreshing change, but as usual, they have to be USED in a useful way to be bothered with.... we shall see.

Oddly enough, I went to Amazon.com and they reccomended Office 2003, the exact same version of it I had installed not thirty minutes previous. Perhaps the Tivo unit has been selling Amazon all my strange viewing habits and now can read my mind (not a hard job I admit). I wonder how long it takes before the Tivo does all my thinking for me? That will only leave me with 23 hours and 58 mins for myself!!

I am trying to use Open Office as much as possible to see where the benefit of saving hundreds of dollars as well as having useful features comes in. For anyone reading that doesn't already know, Open Office is free, really!


Hundreds of dollars


Free REAL alternative

Please choose now

Anyone reading who doesn't know what all this is talking about, it's a suite of programs that offices use for productivity. Most people will only ever see the Microsoft version and assume there is simply nothing else out there. Remember folks, that your customers or anyone else couldn't care less which program wrote them the note, worked out the cost, or wowed them with the idea, they just want to do business.... think on...