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a microsloth free existence........

sambo.

sambo.

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 2, 2004
242
0
outback, far from the surf
hear me and help me please oh knowledgable and generous members of these esteemed forums.

i'll be upgrading when the revision is announced, not so much "switching" as "returning to paradise from eternal purgatory".

the principle software i'll be using is the Adobe Creative Suite. now a great many idiots (mostly govt depts and various public relations firms) insist and persist with sending me Word .doc 's. is there an import filter, to get .doc 's straight into Indesign?

basically, i'd like to have a microsloth free system (besides, my old copy (like 1999, when i got my G3/333 lappy) of ClarisWorks seems to do everything the current Orifice:2004 can do), but still be able to at least view the plethora of microsloth file-formats that infest my in-box.

i'd prefer to just get appleworks and use that for everything i'd be tempted to use Orifice:2004 to do (or not to do, as we know who makes it.....)

i run a small, weekly newspaper in Lightning Ridge, Australia (check www.wj.com.au for some of our stories, i'll update it again soon, bloody 'puter has been mostly on the blink the last two weeks).

i've been advised to get FileMaker 7 as my database software (cheers MongotheGeek), will need to file editorial and advertising pix/graphics, ad's, editorial stories, page furniture at al in some sort of retrievable/ logical format. I can also see myself prising mum's (the other partner in our little enterprise) pen and invoice book from her hands and putting all the fiscal responsibility functions on the 'puter (no way am i putting such things on this leaky win'98 nightmare), so any advice there?

any advice on how i can acheive such trancendence and banish the Redmond Reaper from my life would be muchly appreciated.

thanx in advance for any help you can give. i'll be sure and let you knopw how it all goes.......

cheers
sambo. :D
 
best option is open office suite..openoffice.org
i think you sitll need to use x11 to have it for mac os x, but its worth a shot. and i think there are other people on these boards who can give more input than me on the specifics.
-carly
 
In InDesign CS you can place .doc files. Just go to File>Place>then pick you file. Sometimes it does't always work how you want though because InDesign looks at the tabs and paragraph breaks. But ususally if you just need strait paragraphs it works without a hitch.
 
7on said:
Get Office. Microsoft Office.
Click to expand...

He went to great lenghts to explain that he doesn't want Microsoft Office--or any other Microsoft products.

Does't TextEdit read .doc files? AppleWorks will open them but you might lose some formatting if it's a "fancy" file.

I'm trying to rid my Macs of MS as well. I'm switching jobs and don't expect to have to share files as much--and that's the only reason I have Office. TextEdit is a decent word processor--it fills 90% of my word processing needs. Keynote is a wonderful presentation tool. FileMaker Pro is probably the best database app there is. Excel, unfortunately excels at spreadsheets--but it's MS so it has to go. AppleWorks does okay if you don't have anything too fancy (and I don't).
 
cheers.......

.....thanx guys.

it seems that AppleWorks can open .doc's, i don't mind losing the formatting as i currently have to re-format it in PageMaker 6.5 now anyway.

is there a "viewer" for orifice:2004 sheisse along the lines of the Acrobat Reader so i can just look at it? i wonder if AppleWorks speradsheets can open excel documents........ unfortunatly, excel is a bloody good spreadsheet program (as noted by a previous poster) which i don't mind using, pity i'd have to buy the whole orifice suite to get it.....

looks like FileMaker Pro is th go for databases, thankfully it's pretty cheap, 'round the AUD$500- mark. the feedback i've gotten from some friends who have it has all been very positive.

any more tips will be gratefully received...... :cool:
 
oops, one more thing......

i'll have InDesign CS for the fancy schmancy looking documents etc, so losing Word (mis)functionality won't really be too much of a burden, besides, i am something of a fan of Open Source (yay Mozilla, the only e-mail client that my Win'98 system can use without locking up......) so getting Open Office could well be a given..... will at least try it out.

i just need to get the text out of Word and into InDesign, if Indesign can place .doc 's, problem could well be solved....... :rolleyes:
 
You should look into the NeoOffice project if you like open source. It's OpenOffice, but being made into a native (Cocoa, I believe) app on OS X. It's even being fully aquafied. Should be quite nice. It's still in development stage now, though, although I think you can download it and play with it.

JW
 
I was using TextEdit last night--testing it out after reading this thread. It's really a good word processor. It looks too simple when you open it, but the features are there. After about half an hour I came to the conclusion that we're all used to "way too many" toolbars and palettes--and I blame Word for that. RTF, by the way, is a perfectly good format and just about any app can open it.

For basic word processing (i.e. typing a letter), which is what most MS Word users do, you really can't beat TextEdit--and it comes with your computer. For more advanced stuff (embedded tables or images--hey, isn't that page layout, not word processing) then AppleWorks will do that just as well as MS Word. Those, however, are the kinds of files that you'll have problems with when you try to send them to somebody using Word.

This morning I opened Word and felt a little sick. It was so big and it dominated my screen completely. The MS bloat was present and in full effect. At 3:00 Friday when school ends (and thus my job ends) I will take great pleasure in deleting MS Office from my iBook.
 
Horrortaxi said:
I was using TextEdit last night--testing it out after reading this thread. It's really a good word processor. It looks too simple when you open it, but the features are there. After about half an hour I came to the conclusion that we're all used to "way too many" toolbars and palettes--and I blame Word for that. RTF, by the way, is a perfectly good format and just about any app can open it.

For basic word processing (i.e. typing a letter), which is what most MS Word users do, you really can't beat TextEdit--and it comes with your computer. For more advanced stuff (embedded tables or images--hey, isn't that page layout, not word processing) then AppleWorks will do that just as well as MS Word. Those, however, are the kinds of files that you'll have problems with when you try to send them to somebody using Word.

This morning I opened Word and felt a little sick. It was so big and it dominated my screen completely. The MS bloat was present and in full effect. At 3:00 Friday when school ends (and thus my job ends) I will take great pleasure in deleting MS Office from my iBook.
Click to expand...
TextEdit is COOL! I love the typography features, Unicode support (which Word lacks, at least the Word X version), all the formatting options, and the uncluttered interface. I use it exclusively for word processing (I don't even bother with the AppleWorks WP function). I still need AppleWorks for spreadsheets, but I'd like to switch to NeoOffice or something similar for that. For presentations I use Keynote (and export to QT for other platform viewing). Contacts are handled by Address Book, email by Mail, and calendars by iCal. .Mac takes care of others not being able to view my calendar. .Mac also provides my email, my webspace (my site isn't up right now), and viewing my Safari bookmarks online anywhere. If I need to send a file to someone without a Mac, I just PDF it. Nobody needs to edit my files, so I'm set without Microsoft Office.
 
sambo. said:
.....thanx guys.

it seems that AppleWorks can open .doc's, i don't mind losing the formatting as i currently have to re-format it in PageMaker 6.5 now anyway.

is there a "viewer" for orifice:2004 sheisse along the lines of the Acrobat Reader so i can just look at it? i wonder if AppleWorks speradsheets can open excel documents........ unfortunatly, excel is a bloody good spreadsheet program (as noted by a previous poster) which i don't mind using, pity i'd have to buy the whole orifice suite to get it.....

looks like FileMaker Pro is th go for databases, thankfully it's pretty cheap, 'round the AUD$500- mark. the feedback i've gotten from some friends who have it has all been very positive.

any more tips will be gratefully received...... :cool:
Click to expand...

I know you've said you hate M$'s products, but don't you think it'd be easier, at least for the time being, just to get Office 2004:Mac?
 
skywalker said:
You should look into the NeoOffice project if you like open source. It's OpenOffice, but being made into a native (Cocoa, I believe) app on OS X. It's even being fully aquafied. Should be quite nice. It's still in development stage now, though, although I think you can download it and play with it.

JW
Click to expand...


I have NeoOffice /J on my PB and it's not totally aquaifed. Looks just like OoO, except it opens without X11.
 
I heard from a bud of mine that MS Office 2004 for Mac is absoultely solid. I'm gonna pick up the student version b4 classes in september.
 
The thing you need to remember about Office for Mac is that despite that it is made by MS, it is created by Mac users who just happen to work for MS. Many people agree that Office for Mac is far superior than Office for PC. I won't tell you that you need to get Office or put any MS products on your computer for that matter, but it sure makes playing with the rest of the world that much easier.
 
leftbanke7 said:
The thing you need to remember about Office for Mac is that despite that it is made by MS, it is created by Mac users who just happen to work for MS. Many people agree that Office for Mac is far superior than Office for PC. I won't tell you that you need to get Office or put any MS products on your computer for that matter, but it sure makes playing with the rest of the world that much easier.
Click to expand...

yuh, i realise that Orifice for Mac is a far superior product to Orifice for PC and always has been (much to the disgust of some M$ Addict mates).

wanting a microsloth free 'puter isn't just a kneejerk reaction against M$. If I can get a cheap upgrade on my classic OS version, I'll get it, i'm just loath to give any more cash to Redmond.

i am keen on Open Source software, mostly because I rekon open source is the way of the future. case in point, on these damn celeron/Win'98 boxes i use right now, Outlook Express was a cause of constant crashes. since installing Mozilla 1.6, i haven't had a single freeze blameable on my e-mail client or browser (internet explorer was also to blame for many a re-boot). i now only use explorer to do windoze updates.

all i need to do is read Word docs, or import them into InDesign. I won't be using Word for anything other than to read Word docs that have been e-mailed to me. I'd rather spend the $$$ on FileMaker Pro 7 or some other, more useful software, rather than buying Orifice:2004 simply to be able to read stuff. as for outgoing documents, they will be in .pdf.

thanx again for the advice guys. i'm sure i'll have more q's once i've actually got a Mac in front of me........
:cool:
 
Calebj14 said:
I know you've said you hate M$'s products, but don't you think it'd be easier, at least for the time being, just to get Office 2004:Mac?
Click to expand...

You are missing the point.

Of course it would be easier to break down and use the MS product. That's what we call a mon-fricking-opoly. Office is so prevalent that it is difficult to use anything else and be compatible with the rest of the world. So you do the easy thing and buy Office at their attractive student rate. Then Redmond has your balls just that much tighter.
 
ouch......

the UPGRADE, is AUD$500- through the Apple Store.
full version - $700-

thats a lot for what will essentially be a "browser"

the only actual positive i can see from getting Orifice:2004 is Excel (i admit it, i like excel, as spreadsheets go it's pretty good)

however, that $500- is the cost of FileMaker Pro 7.

hmmmmm, open source is looking more and more attractive.
:cool:
 
Horrortaxi said:
You are missing the point.

Of course it would be easier to break down and use the MS product. That's what we call a mon-fricking-opoly. Office is so prevalent that it is difficult to use anything else and be compatible with the rest of the world.
Click to expand...

I didn't "break down" and buy Office. I wanted it. Office IS the best. Not buying a good product because MS has a monopoly is fine as long as MS doesn't make the best product, so I think you're missing HIS point.

It's not like they funded the Nazis or something. I use what works best, and Microsoft Works.....erm....works.

I can find a better alternative for everything else they make, though, and so I do use the alternatives.
 
InDesign can import Word documents no problem. I do it all day long at work and while it isn't perfect in all instances you will be able to read them. The only thing is that you can't export a Word file if that is what is required. The only option for that would be to convert to PDF and then if you have a full version of Acrobat you can then convert the PDF to a Word file.
 
pix too?

kgarner said:
InDesign can import Word documents no problem. I do it all day long at work and while it isn't perfect in all instances you will be able to read them. The only thing is that you can't export a Word file if that is what is required. The only option for that would be to convert to PDF and then if you have a full version of Acrobat you can then convert the PDF to a Word file.
Click to expand...

yuh, i heard this too, which makes it highly unlikely that this next upgrade will enrich Msr Gates at all.

can you get images out of Word and into InDesign easily? currently the bane of my existence is dildo's who put their pix in Word .doc's or only send images inside a .doc. i can't get them out again, arrrgh.

cheers
sambo. :eek:
 
ja0912 said:
am i the only one that wonders what "revision" announcement we are talking about?
Click to expand...

revision? err, on the 'puter side, i was going to upgrade when i first posted this, unfortunatly, things went a little pear-shaped on the fiscal front, so i have yet to upgrade.

i'll be upgrading very soon but still don't want to give M$ any cash if i can avoid it.

sept 21 is the date (prolly), i'll place the order. just see if anything juicy emerges from Paris, if so, get that, if not, gettum 2xiMac... :eek:
 
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