Office 2019 Is Now Available for Windows and Mac

Excel falls flat on it's face with really large data sets. 64-bit Excel is better, but still fails hard when trying to graph really large data sets.

What is needed in that case is NI Diadem which is super excellent with huge amounts of data.

LibreOffice is a joke IMO.

FreeOffice is another alternative to MS Office. I haven't used it that much, but it seems better than Libre at least.
https://www.freeoffice.com/en/
Any time I've encountered a data set large enough the Excel dies trying to graph it, that data set is long past the point where it should have been shoved into a proper database server and graphed using purpose built tools. Not saying Excel is bad, but people (ab)use it (and Access) that it just can't handle. I have users that run into the row limit more often than the memory limit though.
 
Actually Libre Office format compatibility with latest versions is about 99.99% compatibility, excluding macros (but those are a security vulnerability anyways). This of course excludes the visio foormat.

This compatibility is perpetually improving too, for FREE.

I've actually recently had to use Libre Office to repair multiple xlsx spreadsheets because MS Office 2016 can't be assed to make documents that are compatible with modern Sharepoint versions.

Just because Microsoft makes it, doesn't mean it _WORKS_.

The biggest reason is the fact that we live in a world where Microsofts Office document formats are the de facto standard. Often if someone sends you a Word document and you open it in LibreOffice, the formatting is all wrong. This may not matter for casual users, but in many cases, there is an expectation that it looks identical when opened. In a case like this, LibreOffice fails.

Also, LibreOffice calc falls flat on its face with REALLY large data sets, or spreadsheet files with very many tabs in them. It gets slower an slower when opening and saving documents (even though they are only a few hundred KB, until eventually it starts either crashing or losing data.

I prefer to do as much as I can in linux, but I still keep a Windows VM around for cases like these, when I just need Office to work. (I don't use it very often anymore though)
 
Thanks Cagey, didn't even know 2019 was a thing. Last I heard they were really trying to force 365 on everyone. At one point it seemed darn near every vendor I dealt with for my IT duties was promoting 365 stating how that BTW they could get us free 360 licenses. I upgraded out organization to 2016 when it came out. Really not ready to let our stuff go to cloud based services yet. Too old school, want to keep it somewhat within physical reach and not have any real internet dependencies. Have to check if our licenses allow an upgrade if we want down the road. I'd be curious what new fun stuff they put into Powerpoint.

That is the "bait" in "bait and switch".
 
Ugh, so what they are saying is, it is only a matter of time until all of this goes cloud/subscription based (n)

Personally I will certainly never subscribe to any cloud based software package.
same, subscribing for a product just seems lazy production of new software. i makes sense for a company that needs the latest and greatest but for your average consumer buying a product and then not upgrading for a few years is a-ok with me.
 
The biggest reason is the fact that we live in a world where Microsofts Office document formats are the de facto standard. Often if someone sends you a Word document and you open it in LibreOffice, the formatting is all wrong. This may not matter for casual users, but in many cases, there is an expectation that it looks identical when opened. In a case like this, LibreOffice fails.

Also, LibreOffice calc falls flat on its face with REALLY large data sets, or spreadsheet files with very many tabs in them. It gets slower an slower when opening and saving documents (even though they are only a few hundred KB, until eventually it starts either crashing or losing data.

I prefer to do as much as I can in linux, but I still keep a Windows VM around for cases like these, when I just need Office to work. (I don't use it very often anymore though)
have you tried wordpad? it's free and works great.
 
same, subscribing for a product just seems lazy production of new software. i makes sense for a company that needs the latest and greatest but for your average consumer buying a product and then not upgrading for a few years is a-ok with me.

that really depends. A home office solution without an employer or partner discount is easily 300+ dollars for a particular release. With the office 360 sub for right around 10 dollars a month I get whatever version upgrades are released. It works even if I'm not online. And I get 1tb of cloud storage per user up to 5 users. Oh and I also get office for up to 5 distinct users as well. And the cost ends up being less than buying an office release.

Sure once non subscription models are no longer available it would be a simple matter for MS to increase cost incrementally to end users... and I expect that to happen to some degree.
 
So, it has been nearly a week.

Anyone actually use Office 2019 yet? It's only available to certain customers, but someone here has to be at one of those...right? I'm curious if it's exactly like the current version of 365 or if it differs at all.
 
So, it has been nearly a week.

Anyone actually use Office 2019 yet? It's only available to certain customers, but someone here has to be at one of those...right? I'm curious if it's exactly like the current version of 365 or if it differs at all.

If you have Office 365 and have been keeping it updated, it's basically the same except 2019 doesn't have the cloud features included in 365.
 
that really depends. A home office solution without an employer or partner discount is easily 300+ dollars for a particular release. With the office 360 sub for right around 10 dollars a month I get whatever version upgrades are released. It works even if I'm not online. And I get 1tb of cloud storage per user up to 5 users. Oh and I also get office for up to 5 distinct users as well. And the cost ends up being less than buying an office release.

Sure once non subscription models are no longer available it would be a simple matter for MS to increase cost incrementally to end users... and I expect that to happen to some degree.
didn't think about the little guys, makes sense for them.
 
If you have Office 365 and have been keeping it updated, it's basically the same except 2019 doesn't have the cloud features included in 365.

So, it's better than 365 then :p

I don't want this cloud BS anywhere near my machine.
 
me too, it's just another way for your data to be breached. you want my stuff come and get it. :)
 
" that aren't quite ready for the Cloud or able to receive regular updates "
... or those that actually want to be able to own their software and don't want their sensitive information out in the cloud.
perpetual licensing does not allow you to "own" anything, just the right to use it.
 
So, it's better than 365 then :p

I don't want this cloud BS anywhere near my machine.

That is certainly one way to look at it. ;)

Right now there aren't any msi installers for windows through volume licensing, looks like they've done away with them completely and gone to click to run installs. I managed to get the MacOS version installed using the pkg installer that's available along with the 2019 Volume License Serializer. Haven't noticed much of a difference with it though.
 
Office 2019 is now available via the Home Use program for those who qualify. Can't beat $15.
 
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