Running Office 2016

[KennyC]

Is it better to run Office 2016 as a Mac app or run the Pro Office 2016 windows version (has Access too) under parallel's?

 

[ferrarr]

That is personal preference, but purchasing Windows and Office, along with Parallels, add to the cost.

 

[IWT]

Kenny

Given your recent question about converting a Word document to Pages in another thread - and the presumed consequences of doing so in terms of file size; I'd opt for having Office for Mac, be it 2016, 2019 or by 365 subscription.

I might add that as far as I know, Office for Mac 2016 has been superseded by the 2019 version and the 365 subscription is now based on the 2019 version and as long as you pay the annual sub, Office will be updated in perpetuity. There are numerous other goodies attached to the subscription including use in up to 6 Macs, 6 phones/tablets and 1GB of free storage for each user.

You might give this site a look: https://products.office.com/en-GB/compare-all-microsoft-office-products?tab=1

This is a personal view. I have absolutely NO connection with Microsoft other than as a user of their products for the Mac.

Ian

 

[ferrarr]

Ian, I believe you meant you have "no" connection with MS.......

 

[IWT]

Ian, I believe you meant you have "no" connection with MS.......

Thank you, Bob. Typing slower than my brain and missing vital words - now corrected in my Edit.

Ian

 

[KennyC]

Bob, thanks for reply. It would cost more but I would get access to which I use and was looking for alternative software that would cost me too.

Ian, thanks for reply. I don't want to get into a subscription for software. It's starting to get like cable tv. I did find online a few retailers selling 2016 for a decent price here in the states.

 

[usagora]

I don't want to get into a subscription for software.

Well you might have to change your feeling about that, because that's the way things are going with the major developers like Microsoft and Adobe. I don't like it for programs I'd use less frequently, but I use Office apps literally every day, so the annual subscription of $70 or $100 (depending on which plan you go with) is peanuts. If you really want, you CAN purchase Office Home & Student 2019 as a one-time (non-subscription) purchase for $150, but you only get Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (no Outlook, and no OneDrive cloud storage included, and can only be installed on 1 device).

For you, I'd suggest the $69.99/year (per YEAR, not month...we're talking less than $0.20 per day) for the Office 365 Personal subscription which can be installed on multiple devices AND includes 1 GB of OneDrive cloud storage. Not to mention the programs will never go out of date.

https://products.office.com/en-US/compare-all-microsoft-office-products?tab=1

 

[MacInWin]

And the 1Gb of OneDrive is per user, so if you have five users, each gets 1Gb OneDrive.

 

[chscag]

Bob, thanks for reply. It would cost more but I would get access to which I use and was looking for alternative software that would cost me too.

Ian, thanks for reply. I don't want to get into a subscription for software. It's starting to get like cable tv. I did find online a few retailers selling 2016 for a decent price here in the states.

@Kenny:

If you need Access, then your choice is very limited. Access is not available with the Mac version of Office - neither subscription or one time purchase. I'm also not in favor of subscribing to software but it appears that MS will no longer offer the stand alone version of Office after the 2019 version.

There are alternatives to MS Office except for Publisher and Access. The free LibreOffice may be able to work with Access files but you would need to check on that first.

 

[usagora]

And the 1Gb of OneDrive is per user, so if you have five users, each gets 1Gb OneDrive.

Just to clarify, only Office 365 Home ($99.99/year) includes 1TB for 6 users with OneDrive. Office 365 Personal ($69.99/year) is 1TB for only one user (thus the name Personal). I know you had Home in mind, but just wanted to be sure people reading this knew there was more than one option so they get the one that is right for them.

 

[KennyC]

Thanks all for the suggestions. All. the things I do on Office is 95% home stuff and I do calendars & flyers for my American Legion. Using a jump drive from home to the Legion makes the work very easy.
chscag I have been looking at LibreOffice and that might be the way to go.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Is it better to run Office 2016 as a Mac app or run the Pro Office 2016 windows version (has Access too) under parallel's?

Only you can answer that question. Office/Win has features that Office/Mac doesn't have, I hear. I don't know what those features are, but if there is something in Office/Win that you can't do without, your choice is clear.

I use Microsoft Word/Mac all day, every day, in my work, and I'm a pretty advanced user, and I haven't found anything about it lacking.

There are a bunch of alternative word processors for the Mac, here is a list:

Macintosh Word Processors
Macintosh Word Processors

In my view, there is no reason to get Office/Win and run it under parallels just to get Access. There are a bunch of really nice database programs for the Macintosh. This one is simple and nice and FREE:

Symphytum (free)
http://giowck.github.io/symphytum/

and if you want a database program that is more sophisticated, but still fairly reasonably priced, have a look at:

TapForms ($50)
Tap Forms - Organizer Database App for Mac, iPhone, and iPad

 

[KennyC]

Randy, thanks for your input and link. Just found office 2016 for the Mac here https://fastsoftware.com/collection...ts/microsoft-office-2016-home-student-for-mac
for $49 and here https://softwaral.com/product/microsoft-office-2016-home-business-for-apple-mac/ for $39.99. Will look up reviews on them. I think you have a point too about an alternative to access. I was actually looking at LibreOffice too kinda getting away from MS Office but really like word and know it well put I use pp for all the flyers I makes for my Legion.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Randy, thanks for your input and link. Just found office 2016 for the Mac here https://fastsoftware.com/collection...ts/microsoft-office-2016-home-student-for-mac
for $49 and here https://softwaral.com/product/microsoft-office-2016-home-business-for-apple-mac/ for $39.99.

I can guaranty you that at those prices, those are grey market versions of Office...or possibly even illegal copies. You will likely get the product, and it will likely run, but when you need to update the program, or move it to a different computer, Microsoft's copy protection will get in the way, and Microsoft won't help you.

I was actually looking at LibreOffice too kinda getting away from MS Office but really like word and know it well put I use pp for all the flyers I makes for my Legion.

If you like MS Office, you will likely really like:

FreeOffice (free)
https://www.freeoffice.com/en/

or

Softmaker Office Home/Universal ($40/$70)
https://www.softmaker.com/en/

 

[KennyC]

I guess the old adage if it's to good to be true be careful. Been playing with free office and it's impressive. Still haven't found something for a db without starting from scratch. Will take a look at SoftMaker but if I have to purchase an office pkg I'll probably still with office for Mac. Your help is very appreciated Randy.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Still haven't found something for a db without starting from scratch.

I'm sorry...maybe I missed it...do you have an existing database in Access? If so, have a look at:

MDB / ACCDB Viewer ($19)
Open Microsoft Access Databases on your Mac (allows you to export your Access database to just about any other database)
https://eggerapps.at/mdbviewer/

 

[usagora]

For you, I'd suggest the $69.99/year (per YEAR, not month...we're talking less than $0.20 per day) for the Office 365 Personal subscription which can be installed on multiple devices AND includes 1 GB of OneDrive cloud storage. Not to mention the programs will never go out of date.

https://products.office.com/en-US/compare-all-microsoft-office-products?tab=1

...sigh...no matter how careful I think I'm being, I always manage to screw up, and now it's too late to edit the original. That should have said 1 TB (NOT GB) of OneDrive storage. I was just 999 GB off, that's all But it looks like Jake repeated my error in the reply after that, so at least I don't feel as bad

 

[KennyC]

Randy, I love FreeOffice so close to ms office and it saves in the same format. Not sure why but it seems all the other office apps when saving the same file are almost twice or more larger in file size which is another reason I'll stick with FreeOffice.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Randy, I love FreeOffice so close to ms office and it saves in the same format. Not sure why but it seems all the other office apps when saving the same file are almost twice or more larger in file size which is another reason I'll stick with FreeOffice.

Pretty amazing, isn't it? I'll have to start recommending it more. For now it even seems to be a better option than LibreOffice.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[chscag]

Something else about FreeOffice is that it takes up less hard drive space and uses less resources than LibreOffice. Even the paid version (which I really like) of Softmaker Office is a much better choice than LibreOffice except for the $69.95 price.