Yes, I have Open Office. It works great except when you're trying to organize about 37 different plays from 11 different authors to send to a publisher. It was difficult but I'm finished with that now. I'm glad someone brought up the question about Windows 8 having a method to use XP programs. That would be wonderful.
Holly On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 5:51 PM, Do Good Things <[email protected]> wrote: > If old Word doesn't work, check out www.openoffice.org . 100% compatible > with MSOffice and the licence is free AND... it's not MS. :-) > On Jul 23, 2013 6:25 PM, "Holly" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > ** > > > > > > Thanks, Donk. I'm getting 8G RAM because I plan to keep this machine for > > a long time and I do a lot of art and graphics. I'm not doing the touch > > screen thing. I have two Samsung monitors I've had for a long time and I > > don't want to go that route. I've avoided the Smart Phone and text thing. > > I have enough addictions without adding that. Also, I'm one of those > > old-timey Microsoft haters so the only thing I have is Windows normally. > I > > did some work where I had to do stuff for some other people and got a > Word > > program just for that. So the old Word programs won't work on 8? > > > > I'll take your advice and Google my programs. I have a couple of games > I'd > > really like to keep, a great Bridge one where I can play duplicate with > the > > computer and a real MahJongg one not the matchy thing. I'll try to see if > > they can be upgraded or something. > > > > I work so much in Paint Shop Pro and use Photoshop plugins, most of them > > free. I'll check with my "community" to see what happens to them. > > > > I remember when I had a computer built when I still lived in Georgia I > > tried the dual boot thing but I actually ended up not using it. So, I'll > > have to really think about that. With 1 TB I guess I could try it again. > > > > By the way, the computer guy said he could set the machine up so I'd have > > the usual start menu, etc. Guess I'm stubborn but I use a program called > > Winkey where I have keystrokes to bring up my programs. He said there was > > a feature like that in Windows 8, Like to have my photographs on my > > desktop so don't have many icons cluttering up the screen, this touch > > screen thing would really clutter it up. There's another program I'll > > probably lose which is called John's Background Switcher than slide shows > > my photos or whatever I want. > > > > Still thinking about it but it'll probably happen pretty soon. > > > > Holly > > On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 4:56 PM, Donk <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Hi Holly - > > > I'd like to tell you the jump from XP to Win7 or Win8 won't affect your > > > programs or devices... but it wouldn't be true. I recently upgraded one > > > of my own machines and was surprised how many of my old programs > > > wouldn't run. It's the switch from XP's 32bit architecture to 64bit > > > that really causes probs in old software and hardware. Now, LOTS of old > > > programs "will" run. You can usually find out if you google "is > > > 'nameofprogram' compatible with windows 8?" Or if you go to the program > > > makers website FAQ section. Most of the apps that wouldn't run for me > > > were old, small utilities. But there were a couple biggies that I had > > > to find replacements for. Thank goodness MS Office XP still runs! > > > If there are apps you simply can't do without you could set up a dual > > > boot so you can use either Win8 or XP. If you still have your XP disks > > > it's not hard to set up the dual boot. Have your guy create a 2nd > > > partition on the new HD, or use one of your old hard drives. You won't > > > be able to simply put your current XP drive in the new PC and boot into > > > it, unfortunately. > > > But... when I did my upgrade from XP to Win7 I had to replace quite a > > > bit of software, and had to throw away a scanner and printer which were > > > old but perfectly fine for me. Grrrr. > > > > > > Here's another thought I tell people who are upgrading to Win8. You > > > know that Win8 is designed for touch. You can certainly use it with > > > only keyboard and mouse, but it is totally, and excellently created for > > > touch. I don't know if a monitor is coming with your PC, but if so, be > > > sure to get a touch capable monitor. Touch is the future, and all the > > > monitor makers are in the process of converting their factories to > build > > > touch monitors. Soon, I think, you won't be able to buy a non-touch > > > monitor. Of course, you'll still need a mouse and keyboard, but often > > > reaching up and touching the screen will become 2nd nature. > > > > > > The specs of your new build sound great - core i5, Gigabyte mainboard, > 1 > > > TB HD. For win8 be sure to have at least 4GB RAM. 4GB is ok, but > > > anything you can add to that would be great. RAM is very cheap right > > > now, so maybe get another 2GB or 4GB if possible. If you do a LOT of > > > video or photo editing the extra RAM is more important - as well as a > > > separate video card (instead of the one included on the mainboard). > > > > > > Going from XP to Win8... there is a fairly steep learning curve. It's > > > quite a bit different - the same stuff is all there but it's in > > > different places. Lots of people get frustrated and wanna go back. > > > Don't be that person. Just stick with it a while and you'll soon prefer > > > it to XP. Would you want to go back from XP to Win98? :-) > > > > > > So, yeah, leaving XP is a bit of a challenge and hassle. But it's just > > > something that's gotta be done eventually - by everybody. I think > > > you'll love your new PC! Feel free to repost with any questions or > > > problems after you get it. > > > > > > Don > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > ~ Remember ~ > > If you forward this, PLEASE REMOVE all email addresses before you send it > > on and use the BCC area when forwarding to several people at once. > > HELP DESTROY Spam > > > > Reply to [email protected] > > View all my websites from http://www.hollyscloset.com > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > If you have any questions or problems with any aspect of this site, please > feel free to contact me directly [email protected] Please do not post > personal issues directly to the group. > > To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to > [email protected] > > Thank you for using A-1 Computer TechYahoo! 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