Pirating Microsoft Office

[smf]

Office 2007 is not recommended. It no longer receives security updates.

If you're opening files sent to you by others then you're in for a wild ride whatever software you install. I certainly wouldn't recommend open source software, it makes it so much easier to find exploits.

 

[linuxares]

I would just go with Libreoffice if I were you. Pretty much the same nowdays. Only thing Microsoft got the edge on is Exchange.

 

[Lacius]

If you're opening files sent to you by others then you're in for a wild ride whatever software you install. I certainly wouldn't recommend open source software, it makes it so much easier to find exploits.

Well, not exactly. First, being in for a wild ride (i.e. having risk) does not mean I should give up and use software with known vulnerabilities and no security support. That would be like not wearing a seatbelt in my car just because there's a chance I'm going to die regardless. Second, actively supported open source software is about as safe as anything else, as long as it's being regularly updated with security updates. Third, open source Office alternatives are also rarely targeted specifically, unlike Office.

 

[tech3475]

Personally, I just use Office 365 home when they’re discounted (£40-50).

This allows for every computer I have and my parents to be covered and we use Onedrive for backing up data (encrypted of course), so it financially makes sense as I would likely be spending this much on an alternative for the latter alone.

 

[smf]

That would be like not wearing a seatbelt in my car just because there's a chance I'm going to die regardless.

It would be like not wearing a seat belt if you've got a bomb in the back and you're on a kamikazi mission.

Choosing software that you think will make you safe while randomly opening documents is like wearing a condom while having sex with someone infected with ebola.

Second, actively supported open source software is about as safe as anything else,

Which is not safe at all.

Third, open source Office alternatives are also rarely targeted specifically, unlike Office.

I've rarely been sent any documents and I'd have no idea how to tell whether they target open source or microsoft products.

 

[Lacius]

It would be like not wearing a seat belt if you've got a bomb in the back and you're on a kamikazi mission.

Choosing software that you think will make you safe while randomly opening documents is like wearing a condom while having sex with someone infected with ebola.



Which is not safe at all.



I've rarely been sent any documents and I'd have no idea how to tell whether they target open source or microsoft products.

Security updates mitigate certain risks, so the seatbelt analogy is correct, and your analogies are flawed. Opening random documents is not advised, but security updates mitigate certain risks. The fact that they're not 100% effective doesn't mean we should forego security updates entirely. It would be like wearing a seatbelt but choosing to speed. Speeding is not advised, but the seatbelt offers some protection. You could also be the safest driver, but you should still wear a seatbelt because of forces outside of your control and/or mistakes you might make.

Also, the idea that open source software is completely unsafe is a myth. Chromium and Firefox are open source, and they're about as safe as a lot of closed source software. The important thing is that they receive regular security updates.

Edit: In summary, definitely don't use Office 2007. It's recommended one use Google Apps or something like them instead, but if you have to use Office, use a version that receives regular security updates, preferably Office 2019.

 

[Taleweaver]

Made a resume in open office once, found out it looked like garbage in real ms office (my fault I suppose for not making it into a pdf, but some companies only want .docx (is rare most accept pdf, could be these are the assholes who look at thing like edit history.)

Heh...I had the same thing happen to me. But mind you: this was when openoffice was still somewhat new. Since I got on board of libreoffice (say...4 years back or something) I haven't noticed anything really different*.

I also tried sending my resume in as pdf at one point. More out of a curiosity joke, really. Sure enough, the company (a recruitment bureau) attempted to tell me that some of their clients couldn't read pdf. This was, of course, a lie (even in that time when adobe still had the monopoly on pdf, it was easily read everywhere). They wanted my cv in word so they could blank out my contact details, thus making sure we wouldn't directly contact each other.





*okay, okay...I tried convincing my girlfriend to try it at one point. After a whole lot of 'complaints' that boiled down to 'this doesn't look as fancy', she gave me some exotic excel file that contained all sorts of weird formulas and macros (for no reason whatsoever, as it was a fill in form), and that really did look weird. The result: she now has to look at the "your version of office is not registered" screen because of course she didn't want to do something controversial and pay for the software she wanted to use.

 

[FAST6191]

I also tried sending my resume in as pdf at one point. More out of a curiosity joke, really. Sure enough, the company (a recruitment bureau) attempted to tell me that some of their clients couldn't read pdf. This was, of course, a lie (even in that time when adobe still had the monopoly on pdf, it was easily read everywhere). They wanted my cv in word so they could blank out my contact details, thus making sure we wouldn't directly contact each other.

I have been surprised in the past.

Maybe 10 years back a builder I did stuff with wanted to put an ad in the yellow pages (at one point they were big books of contact info for various local businesses, in this case on pages of yellow in older times). They also promised to do online ads (their ad pool being bigger than a simple builder is likely to do so theoretically better). It only being 10 years and not 30 I sent them some logos along for the advert (not a cheap affair).

I was playing labourer for said builder a few weeks later when we get a call from their graphics department. They can't open the image. Did I send them something really old and obscure like PCX or use a legacy version of an old layered format? Nope PNG. The very same PNG that was on the website. Rendered fine in bog standard Windows picture viewer, in every browser I cared to throw it at. I sent them a JPG at the highest quality I could knowing they would butcher it. They did but you expect that.

He didn't renew. Today I think they yellow pages are still going but they don't enjoy nearly the punch they once did, and any other clients I once knew that had them in there don't bother. Got several "don't you know your business will die" phone calls, said money stuck into advertising on a local taxi or something instead and things were even better.

 

[tglaria]

Frankly, if youd find MS Office to be expensive, then you don't need MS Office.
I beleive the hassle to find an activation method, keep it activated and the security risks associated with installing a "crack/activator" is not worth it.
In your case, using the software sandboxed ...

Sincerely, if you can't afford it, you don't need it.
(if you need to open or edit some Microsoft Office only files, you could even use the onlinve version of the office apps, which is free)