Laptop.

[Keith W]

They only need to download the free converter from MS and they can open the docx files themselves in earlier versions of Word.

[Dave Liquorice]

Point them at the free plugin from MS for older vesrions of Word that enables them to open .docx format files. It's free and works, within the limitations of backwards compatibilty from Word 2007 of course...

[Bill]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

I still think that the question of drivers for XP might be worth checking on.

I don't know about a 5536, but some Acers I've got or had needed specific Acer bodged drivers to allow things like a volume control to work properly.

That's the other thing about the decent MS backup program. It lets you take a complete image to DVD's before you revert to XP and discover something missing.

[John Rumm]

Yup, but none of that is any use if something expects MS style office automation or VBA to work.

[John Rumm]

Given that very few organisations actually train their staff in the use of word processing software, its hardly surprising that most folks have a poor grasp of some of the less obvious conceptual stuff. When you combine this with the attitude that "I have to get this done *now*, I don't have time to mess about learning new stuff", you end up with lots of people using tools like they were in the stone age.

[John Rumm]

Yup, but alas not much use for business customers alas.

In reality they probably don't care too much - its all a process of training the next generation to demand MS tools because that is what they grew up with.

[Tim W]

John Rumm wibbled on Friday 16 October 2009 18:42

Mine think linux is cool.

Especially when I showed them this:

what the school will say if I get them little T-shirts for the next Mufti day...

[John Rumm]

You can get them, but you won't like the price:

[tinnews]

Mr Soon here, I didn't quite catch what you said.

[JTM]

Does this mean you have Ubuntu running as an XP prog ?

John

[Stuart Noble]

I like the "engineered to handle all the drops and bumps of daily business life" bit. Does that mean the hard drive survives a fall off your lap?

[Rod]

My current laptop features this:

'HP 3D DriveGuard protects the hard drive (HDD) by "parking the heads" if the notebook is accidentally dropped or is abruptly impacted by another object.'

... but I don't want to put it to the test.

[Cicero]

---------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------- No, I'm pretty sure it can't do that. The benefit lies in the fact that you can install Ubuntu without modifying an existing XP setup. The 'Grub' loader takes care of the dual booting. It's actually quite a good way to try Ubuntu as a fully working OS rather than from a live CD.

Cic.

[Rod]

Well I can run Ubuntu 'within' my current OS (Vista) by the simple expedient of using VirtualBox. Including 64 bit versions[1]. Or Windows

1. Or both.

[1] If you have an Intel processor with VT-x not disabled in the BIOS, or an AMD processor with AMD-v.

[Bruce]

But that's only because the other people haven't upgraded to the current version of Word.

The organisation I worked for standardised files on a previous version of Word. Some people's PCs had newer versions installed, but we all had to save files in a version that was compatible with everyone's PCs. It worked, because the new features were always obscure ones that no-one needed, except perhaps for one geek who needed to get a life and suggested that they should be included.

[Bruce]

Stone age? That's rubbish.

It is obviously in Microsoft's interests to hype up new features, but it is equally in buyers' interests to resist paying for obscure new features that they will never, ever need. There haven't been any features after Word 2.0 that anyone needs.

[dennis]

It depends on where you are sitting.. They will survive a few feet onto concrete while inside a tough book. Maybe a few inches if not.

[D.M.Chapman]

The word docs I get (often several a day) I'd say it's more like 'some' than 'most'...

Yep, not a hope in hell. Also, columns screw up badly IME.

Nope

Saying that, Office 2008 doesn't do VBA - and for some reason only MS can fathom the default template has serif and sans serif fonts the other way around than Office 2007. Grrrrrr...

And if you have to use sharepoint - forget openoffice (or the Mac come to that).

Darren

[dennis]

notebook. For some reason it just doesn't like the touch pad. the touchpad moves the pointer but it ignores the buttons unless I have a USB mouse plugged in, then the touchpad buttons work perfectly.

Then there is the video problem on my shuttle with an ATI hd4350 card in it, just why it decides to overscan on a flat panel display connected by HDMI. You would think they had sorted the maths out by now so that you could actually see the menus and the desktop icons.

If it can't get old stuff like this to work (it did on 8.04 BTW) then what hope is there?

[dennis]

Assuming you are referring to wubi then..

It creates a file system for ubuntu within a file on the windows system. It dual boots using the windows boot manger not grub. Windows cannot read the contents of the ubuntu file system in any meaningful way. You can uninstall using the control panel which removes the boot entry for ubuntu from the windows boot manager and deletes the file. You can run ubuntu under virtual PC but it will require some edits as ubuntu doesn't like the mouse and display driver used by virtual PC and the grub boot lines will need editing. It runs quite well under vista.