I USED SKYPE FOR A LONG time. Then, no longer needing it, I REMoved it from my computer.
Needing it again, I tried to install the application on a Win 10 machine.
No way.
IT TURNS OUT that on May of 2011 Microsoft bought Skype for US$8.5 billion.
Good for Skype; bad for users.
Which, unfortunately, is pretty much SOP for things acquired by Redmond.
ANYWAY, I tried to download the latest and greatest Skype from the Skype site.
What I got was a pop-up telling me I had to download the Windows version from Microsoft.
To do that I had to use either my Skype ID or a MS account.
MS didn’t even LOOK at my Skype ID, insisting (despite offering me the Skype username option) that I MUST use an MS account.
I don’t HAVE, nor do I WANT, an MS account.
I have enough accounts – and related passwords – already.
Moreover, thanks to Microsoft’s
- Constantly changing UIs
- Expensive “upgrades” (that I usually neither want nor use)
- It’s generally heavy-handed dealing with customers (e.g., the demand that I have an MS account)
Don’t misunderstand, Microsoft does make some great products. IMO, Outlook email consolidator is the best on the Windows platform, and I’ve recently tried several others.
BUT, there ARE good options for Microsoft Office.
This is created using Libre Writer.
The purchase price was $0. Yes, Virginia, ZERO.
As an aside, LibreOffice is in many ways superior to MS Office.1
Frequent upgrades are the same price – and so far, none of the improvements has mucked about with the application’s UI.
I’ve been using Word since a single 5.25” floppy was stabled into a popular computer magazine back in the late 1980s. WYSIWYG ! Amazing. (I’ll bet some readers don’t know that WYSIWYG means “What You See Is What You Get”; before word, non-proprietary monitors only displayed plain text.) Word then was a stand-along application; pre-MS Office.
Libre Writer – part of LibreOffice that also includes Calc (Excel work-alike), Impress (like PowerPoint), and Base (similar to Access), – has many of the same features and functions as MS Word. Ctrl-B=bold, Ctrl-S=Save, etc. The learning curve for Writer is minimal; certainly no more than trying to figure out where MS “hid” a feature or function when the latest version was released.
Calc also has a short learning curve. (I have not tried Impress or Base, but based on how Writer and Calc function, my guess is that an Access or PowerPoint user would feel at home after one or two sessions with the free software.)
LibreOffice has a very active User Group (UG) that offers help to fellow LibreOffice users.
LibreOffice is not the only MS Office substitute.
According to Digital Trends2, MS Office alternatives include, in addition to the free LibreOffice (W/L), Free Office (W/A/L), WPS Office 2016 (W/L/A/I), iWork (Mac OS)
- W=Windows, L=Linux/Ubuntu, A=Android, I=IOS
All LibreOffice applications can open and save in MS Office formats.
Not only do LibreOffice, Free Office, and WPS Office run on Windows platforms, they ALSO run under the free Linux (and Ubuntu) operating systems (OSs). Linux and Ubuntu can co-exist with Windows on the same computer. I would suggest trying the free office suites under Windows before adding another OS or replacing Windows with another OS.
TechRadar.com3 lists the same suites as Digital Trends, but adds Polaris Office. The TechRadar page provides some interesting – and for me, critical – information.
Some “free” suites burden the user with advertising; premium versions offer more capability sans advertisements.
- LibreOffice: No ads; all features and functions included
- Free Office: No ads with paid
- WPS Office: No ads with paid option
- FreeOffice: Paid option adds functionality
The bottom line is that MS Office, while still the 800-pound gorilla on Windows and Mac platforms, has competition and some of that competition is both excellent and free.
My next change will be to move to either Linux or Ubuntu operating systems. Both can co-exist with Microsoft. If I can find an email consolidator comparable to MS Outlook I’ll happily say good bye to Microsoft Office. Outlook is the only reason I keep the Microsoft Windows OS.
Final thought The reason this rant commenced was because I was not able to download the latest and greatest Skype sans a Microsoft account.
It turns out that, similar to MS Office, there ARE alternatives to Skype.
TechRadar.com4 lists best free Skype alternative 2018. The “MUD” site5 also lists several alternatives to Skype on Windows. Viber makes both lists. WhatsApp also makes both lists, but MUD notes that voice WhatsApp calls are only available on Android, iOS and Windows
There also are a number of Open Source (LibreOffice is an Open Source project) options.
OpenSource.com6 lists three solid alternatives to Skype, including
- Jitsi (runs inside a browser window)
- Ring (GNU/Linux, Windows, MacOS desktops and Android and iOS mobile devices )
- Riot (Chrome and Firefox browsers, MacOS, Windows, and Linux desktops and iOS and Android devices)
Sources
1. http://tinyurl.com/ble7jpx
2. http://tinyurl.com/lvrfmhq
3. http://tinyurl.com/ycwnpwk3
4. http://tinyurl.com/y84qhw5n
5. http://tinyurl.com/yao4xzsv
6. http://tinyurl.com/yclsbbck
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.
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