Comments on: Rules for computing happiness: Software simplicity

By: jaime

jaime — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:18:07 +0000

also zoho has something similar to google docs and free.

By: jaime

jaime — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:31:34 +0000

Dropbox and Box .net are alternatives to GoogleDocs.

By: David Cake

David Cake — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:57:36 +0000

I was going to make a blog post about this, and start a discussion about the idea– but the original link seems to only get a github error message currently.

By: Ken Burns Effect

Ken Burns Effect — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:36:13 +0000

Sorry, I didn’t read the first paragraph:-D

By: Ken Burns Effect

Ken Burns Effect — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:31:47 +0000

Since there is some stupid filter not allowing som links just google “al3x’s Rules for Computing Happiness” and find a nice set of rules.

By: Ken Burns Effect

Ken Burns Effect — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:28:00 +0000

Is there a spam fiter involved sucking certain posts in?

By: JC

JC — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:51 +0000

I tend to be an advanced user on Microsoft Word and an intermediate user for Excel. So I use tons of the features.

While I don’t have any tips about the software, I do format *every* document that I create with a template that forces me to put in a date, author, title, page numbers.

In my office there are so many files floating around without dates or authors so you don’t know how old the thing is or who can answer your questions about the referenced project.

By: Chanan

Chanan — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:50:36 +0000

@Sarah – My Google Docs alternative preference is http://www.zoho.com. It has a Onenote like notebook app, Spreadsheet (with macro support), Word processor, and more. A few of their applications are for pay (business focused stuff for example: CRM, Invoicing, HR, etc).

By: Egirlrocks

Egirlrocks — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:56:38 +0000

I’ve been using MS Office for the past 10 years and have found it to be everything I need and then some. I think the problem a lot of people have with all the options is that they don’t know how to turn them off or make them work for them rather than against them. Office is notorious for offering at least 3 different ways to do the same thing. The trick is to choose one way that works best for you and ignore the rest. When Office tries to “think for you” you can turn that feature off permanently. (The paper clip assistant really bugs me.) All of the apps in Office integrate extremely well. I understand a lot of people have issues with this feature-laden package but if you know how to work it you can save tons of time and be well organized. If you don’t need certain features, just ignore them.

By: JenK

JenK — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:42:08 +0000

It turns out that people were using a small subset of the features of Office, but when you look deeper at the data, they were all using a different subset. The new user interface hides complexity for basic tasks but doesn’t remove the functionality completely for when you need it. IMO the best software grows with your skills.

Quite true, and I use Office. That said, if I am having serious difficulty getting my mind onto a task, reducing options can really help me focus. I discovered this as a manager writing performance reviews. I never liked writing them, and would procrastinate forever. Finally I hit on a solution that worked for me: I would boot DOS only, no Windows*, and write my initial draft in the text editor. I could not alt-tab to check email or do other work or play solitaire. I could not even play with fonts. Once I’d changed the Edit colors & tab size, I could write or be bored. Usually I would write.

(*The astute reader will figure out that I began doing this in the early 90s back when Windows was an add-on to DOS. But I still occasionally boot DOS off a floppy to use Edit.)

By: Peter (a different one)

Peter (a different one) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:41:29 +0000

@Megan – I agree FREE upgrades are the best. I just wonder how long I’ll be able to keep running Office 2000…

By: infmom

infmom — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:06:09 +0000

The best way to simplify–don’t buy a new version of a program just because it’s there. Does your current version do everything you want it to do? If it does, why change it?

I’m still using Windows 2000 because no one so far has persuaded me there’s anything it can’t do that I want it to do. I get annoyed at iTunes and the Amazon downloader for not being usable by Windows 2000, but them’s the breaks. Nothing says I have to download music.

By: Megan

Megan — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:58:27 +0000

@Peter (the different one) — Oh, I’m with you. I was kind of off on my own rant.

I should have instead expounded upon my belief in free upgrades. I like free upgrades. They make me smile.

By: timgray

timgray — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:53:22 +0000

If you must use MS office try OO.o (Open Office.org) and if that does not work buy a used copy of Office 97.

it does 98% of what office does but far FAR faster with most of the clutter removed.

Honestly Office 97 was the best version ever released.

By: Peter (a different one)

Peter (a different one) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:13:06 +0000

@Megan – that’s what I was trying to comvey in my earlier post. Even though I did not update Microsoft Office to the latest version, there were free updates to the version I had that made me compatable with their newest version.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:32:13 +0000

Thanks for the post. Good advice. Sometimes I find it hard to zap programs even if I’m not using them. So, I always keep the disc image files when I try or buy software. Periodically, I burn these to a DVD along with any licensing information and then erase the dmg files from my harddrive. I keep an index of those DVDs in my database program (I use DevonThink Pro Office for the Mac) and the physical DVDs in a notebook along with my other backup DVDs. It makes it much easier to delete things I’m not using and it fits in with my archiving routine for other data. (BTW I also use external harddrives as backups, I’m not just relying on DVDs).

By: Megan

Megan — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:37:02 +0000

My biggest gripe with software is paying for updates. Ugh — I shouldn’t have to pay if it is broken! So, I remembered the “golden rule” and decided to build a company that gives free updates. Early adopters should be taken care of. It’s just common sense. In my opinion, my best marketing tool are my happy customers.

By: Mike Torres

Mike Torres — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:34:47 +0000

Great post – but I wouldn’t say this is the case anymore given the new ribbon in Office 2007:

“Microsoft Office is the perfect example of an over-featured application: it does so many things for so many different types of users that most of us are scared to dive into its seemingly unending menus and settings”

By: Tabitha (From Single to Married)

Tabitha (From Single to Married) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:25:46 +0000

I love Google docs – it’s fantastic. You can work on a document from any computer and it automatically saves the document so that yu don’t have to. You can even export the document to Word or Excel for printing!

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:45:06 +0000

@Sarah — A really quick Google search led me to this page:
http://www.onlineorganizing.co.....y=docshare

You might check out all of the programs that say “online” in their description. I don’t know about any of them except for Google Docs.