💻 Is Microsoft Office Still Worth It In 2023?

Hi All!

I was recently asked whether there's any point in using the Microsoft Office suite when there are free alternatives available such as Google Docs.

I must admit, I had to pause for a minute before answering, but my simple answer is it that depends on what you need it for and how often you will be using the apps. Google Docs is a very capable office suite and if you don't like working in the browser, you still have other really good options available such as LibreOffice.

Believe it or not, Microsoft also has a free version built into the browser version of OneDrive called Office Online and whilst it seems to be limited in some features, you can comfortably do basic tasks on it. So if you are only using it occasionally and you prefer using Microsoft's product, it's perfect for you!

Personally, I actually pay for the family Microsoft 365 subscription as I feel that OneDrive works best for my needs and I tend to be a bit old fashioned and prefer Microsoft's approach to apps.

But my overall answer to the question is that the free apps are perfectly capable, if you plan to use the apps for business use, it may be worth investing in Microsoft Office, but for general home use the free online version is perfectly capable and there are other tools available such as Google Docs and LibreOffice.

If you plan to use more than 100 GB of storage space, the next plan up offers the Office apps with it, so you might as well use them. While we talk about the next plan up, I actually think it's worth it because for £5.99 per month you get 1TB of storage space for backing up and storing your files on OneDrive, 60 minutes of free Skype calls and you get access (No pun intended) to a full suite of apps you can download to your computer.

If you are a student, it may be worth asking your school or university whether they offer Microsoft Office for home use, I know that during my student days many of my friends actually purchased subscriptions with their laptops only to find out that the university provides it.

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❤️This Week's Favourites

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📹 YouTube Video - Jeff Su: Inbox Zero for Outlook (Step-by-step Tutorial)!​

There is a huge amount of productivity creators out there who focus on iCloud and Google Workspace apps, but there doesn't seem to be many creating content about Microsoft's apps, that's why I was over the moon to see Jeff's video on how to reach Inbox Zero if you use Outlook. I found the video very informative and I'm trying out this method on one of my mailboxes.

📝 Blog Post - Jakub Jirak: Mark “Bear” Ellis — Ultimate Apple Watch Ultra Endurance Test​

I really enjoyed this post, having watched Mark's Apple Watch Ultra test, I think it's great to see someone react to it and share a similar opinion to me. This may surprise you, but like Jakub I find smartwatches to be a bit of a distraction, that's why I only enable notifications from essential apps. I mainly use them for the fitness side of things, which with Fitbit integration my Google Pixel Watch does really well!

💻 Tech - Fire TV Stick 4K With Alexa Voice Remote​

For the first time in a good couple of years I decided to buy a Fire TV Stick and a lot has changed from what I remember it to be! I decided to buy a Fire TV stick because the reliability of WebOS which is the system built into my ageing LG TV isn't as good as it used to be and I often found that it just crashes with no warning. So far the Fire Stick has been an improvement!

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That's it for this edition of the Tech With Dom Newsletter! Hopefully, you've enjoyed it!

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Wishing you all the best!

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Dom