• Re: Google Docs

    From micky@3:633/10 to All on Saturday, March 14, 2026 18:56:01
    In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sat, 14 Mar 2026 22:56:33 +0100, "Carlos
    E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

    On 2026-03-14 17:25, micky wrote:
    I went to visit a friend in NJ and someone in his family brought up
    Google Docs, and recommended it for him I thought the major feature of
    Google Docs was that files were stored in the cloud but the wikip
    article doesn't even mention that (or barely if I missed it).
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Docs

    Okay "while collaborating with users in real-time." implies that it's
    online, at least during editing.

    Doesn't one have to learn at least a few things about google docs to use
    it. My friend, 83 yo, can learn new things, but doesn't really want to.

    IIRC he hasn't wanted to for 10 or 20 years, so it's not just that he's
    old now.

    If someone only works at home or at work or when he takes his laptop
    with him, and when none of that is true, he wants to be "on vacation"
    and free of computer chores, there is no point to google docs, is there?

    I use google docs solely for one purpose: documents that I want to
    access on my phone. Like a spreadsheet of car expenses. I also access
    the same docs on the computer.

    I thought that's the sort of thing it was good for.

    Once I used a text document, a list of things to do, me in Europe, my
    cousin in Canada. It was curious when we both were writing, we could
    chat using it.

    You can export the file to local storage, too.

    For normal usage on the computer, I use Libre Office alone.

    I've been copying my friend's old hard drive to a flash drive and his
    own files are mostly .docx . I think that is the default for Word, but
    I don't know if his new computer includes Word. If he has to buy it, he
    won't be happy. Maybe he will switch to Libreoffice.

    I rarely care if something looks nice, but when I do, I use Libreoffice
    too.

    Not a pending problem, just FYI: I've copied about 35,000 files that he
    wrote, he downloaded, or which have a user extension, and every one of
    35,000 copied fine on the first try except the only two .doc files,
    which, strangely enough, worked fine when I clicked on them on his
    harddrive (which I removed from the laptop with the broken screen). (He
    wrote those two files too, with the same name, found in a directory and
    its sub-directory, only 4 short lines long.)
    I am curious what would make a file NOT copy with XXCopy (which I
    think uses Xcopy for the actual copy step), whether or not it could
    actually be read, especially since it could be read with no problem.


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Paul@3:633/10 to All on Saturday, March 14, 2026 21:58:32
    On Sat, 3/14/2026 6:56 PM, micky wrote:

    <<snippage>>
    Not a pending problem, just FYI: I've copied about 35,000 files that he wrote, he downloaded, or which have a user extension, and every one of
    35,000 copied fine on the first try except the only two .doc files,
    which, strangely enough, worked fine when I clicked on them on his
    harddrive (which I removed from the laptop with the broken screen). (He
    wrote those two files too, with the same name, found in a directory and
    its sub-directory, only 4 short lines long.)
    I am curious what would make a file NOT copy with XXCopy (which I
    think uses Xcopy for the actual copy step), whether or not it could
    actually be read, especially since it could be read with no problem.


    Windows is case insensitive. However, you can flip that and make
    it case sensitive. Then note.txt and NOTE.txt can be stored in
    the same directory, in case sensitive mode.

    Some tools may be old enough, they may not be "aware" programmatically,
    that case sensitivity is ON.

    Normally, you would suspect a file ownership or permissions issue,
    prevents copying. Try copying the System Volume Information folder
    on the root of a disk. How did that go ? Was that fun ?

    When you copy files from one C:\users\micky\Downloads to another C:\users\micky\Downloads , and you're not in a domain or anything,
    those files would benefit from different SIDs (Security ID). Each home
    user OS has a custom SID number for "Micky".
    You can get some flavor of what a SID is, from the identifiers
    you may have seen that are associated with the Recycle Bin.
    Doing a Takeown allows assigning a new SID to a thing.
    It might even remove that accursed green bar from File Explorer :-)

    *******

    One way I can do a copy here is:

    1) Do a Macrium backup of Old_C:
    2) Bring the Macrium MRIMG file to my pen drive preparation machine.
    (On your current setup, there would be "nothing to do to achieve this".)
    Use the Macrium Explore function and mount the MRIMG C: as K:
    and "remove restrictions" tick box in the interface of the mounting dialog.
    Now, you are working with a copy of the goods and not the original goods.
    3) Then, if you xxcopy K:\users\micky\Downloads to P:\your-recovered-files\
    there would be no problem with the permissions. The permissions and
    SID of the person doing the xxcopy would likely be the only possible
    assignment.

    The OS is capable of doing implicit Takeown (and presumably when you are
    a member of the administrator group -- don't assume that unelevated
    users like the LowBoy account I use for test on machines, would be able
    to do this). The itsmine.cmd shows an explicit way of doing ownership,
    but do not be applying this to the entire C: drive, or there will be
    "severe tire wear" :-/

    The itsmine.cmd file is two lines only:

    takeown /f %1 /r /d y
    icacls %1 /grant administrators:F /t

    *******

    When designing a "best practices" way of copying a friends
    files, you have to be aware that the disk could be on its
    last legs. Your first step is doing a low-stress forensic backup
    without unintentionally overheating the drive (keeping it
    in an insulated place with no airflow). A "dd.exe" run
    can do this for you. If the "dd.exe" finishes, it means
    there were no CRC errors during the run. If the drive were
    to later croak on you and stop responding, the dd output file
    is your copy of the goods.

    A dd.exe copy can copy a dirty partition, a partition in
    need of a chkdsk.

    Since chkdsk /f is potentially destructive, you don't
    run one of those, until you have your dd.exe disk image made.

    I could add more steps, but you get the basic idea. You use
    low stress methods that check for trouble and make a forensic
    copy first. Then, if you have a "handling accident" while working,
    your goose is not cooked, and you have alternatives.

    Rather than change the recipes you are comfortable with, I
    would add steps for insurance purposes.

    Most of the time chkdsk /f is safe. But it can and has
    completely and utterly destroyed a partition, so as your
    insurance agent, I would say to you "you could use some insurance".

    Paul

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From malxau@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, March 15, 2026 18:07:29
    In alt.comp.os.windows-10 micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
    I've been copying my friend's old hard drive to a flash drive...

    Not a pending problem, just FYI: I've copied about 35,000 files that he wrote, he downloaded, or which have a user extension, and every one of
    35,000 copied fine on the first try except the only two .doc files,
    which, strangely enough, worked fine when I clicked on them on his
    harddrive (which I removed from the laptop with the broken screen)...

    What was the flash drive formatted with? My guess would be copying from
    NTFS to FAT, and finding different restrictions between them. There's a
    pile of file naming issues that can confuse tools (are you comfortable
    sharing file names?)

    - M

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From micky@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, March 15, 2026 15:28:37
    In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 15 Mar 2026 18:07:29 -0000 (UTC),
    malxau <invalid@invalid.net> wrote:

    In alt.comp.os.windows-10 micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
    I've been copying my friend's old hard drive to a flash drive...

    Not a pending problem, just FYI: I've copied about 35,000 files that he
    wrote, he downloaded, or which have a user extension, and every one of
    35,000 copied fine on the first try except the only two .doc files,
    which, strangely enough, worked fine when I clicked on them on his
    harddrive (which I removed from the laptop with the broken screen)...

    What was the flash drive formatted with? My guess would be copying from
    NTFS to FAT,

    You're right!

    and finding different restrictions between them. There's a
    pile of file naming issues that can confuse tools (are you comfortable >sharing file names?)

    The two files in the source drive are
    "F:\06_04_2019\..Parsha & P sheets\B'raishees.doc" and
    "F:\06_04_2019\..Parsha & P sheets\5777\B'raishees.doc"

    Both of them are 26,112 bytes but when opened, Libreffice counts 105 characters. Talk about overhead!!

    Both contain an apostrophe??, but he has a bunch of other files that
    copied fine whose names also have an apostrophe (the same one? Does it matter?). He also has a bunch of .docx files in that subdirectory that
    all got copied.

    FWIW, these two have the same date and time, to the minute

    I presume the dots are in the folder name so it will sort first.



    YOu can ignore the next paragraph. I realize I was not copying Hidden
    or System files and the file below is both. I almost always use /clone
    that copies all files, but for these copies I did not and the default is
    not to copy hidden or system files. Do I need to go back and get
    them...I don't think he needs them and I doubt there are any others.
    I see there was a third .doc file,with a time one minute later,
    Hidden and System, that didn't get copied and didn't get an error
    either. That is, XXCopy did't try to copy it!!
    "F:\06_04_2019\..Parsha & P sheets\5777\~$raishees.doc"
    It doesn't like the tilde? Or the dollar sign? It doesn't like that
    LO would later say that it is corrupt? Would XCopy have this problem
    or did the author of XXCopy introduce it. (Kan Yabumoto. He died at a
    fairly young age, or I would ask him.) NONE OF THESE. It's a hidden
    file.
    LIbreoffice says about it: The file '~$raishees.doc' is corrupt and therefore cannot be opened. LibreOffice can try to repair the file.
    The corruption could be the result of document manipulation or of
    structural document damage due to data transmission.
    We recommend that you do not trust the content of the repaired document. Execution of macros is disabled for this document.
    Should LibreOffice repair the file?

    I say Yes, but: The file '~$raishees.doc' could not be repaired and
    therefore cannot be opened.
    The file itself couldn't be important. It was proably some temp file
    for a file that is only 105 bytes long.

    - M

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From NONONOmisc07@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, March 15, 2026 15:31:48
    In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 15 Mar 2026 18:07:29 -0000 (UTC),
    malxau <invalid@invalid.net> wrote:

    In alt.comp.os.windows-10 micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
    I've been copying my friend's old hard drive to a flash drive...

    Not a pending problem, just FYI: I've copied about 35,000 files that he
    wrote, he downloaded, or which have a user extension, and every one of
    35,000 copied fine on the first try except the only two .doc files,
    which, strangely enough, worked fine when I clicked on them on his
    harddrive (which I removed from the laptop with the broken screen)...

    What was the flash drive formatted with? My guess would be copying from
    NTFS to FAT,

    You're right!

    and finding different restrictions between them. There's a
    pile of file naming issues that can confuse tools (are you comfortable >sharing file names?)

    The two files in the source drive are
    "F:\06_04_2019\..Parsha & P sheets\B'raishees.doc" and
    "F:\06_04_2019\..Parsha & P sheets\5777\B'raishees.doc"

    Both of them are 26,112 bytes but when opened, Libreffice counts 105 characters. Talk about overhead!!

    Both contain an apostrophe??, but he has a bunch of other files that
    copied fine whose names also have an apostrophe (the same one? Does it matter?). He also has a bunch of .docx files in that subdirectory that
    all got copied.

    FWIW, these two have the same date and time, to the minute

    I presume the dots are in the folder name so it will sort first.



    YOu can ignore the next paragraph. I realize I was not copying Hidden
    or System files and the file below is both. I almost always use /clone
    that copies all files, but for these copies I did not and the default is
    not to copy hidden or system files. Do I need to go back and get
    them...I don't think he needs them and I doubt there are any others.
    I see there was a third .doc file,with a time one minute later,
    Hidden and System, that didn't get copied and didn't get an error
    either. That is, XXCopy did't try to copy it!!
    "F:\06_04_2019\..Parsha & P sheets\5777\~$raishees.doc"
    It doesn't like the tilde? Or the dollar sign? It doesn't like that
    LO would later say that it is corrupt? Would XCopy have this problem
    or did the author of XXCopy introduce it. (Kan Yabumoto. He died at a
    fairly young age, or I would ask him.) NONE OF THESE. It's a hidden
    file.
    LIbreoffice says about it: The file '~$raishees.doc' is corrupt and therefore cannot be opened. LibreOffice can try to repair the file.
    The corruption could be the result of document manipulation or of
    structural document damage due to data transmission.
    We recommend that you do not trust the content of the repaired document. Execution of macros is disabled for this document.
    Should LibreOffice repair the file?

    I say Yes, but: The file '~$raishees.doc' could not be repaired and
    therefore cannot be opened.
    The file itself couldn't be important. It was proably some temp file
    for a file that is only 105 bytes long.

    - M

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From micky@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, March 15, 2026 15:34:11
    In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 15 Mar 2026 22:46:01 +1100, Daniel70 <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:


    My thoughts about using Google Docs would centre around the fact that
    once Google has your Docs, Google HAS your Docs.

    I think it was a grandchild who suggested google docs. They are too
    young to be suspicious. Until after something goes wrong.

    Mind you, that's just MY assumption (and you know what they say about
    people who ASSUME!!).

    Yes, I do.
    --
    Daniel70

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From knuttle@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, March 15, 2026 16:53:59
    On 03/15/2026 3:34 PM, micky wrote:
    In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 15 Mar 2026 22:46:01 +1100, Daniel70 <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:


    My thoughts about using Google Docs would centre around the fact that
    once Google has your Docs, Google HAS your Docs.

    I think it was a grandchild who suggested google docs. They are too
    young to be suspicious. Until after something goes wrong.

    Mind you, that's just MY assumption (and you know what they say about
    people who ASSUME!!).

    Yes, I do.
    --
    Daniel70
    I would second the previously made suggestion of the free Libre Office.

    In my experience it is completely compatible with MS office documents.

    It is simpler to use than both MS Office and Google Docs. I takes a
    lot to save a Google doc to your personal drive. If you send a
    document to some one, you have to do a lot of playing with the file to
    be able to read it. (I only use Google Docs if my grandson send one to me.)

    The menu of Libreoffice is a lot easier to use that the labyrinth that
    MS calls a menu. With Libreoffice, if you search for the function it
    shows you where the function is located in the menu. With MS Office it
    gives you an active link to the functions. Great for one time use, but
    the searching becomes burdensome in you are using the function all in
    the document

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From sticks@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, March 15, 2026 16:53:07
    On 3/15/2026 3:53 PM, knuttle wrote:

    The menu of Libreoffice is a lot easier to use that the labyrinth that
    MS calls a menu.ÿ With Libreoffice, if you search for the function it
    shows you where the function is located in the menu.ÿ With MS Office it gives you an active link to the functions.ÿ Great for one time use, but
    the searching becomes burdensome in you are using the function all in
    the document

    it should be right at the top of the list if your category selected is
    "Most Recently Used"


    --
    Science Doesn?t Support Darwin. Scientists Do


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Chris@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 10:34:02
    knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com> wrote:
    On 03/15/2026 3:34 PM, micky wrote:
    In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 15 Mar 2026 22:46:01 +1100, Daniel70
    <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:


    My thoughts about using Google Docs would centre around the fact that
    once Google has your Docs, Google HAS your Docs.

    I think it was a grandchild who suggested google docs. They are too
    young to be suspicious. Until after something goes wrong.

    Mind you, that's just MY assumption (and you know what they say about
    people who ASSUME!!).

    Yes, I do.
    --
    Daniel70
    I would second the previously made suggestion of the free Libre Office.

    In my experience it is completely compatible with MS office documents.

    Only the simplest text documents or spreadsheets. Any special formatting is difficult to maintain between office and libreoffice. Excel macros often
    don't work at all.

    Powerpoint compatibility is just terrible.

    It is simpler to use than both MS Office and Google Docs. I takes a
    lot to save a Google doc to your personal drive. If you send a
    document to some one, you have to do a lot of playing with the file to
    be able to read it. (I only use Google Docs if my grandson send one to me.)

    Obviously, using an unfamiliar system may seem complicated especially if
    you force it to work in not the best way.

    Googledocs aren't meant to be "sent" to people, but rather shared via
    google. No saving nor playing required. The permissions can be a bit
    fiddly, mind.

    If you do want to save the file then you can save it as native Libre Office format pretty simply. Not sure what you mean by "lots of playing".

    The menu of Libreoffice is a lot easier to use that the labyrinth that
    MS calls a menu. With Libreoffice, if you search for the function it
    shows you where the function is located in the menu. With MS Office it gives you an active link to the functions. Great for one time use, but
    the searching becomes burdensome in you are using the function all in
    the document





    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From J. P. Gilliver@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 13:39:12
    On 2026/3/17 10:34:2, Chris wrote:
    knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com> wrote:
    []
    I would second the previously made suggestion of the free Libre Office.

    In my experience it is completely compatible with MS office documents.

    Only the simplest text documents or spreadsheets. Any special formatting is difficult to maintain between office and libreoffice. Excel macros often don't work at all.

    Powerpoint compatibility is just terrible.

    It is simpler to use than both MS Office and Google Docs. I takes a
    lot to save a Google doc to your personal drive. If you send a
    document to some one, you have to do a lot of playing with the file to
    be able to read it. (I only use Google Docs if my grandson send one to me.)

    Obviously, using an unfamiliar system may seem complicated especially if
    you force it to work in not the best way.

    Agreed; trying to use something other than what you're used to always
    seems other than simple. I have "muscle memory" for Word 2003 and
    earlier - meaning I can do things without thinking of how I do them.
    Even the change to the "ribbon" interface in Word (2007 on I think)
    confuses me, let alone trying LibreOffice or any of the alternatives. (I
    think of .doc as a de fact standard [I've certainly not encountered any
    real case where .docx, or any other format, would actually give me
    something extra I'd actually use] - YMMV.)

    Googledocs aren't meant to be "sent" to people, but rather shared via
    google. No saving nor playing required. The permissions can be a bit
    fiddly, mind.

    If you do want to save the file then you can save it as native Libre Office format pretty simply. Not sure what you mean by "lots of playing".

    The menu of Libreoffice is a lot easier to use that the labyrinth that
    MS calls a menu. With Libreoffice, if you search for the function it
    shows you where the function is located in the menu. With MS Office it
    gives you an active link to the functions. Great for one time use, but
    the searching becomes burdensome in you are using the function all in
    the document


    That does sound a better design. (Though for anything other than simple
    things like "bold", you have to hope that the "help" creator anticipated
    the term you might search for, such as "alignment" rather than
    "justification" or vice versa.)


    --
    J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

    Where [other presenters] tackle the world with a box of watercolours,
    he takes a spanner. - David Butcher (on Guy Martin), RT 2015/1/31-2/6

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From micky@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 15:39:57
    In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 15 Mar 2026 16:53:59 -0400, knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com> wrote:

    On 03/15/2026 3:34 PM, micky wrote:
    In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 15 Mar 2026 22:46:01 +1100, Daniel70
    <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:


    My thoughts about using Google Docs would centre around the fact that
    once Google has your Docs, Google HAS your Docs.

    I think it was a grandchild who suggested google docs. They are too
    young to be suspicious. Until after something goes wrong.

    Mind you, that's just MY assumption (and you know what they say about
    people who ASSUME!!).

    Yes, I do.
    --
    Daniel70
    I would second the previously made suggestion of the free Libre Office.

    In my experience it is completely compatible with MS office documents.

    When it asks me if I want to save a document as .odt or .docx, I'm not
    sure what to do If I leave it as .odt will the person I send it to who
    only has Word be able to read an .odt? With no special efforts on his
    part, just click on it?

    Becasue I was not sure the answer above is Yes, I've saving files as
    .docx or .doc, whatever LO suggest in that box, but then it warns me
    that special features from LO may not be carried over. I don't use
    special features, except maybe Bold and colored tex. These seem old and
    pretty basic. Surely these would be carried over to MS Office, right???

    It is simpler to use than both MS Office and Google Docs. I takes a
    lot to save a Google doc to your personal drive. If you send a
    document to some one, you have to do a lot of playing with the file to
    be able to read it. (I only use Google Docs if my grandson send one to me.)

    The menu of Libreoffice is a lot easier to use that the labyrinth that
    MS calls a menu. With Libreoffice, if you search for the function it
    shows you where the function is located in the menu. With MS Office it

    I'll have to check that out. I really should use LO more often instead
    of notepad or ++. Plus-plus has a really wierd method of new lines, paragraphs, etc.

    gives you an active link to the functions. Great for one time use, but
    the searching becomes burdensome in you are using the function all in
    the document

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From J. P. Gilliver@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 20:46:02
    On 2026/3/18 19:39:57, micky wrote:
    []
    When it asks me if I want to save a document as .odt or .docx, I'm not
    sure what to do If I leave it as .odt will the person I send it to who
    only has Word be able to read an .odt? With no special efforts on his
    part, just click on it?

    I would always save as .doc; that can be read by old versions of Word,
    new versions of Word, LibreOffice, and most other WPs (not sure about WordPerfect, if that still exists).

    Becasue I was not sure the answer above is Yes, I've saving files as
    .docx or .doc, whatever LO suggest in that box, but then it warns me
    that special features from LO may not be carried over. I don't use
    special features, except maybe Bold and colored tex. These seem old and pretty basic. Surely these would be carried over to MS Office, right???

    Bold and coloured text have been part of anything other than plain text
    editors for decades - I'm pretty sure they're there in Wordpad, even
    Write (from Windows 3.x).

    I have used WPs that not only tell you that certain features may be
    lost, but actually tell you which ones in the current document they are.
    At least, I think I have. But even if not, I think it's unlikely you
    _are_ using any such facilities without knowing.
    []
    I'll have to check that out. I really should use LO more often instead
    of notepad or ++. Plus-plus has a really wierd method of new lines, paragraphs, etc.

    notepad (with one or two +s) is really intended for plain text, or maybe
    source code (where the + ones can pre-colour certain aspects of many
    common programming languages); they're not really appropriate for word-processing, e. g. with fonts that have variable-width characters
    (e. g. i narrow, w wide). Equally, I _wouldn't_ use Word (or LO, Write, WordPad, WordPerfect, ...) for such "documents" (texts).
    []
    --
    J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

    Never make the same mistake twice...there are so many new ones to make!

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Paul@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 18:34:16
    On Wed, 3/18/2026 3:39 PM, micky wrote:
    In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 15 Mar 2026 16:53:59 -0400, knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com> wrote:

    On 03/15/2026 3:34 PM, micky wrote:
    In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 15 Mar 2026 22:46:01 +1100, Daniel70
    <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:


    My thoughts about using Google Docs would centre around the fact that
    once Google has your Docs, Google HAS your Docs.

    I think it was a grandchild who suggested google docs. They are too
    young to be suspicious. Until after something goes wrong.

    Mind you, that's just MY assumption (and you know what they say about
    people who ASSUME!!).

    Yes, I do.
    --
    Daniel70
    I would second the previously made suggestion of the free Libre Office.

    In my experience it is completely compatible with MS office documents.

    When it asks me if I want to save a document as .odt or .docx, I'm not
    sure what to do If I leave it as .odt will the person I send it to who
    only has Word be able to read an .odt? With no special efforts on his
    part, just click on it?

    Becasue I was not sure the answer above is Yes, I've saving files as
    .docx or .doc, whatever LO suggest in that box, but then it warns me
    that special features from LO may not be carried over. I don't use
    special features, except maybe Bold and colored tex. These seem old and pretty basic. Surely these would be carried over to MS Office, right???

    It is simpler to use than both MS Office and Google Docs. I takes a
    lot to save a Google doc to your personal drive. If you send a
    document to some one, you have to do a lot of playing with the file to
    be able to read it. (I only use Google Docs if my grandson send one to me.) >>
    The menu of Libreoffice is a lot easier to use that the labyrinth that
    MS calls a menu. With Libreoffice, if you search for the function it
    shows you where the function is located in the menu. With MS Office it

    I'll have to check that out. I really should use LO more often instead
    of notepad or ++. Plus-plus has a really wierd method of new lines, paragraphs, etc.

    gives you an active link to the functions. Great for one time use, but
    the searching becomes burdensome in you are using the function all in
    the document

    Microsoft offers some comparisons between .odt and .docx

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/differences-between-the-opendocument-text-odt-format-and-the-word-docx-format-d9d51a92-56d1-4794-8b68-5efb57aebfdc

    For the communications part of documents (formatted text, inserted images)
    it shouldn't make much difference if you are writing "marketing documents"
    to send to a client.

    It's only if you get super-fancy, that you're likely to get caught in
    one of the little traps.

    If you are writing book style documents, five hundred pages with a
    lot of generated metadata (TOC, Appendix, Blbliography), you might run
    into a rough edge or two.

    But if you were communicating with John and his .doc capability,
    then you would avoid showing off your desktop publishing prowess
    and just stick with basics.

    For the tool we used at work, you could construct things that
    would cause pain for other tools, and that is why some of
    those sorts of documents were called "benchmarks" by their
    creator. Our IT department could break just about anything.

    Paul

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    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)