Solve : Software needed for college??

1.	Solve : Software needed for college??
Answer» My good friends son is in college and needs software to use in his classwork. Personally owned computers hardly existed in the 1970's when I was in school so I don't know what to download for him. He knows it will cost $. What criteria do I need to ASK him what the software is needed for. I'm guessing maybe something like Microsoft 2007 suite SP3, Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc. Suggestions? Thanks, MikeHe doesn't have to buy anything. Possibly the institution will have a list of recommended products and information about how to get them for free. In some places use of Linux based material is acceptable. Linux is free to use and commercial support is available for those that need it. Quote ... middle-aged (41) and attending as an undergraduate in Computer Science at K-State. I'm finding that the colleges find out from the workforce what languages are most popular and teach that. I'm learning Java ATM, and learned Python last SEMESTER. I like Python a lot better, as Java makes things unnecessarily complicated, IMO. The only class where you can learn linux is Introduction to Unix. My experience is that you will have to learn these languages that the workplace wants, whether you like the language or not. Java isn't my cup of tea, but if it helps me get a job one day, then so be it. As for Slackware, I'm discovering the same THING you are; there's not a whole lot of enthusiasm for Linux or anything Unix on campus. It seems most students use whatever OS came with their computers (although a few students are downgrading (or is it upgrading?) from Windows 8 to 7. A couple of students are using UBUNTU, but I'm not finding anyone else who is using Slackware here. That's alright, though. I kind of like being the geek stud on campus. From http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/linux-use-in-college-and-work-4175477673/ No, that one poster does not represent the majority of students in the USA. But in what region do you mean? In some countries Linux or Unix is preferred by teachers and students. Linux is well used in France, Germany and Spain. Perhaps other countries, I am not sure. OH, Denmark, of course. http://linux.slashdot.org/story/02/12/23/0142221/all-schools-in-denmark-switching-to-linux So in a nutshell, don't bu anything. It really depends on what his course requires, all he will almost certainly need will be an office suite and web browser, he can always install other stuff as needed. You could either get a copy of Office 2013 or depending on what college he goes to you may be able to get a subscription to Office 365 University. Office 365 University works out to be extremely good value, it costs $79.99 for a 4 year subscription and gives you the entire Office 2013 suite with Word, Excel, Powerpoint.etc as well as 1tb(!) of OneDrive online storage. He would need to check with his college though to see if he would be eligible to get this. Also, since you are getting Office on a subscription basis, you will get updates for free so when the next version of Office comes out, he will get it free of charge whereas if you bought a copy of 2013 outright you would need to purchase the new version all over again. Alternatively, if all he is doing is writing essays.etc then even using something free like Google Drive could work well for documents. What I said above also applies to lots of software, many companies offer large discounts to students on their software or even offer it for free so it is certainly worth checking out before buying the software outright. If he requires anything else specifically for his studies, this will likely be advised of by the college.Thanks guys. I just talked to him and told him he really needs to get more information from the school about what he needs. I'll post back with any further questions if needed after we find out that info. The University discounts for software are hefty indeed...it would be silly for you to pay full price. Quote from: mangotango on August 21, 2014, 03:56:24 AM today you can find free analogs to every paid software. And much of the time you get what you pay for. Quote from: camerongray on August 09, 2014, 06:43:32 PM ... if you bought a copy of 2013 outright you would need to purchase the new version all over again. Cameron, can you clarify that? Why would he need to purchase the new version all over again? If he bought Office 2013 as a freshman, he could surely use it during 4 years of college. Quote from: soybean on August 22, 2014, 06:52:06 PM Cameron, can you clarify that? Why would he need to purchase the new version all over again? If he bought Office 2013 as a freshman, he could surely use it during 4 years of college. Quote since you are getting Office on a subscription basis, you will get updates for free so when the next version of Office comes out, he will get it free of charge whereas if you bought a copy of 2013 outright you would need to purchase the new version all over again. The 4-year subscription would include a new update- say, Office 2015. Whereas if one bought 2013 normally (not subscription) they couldn't get said new 2015 version for free and would have to buy it. He's commenting more on the value trade-off; it's limited to the subscription term but you get new versions at no extra cost, whereas if you buy Office 2013 you will be using Office 2013. Nothing would stop you from using it the entire time and I doubt any possible 2015 features could really make said new version particularly desirable, myself. Quote from: BC_Programmer on August 22, 2014, 07:26:25 PM Nothing would stop you from using it the entire time and I doubt any possible 2015 features could really make said new version particularly desirable, myself. Yes, that was my point. A 4 year time span does not, in any practical way, render a version of MS Office obsolete. I'm still using Office 2007 on my desktop and laptop. MS releases major updates, Service Packs, for Office in the same manner as for Windows. I now have SP3 in Office 2007 and continue getting minor updates (security-related and otherwise) along with Windows updates. Yeah, I didn't explain it that well. I was just meaning that if a new version of office came out and the person wanted to upgrade for whatever reason, they would have to pay for the new version. The old version would still work fine.

Answer»

My good friends son is in college and needs software to use in his classwork. Personally owned computers hardly existed in the 1970's when I was in school so I don't know what to download for him. He knows it will cost $. What criteria do I need to ASK him what the software is needed for. I'm guessing maybe something like Microsoft 2007 suite SP3, Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc. Suggestions?
Thanks,
MikeHe doesn't have to buy anything. Possibly the institution will have a list of recommended products and information about how to get them for free.
In some places use of Linux based material is acceptable. Linux is free to use and commercial support is available for those that need it.
Quote

... middle-aged (41) and attending as an undergraduate in Computer Science at K-State. I'm finding that the colleges find out from the workforce what languages are most popular and teach that. I'm learning Java ATM, and learned Python last SEMESTER. I like Python a lot better, as Java makes things unnecessarily complicated, IMO. The only class where you can learn linux is Introduction to Unix. My experience is that you will have to learn these languages that the workplace wants, whether you like the language or not. Java isn't my cup of tea, but if it helps me get a job one day, then so be it.

As for Slackware, I'm discovering the same THING you are; there's not a whole lot of enthusiasm for Linux or anything Unix on campus. It seems most students use whatever OS came with their computers (although a few students are downgrading (or is it upgrading?) from Windows 8 to 7. A couple of students are using UBUNTU, but I'm not finding anyone else who is using Slackware here. That's alright, though. I kind of like being the geek stud on campus.

From http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/linux-use-in-college-and-work-4175477673/

No, that one poster does not represent the majority of students in the USA. But in what region do you mean? In some countries Linux or Unix is preferred by teachers and students.

Linux is well used in France, Germany and Spain. Perhaps other countries, I am not sure. OH, Denmark, of course.
http://linux.slashdot.org/story/02/12/23/0142221/all-schools-in-denmark-switching-to-linux
So in a nutshell, don't bu anything.

It really depends on what his course requires, all he will almost certainly need will be an office suite and web browser, he can always install other stuff as needed.

You could either get a copy of Office 2013 or depending on what college he goes to you may be able to get a subscription to Office 365 University.

Office 365 University works out to be extremely good value, it costs $79.99 for a 4 year subscription and gives you the entire Office 2013 suite with Word, Excel, Powerpoint.etc as well as 1tb(!) of OneDrive online storage. He would need to check with his college though to see if he would be eligible to get this. Also, since you are getting Office on a subscription basis, you will get updates for free so when the next version of Office comes out, he will get it free of charge whereas if you bought a copy of 2013 outright you would need to purchase the new version all over again.

Alternatively, if all he is doing is writing essays.etc then even using something free like Google Drive could work well for documents.

What I said above also applies to lots of software, many companies offer large discounts to students on their software or even offer it for free so it is certainly worth checking out before buying the software outright.

If he requires anything else specifically for his studies, this will likely be advised of by the college.Thanks guys. I just talked to him and told him he really needs to get more information from the school about what he needs. I'll post back with any further questions if needed after we find out that info.

The University discounts for software are hefty indeed...it would be silly for you to pay full price. Quote from: mangotango on August 21, 2014, 03:56:24 AM

today you can find free analogs to every paid software.

And much of the time you get what you pay for. Quote from: camerongray on August 09, 2014, 06:43:32 PM

... if you bought a copy of 2013 outright you would need to purchase the new version all over again.

Cameron, can you clarify that? Why would he need to purchase the new version all over again? If he bought Office 2013 as a freshman, he could surely use it during 4 years of college. Quote from: soybean on August 22, 2014, 06:52:06 PM

Cameron, can you clarify that? Why would he need to purchase the new version all over again? If he bought Office 2013 as a freshman, he could surely use it during 4 years of college.

Quote

since you are getting Office on a subscription basis, you will get updates for free so when the next version of Office comes out, he will get it free of charge whereas if you bought a copy of 2013 outright you would need to purchase the new version all over again.

The 4-year subscription would include a new update- say, Office 2015. Whereas if one bought 2013 normally (not subscription) they couldn't get said new 2015 version for free and would have to buy it. He's commenting more on the value trade-off; it's limited to the subscription term but you get new versions at no extra cost, whereas if you buy Office 2013 you will be using Office 2013. Nothing would stop you from using it the entire time and I doubt any possible 2015 features could really make said new version particularly desirable, myself.
Quote from: BC_Programmer on August 22, 2014, 07:26:25 PM

Nothing would stop you from using it the entire time and I doubt any possible 2015 features could really make said new version particularly desirable, myself.

Yes, that was my point. A 4 year time span does not, in any practical way, render a version of MS Office obsolete. I'm still using Office 2007 on my desktop and laptop. MS releases major updates, Service Packs, for Office in the same manner as for Windows. I now have SP3 in Office 2007 and continue getting minor updates (security-related and otherwise) along with Windows updates. Yeah, I didn't explain it that well. I was just meaning that if a new version of office came out and the person wanted to upgrade for whatever reason, they would have to pay for the new version. The old version would still work fine.

Solve : Software needed for college??

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