When someone comes to eat me alive, well I like to see their teeth

[venta]

So, here I am just trotting off to bed when I remember that I meant to post some questions here. They're not my questions, but they're questions which have been asked of me recently and I've either not had anything terribly interesting to say, or not known the answer.


What is the difference between the various versions of Windows XP ? What does the Media Center Edition do that the Professional Edition or the Home Edition doesn't ? Or what doesn't it do that they do ? I've found a few pages which are full of marketing fluff and little meaning - can anyone actually define any known concrete differences ?

Has anyone ever used M$ Works, in particular its spreadsheet program ? Are there any limitations to it (compared to Excel), in particular on the maximum width/height of spreadsheets, or compatibility with Excel files ?

And the other question. Which was important. But I've forgotten it. Bonus points if you can answer it anyway.


The last enquiry isn't so much as a do-you-know-the-answer question as a request for feedback. You, yes you, could be the voice of the younger generation because my mother wants to know what said generation thinks about buying winter clothes.

Apparently some shops (like Next) are saying that the biggest effect anything had on their sales this season was the cold snap in Novemeber. Apparently everyone suddenly thought "shit, it's winter, I'd better buy a jumper" all at once. I certainly remember a conversation with a friend around then in which he expressed a requirement for warm clothes. "I have no memory of throwing out all my warm clothes last year," he said "but it looks like I just have done".

I, being very boring, simply raked the stack of jumpers out the back of the wardrobe. Fashion, you say ? What's that ?

So, did anyone feel compelled to go out and buy winter clothes in November ? Do you chuck away winter clothes at the beginning of spring ? If you know you need a nice new coat for winter do you start looking in Autumn, or do you wait til it gets cold ? Were you forced into purchasing an inferior coat in a hurry because you'd been stuck looking for one you liked, but were outpaced by the weather ? Enquiring minds wish to know.

Comments

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Well, there's a reasonable overview here:

  http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp

The most recent versions of Works do indeed interoperate with Microsoft Office. But Works itself is poo and you generally don't want to use it. Note that sometimes Microsoft bundle bits of Office software under the Works name. For example, I have a legal copy of MS Word I bought by picking up a £13 bundle entitled "Works Suite" which included it (!). (See also Wikipedia.)

I would never throw out a good jumper. I am on a perpetual quest to buy a good new one and triskellian and I have a mutual black-jumper-buying pact should we ever find a good one again. (We used to own identical black Moto ones which were perfect - mine literally fell apart after about 10 years.)

[triskellian]

I discovered last week that I'd somehow never got around to throwing out that jumper. It looked so sad and threadbare, so I've finally given it a decent throwing away :-(

I've mostly given up on jumpers, but I'm working on a collection of black garments on the cardigan-wrap spectrum, so I just carry on wearing the same clothes I wear all year round, with an extra layer or two of black woolly stuff. But a recent shopping excursion with sesquipedality led me to the conclusion that the only cardigans for sale at the moment are really dumb shapes, like the bastard offspring of a shrug and a bolero, so I'm trying to work up the enthusiasm to just knit myself one that I know I'll like.

And I spent two years looking for my last winter coat. I knew what I wanted, and it wasn't like it was anything outlandish (black, ankle length, swishy 'skirt', no stupid fiddly bits like fake fur collars), but it took two years. The resulting coat is too big, but it's lovely, and I'm going to wear it forever. So there.

[edling.livejournal.com]

But Works itself is poo
Amen to that. Can't say I've ever used it. If you're looking at something that will interoperate with Office but doesn't have a huge price tag I'd give Openoffice a look. I suspect it'd be better at Excel compatibility than Works, and from my limited use of it, it does the job happily enough

[(Anonymous)]

Works Suite is indeed Works + bolt-ons, one of which is Word. I believe the most recent Works Suite still contains Word 2003. If you want Word, the cheapest way of getting it is to pick up a copy of Works Suite 2003 on eBay for about £10.

The rest of Works Suite is (to me) rubbish. If you want Excell compatibility it's no good.

[broadmeadow.livejournal.com]

That was me!