Upgrade to OS Mojave? Also MS Office: sub or buy?

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amergina

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Now that I've turned in my manuscript and can take the time to upgrade my software...

...is upgrading to Mojave a good bet? Often Apple needs some time to shake out the bugs in their OSs after they release them. Mojave good to go? (I have a late 2013 15" MacBook Pro.)

Also, I need to upgrade Microsoft Office. I currently have 2011 installed, and its been EOLed, more or less. I really only use Word. On very rare occasions I might use Excel. Is getting a 365 subscription *worth* it? Or should I, once I upgrade to Mojave, buy Office 2019 outright?

I have a serious hesitancy to succumb to the software subscription model... but that might be me being an old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud.

PS: Don't tell me not to use Word. I draft in Scrivener, but I need Word professionally because .doc/.docx is the format publishers and editors use when sending electronic markups and I have found over the years that the best software for interacting with .doc/.docx files when there's a ton of track changes is, in fact, Word. Believe me, I would love for this not to be the case, but it isn't. So I'm going to use Word.
 

lizmonster

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For what it's worth: I have an early 2013 15" MBP and I've had no trouble with Mojave. Your personal mileage may vary, as is always true. I've had some complaining from what appears to be a Creative Cloud support program, but neither Photoshop nor Illustrator (the only ones I've used since the upgrade) have given me any grief.

Re: Word. I didn't even know you could buy it outright anymore! I've had 365 for a couple of years. Although I too am not a big fan of the subscription model, I have no complaints - and it does sync nicely with the iOS verison.
 

AW Admin

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If you have an old school hard drive (vs an SSD) I'd wait until you have an SSD.

There's some potentially really annoying slow down with old-school hard drives.

It's not that expensive or that difficult to buy a case for the old hard drive, and install a new SSD.

That way you have the benefit of a clean install, plus your old drive.

And absolutely backup before you upgrade to Mojave.
 

ap123

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I upgraded to Mojave last week, so far so good.

As for Word/Microsoft Office (ymmv, you may use it for other things), when I bought this laptop I refused to buy it again when I realized it is now solely subscription based and it was so pricey on top of what I'd just paid for the laptop. I've been working in Pages, and it is super easy to convert to a .docx when I want to send a file off. I'm the person they write those Idiot's Guide To... books for, and I've been able to figure it out quickly and comfortably.
 

lizmonster

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I've been working in Pages, and it is super easy to convert to a .docx when I want to send a file off. I'm the person they write those Idiot's Guide To... books for, and I've been able to figure it out quickly and comfortably.

I love Pages, and have used it for years. But when I was working with an editor who used Word, I found some issues with compatibility of the Track Changes features. Ditto with LibreOffice/OpenOffice. It's possible cross-compatibility has improved, but it's not something I want to risk, so I pay for 365.
 

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I have an SSD, thankfully. I regularly back up to a TimeCapsule, too.

I'd say go for it, if you've got the space. Mojave takes up a little more room than High Sierra.

And the current version of MS Word with Track changes no longer works quite perfectly with Pages Track Changes, so I'd get MS Word.

I'd suggest the subscription, honestly, because you get automatic updates if there are issues.
 

amergina

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I love Pages, and have used it for years. But when I was working with an editor who used Word, I found some issues with compatibility of the Track Changes features. Ditto with LibreOffice/OpenOffice. It's possible cross-compatibility has improved, but it's not something I want to risk, so I pay for 365.

Yup. I was an early adopter of Pages and used it for drafting before Scrivener. But I, too, found weird incompatibility issues when going back and forth with docx when change tracking was enabled.

I can't afford those errors, which is why I put the PS into my post. I *have* tried other software. I'm a tech writer by trade and am extraordinarily adaptable when it comes to writing software.

I need Word for working with editors/publishers/agents. The best, most compatible software to handle Word documents is Word. I don't *like* Word. I curse it regularly. I still need it.
 

amergina

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I'd say go for it, if you've got the space. Mojave takes up a little more room than High Sierra.

And the current version of MS Word with Track changes no longer works quite perfectly with Pages Track Changes, so I'd get MS Word.

I'd suggest the subscription, honestly, because you get automatic updates if there are issues.

I upgraded last night, and it seems to be working well.

Yeah, as much as I don't like the thought, I'm thinking the subscription route might be the best. I *can* write it off as a business expense.
 

Dennis E. Taylor

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I've been buying Office for years. I'm not by nature a fan of the subscription model. However, Microsloth finally made it worth my while. $99.95 per year gets me office on up to 5 pc's (and as it turns out, I own 5 pc's), 50 GB storage with outlook.com (1 GB with shaw) and a terabyte on OneDrive. So I switched, and it seems okay so far.
 

tiddlywinks

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IF you still want to avoid the blergh that is subscription and save some dough on Word, keep an eye out on Techbargains.com or go check on SDCKey.com. I've found several sweet deals on the full MS Office Pro Plus Suite (like the whole 2016 suite for $25). I've seen some deals on 2019 floating out there as well. Not that low but at least half off.
 
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