We slightly got into this in another thread recently but this is to make it clearer…
I can’t tolerate Copilot popping up all over the place so I think it’s Adios for MS Office. I used open Office on the boy’s PC and it was fine so I know the functions I need (nothing very clever) are there. Before I go the whole hog, are there any hidden gotcha’s I need to think about? Browser wise there are plenty of options. I’m thinking more about OneDrive etc, which I already cordially detest, which can occasionally duplicate everything or delete everything.
Experiences please!
I haven’t used the Libre Office spreadsheet app for a while but the way it deals with macros is not the same as Excel so if you don’t use macros, fine, if you do, then you’ll have some work to do and you can’t flip back and forth so sharing spreadsheets with others is a problem. I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem with formulas not being compatible with Excel. As far as the database is concerned, you can import an access spreadsheet but the format means that you may need to write a whole new set of reports.
The word processer app is much closer to Word than it’s ever been but again macros may be a problem but these days that’s a fairly specialist use.
You can turn it off:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-to-turn-off-copilot-in-microsoft-365-family-and-personal-subscriptions-bc7e530b-152d-4123-8e78-edc06f8b85f1
It’s still there though. You just can’t see it.
You can say that about a lot of Windows crap. By just disabling it you can carry on without having to install anything or changing any routines.
Very true.
..and Microsoft have previous for turning your turned off/unwanted “features” back on, when you install OS updates.
Ha, yes also very true, fortunately we have a solution. The following steps should stop that*:
1). Search for regedit and open the Registry Editor.
2). Open the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
3). From the left sidebar, right-click on Windows and select New. Choose the Key option.
4). Name it WindowsCopilot and hit enter.
5). Right click on the newly created key and select ‘New\DWORD (32-bit)Value. Name it “TurnOffWindowsCopilot”
6). Double-click the TurnOffWindowsCopilot DWORD. Change its value from 0 to 1.
7). Click on Ok and restart your computer.
You shouldn’t be seeing Copilot again regardless of Microsofts bullying nonsense. I’ve used this on my personal PC and those of a couple of friends with no problems so far.
*The usual caveats about going into the registry apply.
NB This method works on the dreadful Edge browser as well
Thanks I’ll try that. I don’t find Edge too bad though OneDrive I think is atrocious and just doesn’t work.
Hmm…the only time Copilot pops up for me is if I hover the cursor over the Copilot symbol in the top corner. ??
I was writing a Word document and EVERY LINE it popped back up and suggested it could help me write it. No, go away.
Ah, well, that’s the advantage of having a really old version of Word then!
Nothing pops up for me!
Never upgrade unless you can’t avoid it. Especially on Mac!
I have a persistent problem with the latest 24h2 major upgrade to Windows 11.
All of my music files, podcasts, downloaded radio shows etc. are kept on a couple of Raspberry Pi computers on my network, with large hard disks attached, and are normally available as mapped network drives in Windows. Media Monkey will happily play stuff from a network drive.
For some reason this new major Windows 11 update won’t give me access to my network drives, but if I revert to the previous 23h2 version they become available again. It’s an issue that’s been flagged up by several other people, but Microsoft don’t appear to be taking it seriously. I have therefore had to pause non-security updates for 5 weeks (the maximum period Windows Update will allow, currently).
The current 5-week pause will end on February 10th. If the problem is still there (I’m not hopeful), I’ll be reporting it as a bug YET AGAIN, rolling back to the current 23h2 version and suspending updates for another 5 weeks.
I think Microsoft have lost the plot with this particular update, which as far as I can see offers nothing of great use to users over the previous version, just ties them more tightly into their corporate clutches.
24H2 now defaults to requiring external shares to have passwords assigned, which breaks many home NAS and other devices.
It can be fixed by a registry setting, or a group policy on Windows 11 Professional. This article gives full details:
https://pureinfotech.com/fix-smb-signing-error-nas-windows-11/
Nothing ever pops up for me these days either
I get adverts for tablets for that
I have MS Office running on my Mac. I use the apps rather than the M365 browser versions and CoPilot sits benignly in the background to date. I will keep an eye on it. I have found CoPilot to be interesting and useful as well.
I prefer to have apps updated mainly for the security and somewhat for the additional functionality. Sometimes it means I have to change a setting back but a quick Google and it’s normally simple to turn features off (or back on) again.
The problem I have with the free ones is lack of continuity with the bulk of documents I share or have shared. To be honest, I normally find a M365 sub on Amazon for about £50 per annum. That provides one drive and apps for the family. I could spend more on a coffee than that for 1 month – it’s great value.
Co-pilot can be handy editing tool, especially if, like me, you have sausage fingers that hit the wrong key on occasion, or miss out one altogether. Mistakes thus shine like beacon, allowing corrections to be made. But, the roundabout key based cut n paste drives me barmy, as the simpler way doesn’t “work”, using 365 on a MacBook. Hence why I seldom quote lyrics for one platform I scribble on.
P.S. And I’d have likely spotted the missing a before handy, beacon for beacons etc etc