MS Office vs. Kingsoft WPS Office

I'm in a little bit of a pickle. I have MS Office Pro 2003 installed on my home computers. Until recently I have been able share files with work without a problem. But newer Office files are not playing nice with my older version of MS Office. I have the compatibility pack installed, but that only allows for one-way conversions; sometimes with lost features.

I downloaded and installed the latest copy of Kingsoft WPS Office, and found that it has improved compared to the last time I took it for a spin about 2 or 3 years ago. I recall that the older version could not properly convert a heavily formatted Excel file. The latest version of WPS Office does the conversion quite nicely, even if it isn't perfect. But more importantly it does not pooch the formatting.

However, the free WPS Office version does not handle macros. The paid version (WPS Office Pro) does, but the one showstopper I have is that WPS Office does not have a replacement for MS Access. No other Office replacements do the job as well as WPS Office either.

I have 2 other options. One is to keep what I have and only work out of an office computer, but this is far from ideal. The other is to purchase MS Office Pro 2010, currently selling for $139.99 at Amazon. This is for the Academic version, with no verification required. I would then have to use UBitMenu to undo the miserable ribbon interface.

Buying MS Office Pro 2010 seems to be my best solution. But I hate the idea of rewarding MS for what I perceive as a bloated, crappy product. I really like WPS Office and how smooth it is, and I admit that I really like the idea of free vs. paid. But without a replacement for Access, it's only a partial solution. Actually I'd need to buy the WPS Office Pro version for $69.95, as I need to be able to write macros.

For now I keep limping along with MS Office Pro 2003.

I cannot help with Access but I think you are letting your dislike for MS (maybe dislike is not strong enough) effect your work and life.  I'd suggest you buy the product so you can continue working the way you want and put off the M&P a couple more months.

Just as an aside, S&W has made a design/manufacturing change in the M&P trigger control system earlier this year with reported very positive results.  If you want the details I'll put them in a new thread.  But when you get ready I'd recommend you search for a current model.
BTW, Glock has released the 43, a single stack 9mm that might be of interest to you.  But you probably knew that.

You're right that I should just buy Microsoft Office Pro, as that's the only real solution that will keep me fully compatible with my work needs. I just hate giving in. Too bad Kingsoft doesn't have a database.

By all means, I'm interested in the M&P trigger info.

Yep, I'm familiar with the single stack Glock 9mm too. It looks like a nice popgun.

So far I've decided to.... do nothing. Dang it.

I have left WPS Office installed for now, and it opens/saves my documents by default without issues. So that part is nice. But when typing a document in Writer, I notice that the spell checker is so aggressive that it red lines words I have not finished typing out yet. Once the word is typed out, then the red line goes away. It's a trivial matter, but it can be irritating at times.

I should just quit my job. 

I ended up taking Kingsoft WPS Office off of my computer. While I maintain it's a great program (it really is), there were minor issues that made it inconvenient for me. I noticed the margins are different when I print a document from within WPS Writer. On plain text documents it didn't matter that much, although it was noticeable, but on others it mattered a lot. The issue I mentioned about the aggressive spell checker was also getting old. One other thing is that WPS (at least WPS Spreadsheets) does not do a very good job scaling down screen fonts as compared to MS Office.

While these are minor problems, it won't work due to my specific needs. So I'm back to relying on MS Office 2003 for the moment. I'm leery of the Amazon deal I mentioned in my first poast after reading some of the reviews. I knew it was too good to be true. I'll probably get an Office 365 subscription as an alternative.

UPDATE: I checked online for the Office 365 subscription and I found a great deal. The $79 HP Stream 7 tablet (currently on sale from $99 and purchased through Microsoft) includes a 1-year subscription to MS Office 365 Personal, valued at $69.99. It apparently also comes with a Windows Store $25 gift card. Although it is only for use on one PC and one tablet, it will give me the chance to see if I want to upgrade to 365 Home after a year. With the included 1-year subscription, it's like buying the tablet for only $9. The free shipping and $25 gift card doesn't hurt either.

Scuzzy; I'm living in a kind of daydream.

I just bought the tablet. Including tax it came out to $82.08. While I don't really have a need for another tablet, I figure I can pass it on to one of my kiddos.

Scuzzy; just passing through.

You have a unique way of solving problems!  Pictures of the tablet look like windows 8 or 8.1, yes? 

Well, it's a solution. I think.

The installed OS is Windows 8.1, but I won't use the tablet anyway. I don't plan to turn it on, unless I have to in order to activate MS Office 365. I'll likely give it to one of our kids. If they don't want it, then I'll sell on Craigslist for 60 bucks or so.