Been using Open Office for a long time. It has started misbehaving with very large spreadsheets. You know, locking up and randomly crashing. You tend to lose data which is a very bad thing.

I updated OO, but the result was the same. I went to the interweb to see if there is some fix available. It was the usual collection of "experts" dishing out recommendations like "stand on your head while booting" or "reinstall your operating system" (yeah, right). None of them said, "Get rid of Open Office and try Microsoft Office." I got a year subscription to Microsoft Office (about $70). Downloaded and installed and it worked perfectly from the get-go. I will have to say that the annual subscription plan is great. I have the same thing for Adobe products (Light room, etc.) They get a steady income stream and I get timely updates. I gave Open Office the heave-ho (uninstalled) this morning.

I got to thinking back to when I got Photoshop for the first time. We're talking dark ages here. Twenty years or so. I seem to remember Photoshop 6 in there somewhere. Back in those days you bought the software on a disc. It cost $500 or so. I also got started with Lightroom (thanks to Dave Beeden) a little later. It was expensive also. So you had to really think if you wanted to upgrade. I am sure I skipped several versions along the way. Now with the annual subscription of $120, it is a good deal all around. Things have come a long way in photography.