Software. Anti-virus/Microsoft Office

[Lovejoy96]

Hi guys, quick question regarding Anti-Virus and something similar to Microsoft Office Home and Student.

I will be attending University in September and in need of something similar to Microsoft Office but I am not willing to pay a what they are charging so I was looking for an alternative, what would you guys recommend? I need Spreadsheets, Presentation and Word. Anything else is a bonus. I am willing to pay but nothing crazy, if it's free that's perfect.

Also what would be the best combination in terms of Malware and Anti-virus software? Looking for something which doesn't alert me constantly and doesn't impact my PC speed. ^ Same again, dependent on the reliability and reviews of the software I would be willing to pay.

Also; I will be ordering this spec in the next upcoming week is there anything I am missing? And a question regarding 'DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
2nd/3rd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY (9.5mm)' I opted for a SSD meaning I have to sacrifice the DvD/blue-ray drive how would I go about installing software or would the disc reader still be there?

(Merely for university work, browsing, films music etc no gaming)

Chassis & Display
UltraNote: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-4210M (2.60GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 4600
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 410MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
2nd/3rd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY (9.5mm)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-7260 (300Mbps, 802.11BGN) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
ULTRANOTE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1
Thanks all

 

[vanthus]

You might be interested in looking at the free Libre office as an alternative to Microsoft Office.

LibreOffice is the new OpenOffice, when Oracle bought over OpenOffice , a complete copy of all the OpenOffice code was maintained open-source, and thats what LibreOffice is.
It has "Writer" A word processor with similar functionality and file support to Microsoft Word.
"Calc" a spreadsheet program, similar to Microsoft Excel & also other similar components of Microsoft Office.No harm in giving it a try.
http://www.libreoffice.org/download
For Anti-virus and Malware I use Microsoft Seccurity Essentials and Malwarebytes.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/security-essentials-download

https://www.malwarebytes.org/

 

[Lovejoy96]

Thanks alot, any other suggestions anyone?

 

[grimsbymatt]

Open office has had a new version out relatively recently. Alternatively, the student version of Microsoft Office 365 is £80 for 4 years. I use avast for free antivirus.

 

[grimsbymatt]

That said, avast has started popup advertising a lot recently.

 

[TheGeeza]

I used NOD and recently switched to avast free. Much lighter on the system and does just as good a job although the advertisements can get quite annoying at times.
I always use malwarebytes free too.

MSE is great too.

 

[tom_gr7]

I use Kaspersky, Have done for two years now. No issues, doesnt seem to hog resources, pretty happy with it and will probably buy another version when the time comes.

As for Office, check out software4students.co.uk, they have offers on every now and then.