On Saturday 23 February 2008 06:38:22 Andreas wrote:
> Hello,
>
> now that microsoft has partially opened the documentation of the .doc
> format, is there a chance that better doc compatibility will become a
> primary objective  ?
>
> Thanks
> Andreas
>
> A frustrated IT director that got the order to reinstall word 2000
> because of not so good .doc compatibility


Hi Andreas,

Could you enumerate the compatibility issues for us.

Having dealt with a number of migrations the "Compatibility" reason has been 
brought up on a number of occasions.  When investigated it was simply found 
to be issues caused by lack of understanding and training during the 
migration process.  

The common one is file formats.  Many Simple End Users don't understand the 
concept of file formats.  After all, unless you tell it otherwise Windows 
will hide all common file extensions.  The document is saved as a document, 
doesn't matter if it's .doc or .odt or .wpt, it's still a document.

When OOo prompts the Simple End User about losing formatting if saving as .doc 
they will take the path offered that seems best: which is Save in Native file 
format, which of course can't be opened by MS Office.  

As far as the SEU is concerned it's still a document.  

Hence when someone tries to open that "Doc" in MSO,  you suddenly have 
a "Compatibility Problem"  and it's always the new boys fault.

The answer is careful planning of Migration, training, consultation and backup 
for the user.

Migration can rarely be done just by switching default word processor in file 
associations (and yes that has been tried! )



-- 
Graham Lauder,
OpenOffice.org MarCon (Marketing Contact) NZ
http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html

INGOTs Moderator New Zealand
www.theingots.org.nz

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