On 2024-07-22 09:44, Bob Bridges wrote:
It didn't back in the late '80s, which is the setting for my story.
In the late 80s and continuing into the 90s and thereafter, it did.
And as for recently, I am deplorably slow in installing updates. I
never
let it do them automatically, and when the update notice rolls around I
sometimes procrastinate for weeks before doing anything about it.
Partly
that's real procrastination, and part of it is waiting to see what
everyone
else says about the update. No one pays me to be thoughtlessly
trusting.
Come to think of it, it wouldn't do them any good if they did.
I'm not a Microsoft basher, really I'm not. But I confess I don't use
Word
much.
I continue to use Word 1.1a because it's proven to be reliable.
I also use WordPerfect, even though it isn't [perfect].
I used to use it for documentation if I needed anything more
complicated that WordPad, but recently I decided I wanted a markup
language
instead; I got myself a copy of LaTeX (I think it was partly due to
recommendations offered here) and learned how to use that instead.
I think the problem with some of those Office apps is that they used to
be
really good, but they keep adding stuff to it.
MS kept taking away stuff, not adding to it.
There's a point, isn't
there?, at which you can't pile on more stuff without breaking other
things.
---
Bob Bridges, [email protected], cell 336 382-7313
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2024 18:58
It didn't?
Every new release since Word 1.1a had more bugs than the previous one,
and
MS didn't fix the bugs that were in the previous version.
Word 6 changed the values generated with the ALT key and 3 keystrokes
with
the number pad; but the killer was changing a document from footnotes
to
endnotes.
Word 6 crashed, and you lost the lot.
Over the years, more and more functionality disappeared from Word.
The first to go was the ability to generate an index automatically;
next to
go were formulas.
Then MS introduced .docx files.
--- On 2024-07-22 06:23, Bob Bridges wrote:
I get that, I really do. But, darn it all...
Years ago I worked for Volvo Truck NA (we built the big long-haul
tractors). We were a WordPerfect shop, and one of my unofficial
responsibilities was to struggle with each new version of WP. I'd
report all problems, work with their customer support, and after a
while (usually a month or so) I'd tell my boss it was ready to
distribute to everyone else.
"But wait", you ask, "was it really so buggy? Didn't that bother
you?"
Yes, it was, and I always said well, just how do you test for every
combination of machine and OS and likely use in the world? It can't
be done. So I wasn't surprised or dismayed at the process.
One year I was busy with something else and just didn't have the time
to go through it. Somehow in the delay, the company changed to MS
Word. Many of us hated the change ("where's reveal-codes mode?!"),
and I still have major complaints with some aspects of Word. But a)
it's too late; it's taken over the world, and anyway b) it was too
late, it took over Volvo. But the main point here is that despite
what I argued in WP's defense, Word didn't have those bugs to struggle
with at each new release.
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