On Tue, 4 Oct 2005, Uri Even-Chen wrote:
Peter wrote:
Assume you have Office 2000. You compose a Word document using the super
duper templates and one teensy VBA stub you don't even notice or know
about, and which uses a feature not present in W97. You send it to someone
who uses O97. Is it compatible ? Is that what you are saying ?
Word 97 is obsolete. Don't use it. Same goes for Windows 98. Any MS
software which is not at least 2000 version is obsolete. Even MS don't
want you to use it. They want you to upgrade. Pay more money. And
Imho you are on the wrong mailling list for this flamefest ;-)
Command line programs are also obsolete but my screen is smaller than a
football field so I have no place to put the ~30,000 buttons I would
need to represent the command line programs I need on a gui. So I use a
command line. People don't use W97 because they *like* it but because
they have no choice. Upgrading, which requires a new computer, new
windows installation, time, costs money and is likely not what a person
who sent you a letter about your house, your car, or a job prospect
would like to do. And you would very likely not want to tell them what
to do ...
then upgrade again and pay more money again. And again. If you use MS
software, you have to upgrade every 3 or 4 years. But even if not, you
have to upgrade once in a while to be compatible with other people and
for security reasons. But it's not only with software - even with cars
you have to upgrade once in a while. But there is no issue of
I know people who own & drive 60+ year old cars. They are worth A LOT of
money. They are legal to drive when taken care of.
compatibility here. The issue is about new developments, technology-
and security-related. And in other industries too. MS didn't invent
upgrading, but they pushed it to its limit...
M$ is afaik the first software firm that has succeeded to move upgrading
from a bugfix and feature enhancement move to a consumer move.
An optional way to overcome this is to come up with a standard for
Office files, such as RTF. But companies like MS don't want a standard
- they want to own their formats. The only way to overcome it is
That's why a third party, like Sun, or OpenOffice.org who makes a
product that addresses precisely this problem should not be played down.
write WHICH Word Document version the file is saved in. It's a part of
their strategy to confuse & conquer.
But OO *DOES* so you can *CHOOSE*. *NOW*.
Peter
=================================================================
To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command
echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
