I just read the link listed below
M$'s reasoning is bull "blank"
I still find backups of documents and older documents
in archive CDs are in file formats other than .doc.
I used PC-Write, then an earlier version of WordStar
and then WordPerfect. Most of the CDs files that are
not in a M$ default format are in a WordPerfect format.
These copies from many, many 1.44MB disks that were
backed up onto CDs when I got my first CD burner.
There are many documents that are old but are useful
once in a while. As I find them, I try to read the and convert
them to a newer format. I even kept my WordPerfect CDs
if I cannot read the files with what I currently have on
my laptop, desktops, and servers.
Many times I take the files and keep copies in their original
format, formatted text, older .doc format, archival pdf, and now
ODF. Also I am now reading all the .docx format files I get
and do my best to save them into an earlier M$ format, then
convert them to ODF. Unfortunately, the crappy .docx format
has stuff that do not translate well back to M$ 2003 formats.
Long time ago, in computer life, there was an expert that wrote
an article that stated ALL documents that are saved for more than
a year would need to be saved in several formats and updated
every year or so to the new default file systems. He thought that
a document that was several years old would not be readable by
the "current" computer system you have access to.
The same goes for programs you write. I have some great DOS
programs and utilities that I wrote for pre-win98 computers.
Many are still needed today, but I cannot get them to work
around the M$ system, even when writing them with M$
programming software.
ODF is a great standard, but it too is growing to meet the user's
needs. I see that, hope that, it has at least 10 years before we
abandoned it for the next great standard that will come along
by then.
There is one warning though, if you have CDs full of archive
documents, you will need to reburn then every few years.
The cheaper CD are reported to have a shelf life of only 2 to
4 years. Some of my early CD are going bad, even when
stored properly. The archival CDs and DVDs are about $5
each, which would cost me many months of income to record
all of my archives and backups on them. I do have a nice program
that helps read old and lightly bad CD/DVDs, but it can take
10 hours to recover the whole thing.
M$ has some clout at this time when it was reported that their
.docx format was going to be used in the Library of Congress
archives. This would force everyone who wanted to access
those documents use Office 2007. LOC has also changed their
large image files from the easy to use SID formats to the
seldom working JPEG2000 format. Bad move.
It would be nice to have our government use the ISO format
standards, but that is wishful thinking.
All in All
Save your documents in several formats
TXT, PDF, ODF, and if you must - older M$ DOC format.
That way, there should be some office suite that could read
the document and then convert it into the current
standard of the time. It also helps to have a PDF document
so you will have the original version safe from any
changes that may crop up during the conversion.
Ever try to find any error in a 100+ page document
after you had to re-type it? It is not easy to do either.
Just ask me, I had to do it once or twice over the past 20
years.
Yes I was long winded - so to speak.
Yes it seems to be a crime for M$ to re-write your registry
so you cannot read you older documents.
Yes M$ can do what ever it wants, as long as people do not
stop them - like the US and EU governments in their judge's rulings.
Yes OpenOffice.org and the ODF format is the better choice.
And NO, we should not do anything bad to M$ even though
M$ is doing their best to do it to everyone else, even their own
users. We are more respectful and we care more about those
who use OOo and ODF.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Meyer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2008 5:27 PM
Subject: Re: [users] Another reason to use OpenOffice!
Now what does less secure mean to Microsoft, anyway.
If Microsoft wants to put the boot right where the Lord (or Judge
Jackson) should have split it, that's fine by me. Far be it from me to
protect an idiot from his own consequences. But objectively, how do you
even think this is a good idea. We've seen posts where people are
asking about Microsoft Works, Lotus 1-2-3, etc, etc.
Playing devil's advocate for a second, though: if you're files are in
that format and you've converted to Microsoft, shouldn't you have
converted them a long time ago? At the very least if they are finished
documents, print them out to PDF and store those. I'm not letting
Microsoft off the hook here, but it almost seems like you're still
trying to read manuscripts in Latin during the 21st century.
Fred A. Miller wrote:
Upgrade to MS Office 2003 Locks Older File Types
------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft has found itself between a rock and a hard place with its
latest Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3. The Redmond, Wash.,
software giant released SP3 in September, and in doing so blocked the
ability of MS Office 2003 users to easily access older, less secure file
formats.
See the Full Story:
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/61047.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.13/1210 - Release Date: 1/5/2008
11:46 AM
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.13/1210 - Release Date: 1/5/2008 11:46 AM
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
