On 7/29/10 6:39 PM, "Roger S. Cohen" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Sorry about the crack about 18 year-olds.  What I meant about wondering
>"if
>any one of them has any experience using MS Office for business purposes,"
>is...

MacBU is up to about 300 employees by now, I believe, and that group is a
microcosm of corporate business. Not everyone there is a codie. Those 300
employees range from the MacBU GM to Marketing to Analytics to R&D. Heck,
they're big enough to be their own corporation.

While I can't say "YES!" someone there has indeed written a 500-page
proposal, I think I can safely say that they're using Office like any
other corporation would use Office. Since they dogfood their own work,
they of all people should be feeling the pains of their customers
firsthand. I hardly think they're developing Office using TextEdit and
sticky notes. (Nadyne, I need you to back me up on that one!)


On the other hand, developers are often too close to their work to be
objective. I think you're right that the Ribbon on Office for Windows was
too much in the wrong direction. Not having menus was a bold idea that
just made no sense in a menu-driven world. I like Nadyne's comment about
Office for Mac being a good Mac citizen. MacBU actually has a good history
of trying to port Office for Windows while keeping a Mac feel to it.

[Fair disclosure: As an MVP, I've had the opportunity to spend several
weeks over the past several years either at MacBU or with MacBU staff.
They've explained to me how the think, how they work and how they've had
to leap hurdles to deliver Office to the Mac. Much of it will never be
known to the public. If I sound defensive of them then I think that's fair
to say. Hopefully, though, I can also be constructively critical of them
when warranted.]

Oddly enough, some of them young'uns at MacBU have been there several
years. They're not fresh meat from college. If you didn't know it by now,
Microsoft has no soda pop machines and they don't charge for soda pop.
They have well-stocked refrigerators with unlocked sliding glass doors,
like those you'd see at the grocery store, lining the break room walls.
I'm convinced Mountain Dew is the key to eternal youth!

-- 

William Smith


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