I hate Microsoft Office!

[tekla]

Yeah, I had to download something to convert from Word files, but it came with the machine, well I still had to download it, it just didn't cost me anything.

I never quite got why the uber programs beat out the specific ones, why Word or WordPerfect had to be the the program for everyone, casual writers, screenplay writers, legal writers, academic writers, when there were a bunch of early programs that were specific that never quite made it.  The advantage was that they did only what you wanted, and not a million other things too.  The used to be a program just for writing scripts that worked well for that.

And I remember the WP on my Tandy Trash 80 - with the spell check on a separate cassette (this is pre floppy disks, yow).  Bad memories that one.

And I'm down by law with Dennis, that reveal codes is killer, and needed.  Needed far more often than most of their other stuff ever is.

[Kaitlyn]

I actually haven't had trouble with Office 2007.  I used to use OpenOffice & LyX, but when I bought a copy of Office 2007 Enterprise for $20 through my company, I fell in love with it.

[RebeccaFog]

I almost don't care what you throw in front of me. If it gives me trouble, I just go and disable all of it's great 'features'.

I remember I used wordperfect 6 briefly before having to move on. I opened the program and was making special little documents with crazy watermarks in no time.  Later when I had to use to use Word, it took me years to get easy with it. Especially when each version is different from the previous. They don't just add features, they mysteriously know which ones I like and remove them from the next release.

I just picked up on named styles and created a custom set for my screen writing project.

My stupid job requires that I understand what the users are babbling about when they call me with their insanity.

[Kaitlyn]

My stupid job requires that I understand what the users are babbling about when they call me with their insanity.

Sounds like my job.  "Our modem is broken" = A cash register has locked up.

[Chrissty]

I just hate Microsoft Period....

They spend all their time producing slow badly written software, that tries to tell you what to do...

And why, oh why, bring out incompatible ".docx " files when the world was running on ".doc" (windows keeps thinking they are Excel files)?

I think it's great that the corporate users have stood up to them, and told them to keep XP until at least summer 2009, and dump Vista by 2010 .....Way to go Guys! (and it's not often I say that about Corps')

Chrissty

[MarySue]

I'm no fan of MicroSloth, but ".docx" is a good thing. Unlike .doc, it's an open, publicly documented file format. Basically a .docx is a gzip'd archive. Your document is an XML file in the archive, and each paragraph is a <p> tag. If you've used named styles for your paragraph types ("heading", "body", "quote", etc), a paragraph attribute gives the style name. If you've inserted images, they're other files in the archive.

As a result, 20 years from now, when MicroSoft is history, you can easily extract the data from your .docx file and convert it to some other format. It might not be formatted exactly the same, but at least you won't have to re-type the thing. On the other hand, a .doc file will probably just be a bag of useless bytes.

That's the real problem with most word processing systems: They hold your document hostage by keeping it in a proprietary format.

I doubt that Microsoft switched to an open format out of the goodness of their hearts. I think various governments demanded an open format they could use for long-term document retention.

[RebeccaFog]

My stupid job requires that I understand what the users are babbling about when they call me with their insanity.

Sounds like my job.  "Our modem is broken" = A cash register has locked up.

That's the gibberish I have to listen to.

[RebeccaFog]

As a result, 20 years from now, when MicroSoft is history, you can easily extract the data from your .docx file and convert it to some other format.

how do you know those flabheads will be gone?  They're insidious like leaches, deerticks, and malaria. They could be around for all eternity making the lives of our great grandchildren so miserable that I can now predict with confidence that mass suicide will become fashionable.

[MarySue]

As a result, 20 years from now, when MicroSoft is history, you can easily extract the data from your .docx file and convert it to some other format.

how do you know those flabheads will be gone?  They're insidious like leaches, deerticks, and malaria. They could be around for all eternity making the lives of our great grandchildren so miserable that I can now predict with confidence that mass suicide will become fashionable.

Wishful thinking, of course! Maybe if we all say it often enough .....

Seriously, though, Microsoft, like most software vendors, has a big problem. They need updates to survive. If they can't get people to pony up for a new version every year or two, they'll die, or at least shrink dramatically. They're like book or magazine publishers. Unlike a hardware manufacturer, they can't survive by selling the same product over and over again.

So far, Microsoft has made out like bandits because new computers, and new software, require the latest Windows. But that won't go on forever. We're already seeing resistance to Vista, right?

And in case you weren't aware, the vast majority of web servers and the like use PC hardware, but they run Linux or another Unix variant.

[RebeccaFog]

I used to use Linux for our proxy server at work.  I made an attempt to convert more of our network to linux, but I was refused.  The manglement can't conceive of anything other than windows.  Thankfully, the wizard who trained me had already snuck netware in before microsoft became known for server software.

But we is microsofted now.  caught in a snare, entrapped, waiting for our next miserable experience to shake us to the core.

[MarySue]

Yuck! And paying $1000 (or whatever) extra for a Microsloth server license doesn't faze them?

My condolences.

I think Microsoft is where IBM was 30, maybe 35 years ago. Back then, nobody got fired for buying an IBM mainframe. But minicomputers were coming up, and you could see the handwriting on the wall, if you knew where to look.  I suspect Microsoft will exist 20-30 years from now, but I hope they won't be the 800 lb gorilla they are today.

[RebeccaFog]

when my home systems finally are inadequate, I'm going to go apple on one and linux on the other.

I used to use OS2. That was years ahead of windows, but IBM must have been run by crack addicts at the time.

[tekla]

No, I think that a lot of OS2 was farmed out to Microsoft who had an interest in their system being better.

[Chrissty]

I'm no fan of MicroSloth, but ".docx" is a good thing. Unlike .doc, it's an open, publicly documented file format. Basically a .docx is a gzip'd archive. ....
As a result, 20 years from now, when MicroSoft is history, you can easily extract the data from your .docx file and convert it to some other format. It might not be formatted exactly the same, but at least you won't have to re-type the thing. On the other hand, a .doc file will probably just be a bag of useless bytes.

*stunned*  ..well Mr Gates made big mistake with that one....way too friendly.....I'll stand corrected!

But I'm sure I heard tha Vista has already been canned for Microsoft 7 in 2010, or am I wrong with that too?

Chrissty (Certified Computer non-Geek)

[tekla]

I think Gates better have the next product perfect, and I mean PERFECT, or else its gonna be the last thing they release.  If people still perfer the older system to VISTA, and hell, I like 2000 just fine, works for me, but they are toast.

[Chrissty]

I understand Mr Gates may be eating Humble Pie rather than Christmas Pudding this year, and MS7 beta may be as early as Summer next year to the "big boys".

They are saying a lot of the Vista rubbish has been dumped to speed the system back up, and stop the crashes.

Chrissty (Certified Computer non-Geek)

(...actually I used to program in Basic and Fortan 4...sad eh?)

[tekla]

Nah, the only program I ever learned to program in was LOGO, LOL.  I got that turtle moving I'll tell 'ya that!

[Chrissty]

U know...

I just realised I actually miss making all those Christmas decorations from different coloured punched tapes this time of year (oh! The Seasonal rattle of the teleprinter...), giving the kids the old "Billion Dollar Brain" mag tapes to tie Grandad's legs to the armchair when he fell asleap,.... and not forgetting those handy old disposable punched cards for scraping the ice of the car windscreen.....

Them were the days when a computer was something to be admired...A single program could dim the lights on a small town when processing....... !

[tekla]

Hey I had an office right above where the Atanasoff-Berry Computer was constructed, who you talking to?

[Ellieka]

First PC I ever owned was a Vic 20. A few years later I got the Commodore 128/64. God I mis them machines. I think I still have my old C128 in my parents attic...

I love legacy hardware! I have an old Pentium Pro running PFsense for my home network. The things wicked fast too!

My biggest problem, but by no means my only problem, with M$ is the ridiculous restrictive license and the price tag that goes with it. $7000 for Microsoft Small Business Server with 5 client licenses compared to $0 for Just about any Linux Distro with no restrictions?

Ubuntu Linux for life for me.