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#1
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MS Word - what a mickey mouse pile of sh!t.
I have never come across such an ill thought out, unintuitive or illogical
piece of software. |
#2
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David wrote:
I have never come across such an ill thought out, unintuitive or illogical piece of software. Aw, c'mon... tell us what you really think! What I really think is that you're a troll. -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org |
#3
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Hear! Hear! PLONK.
-- Terry Farrell - Word MVP http://word.mvps.org/ "Amedee Van Gasse" wrote in message ... : David shared this with us in microsoft.public.word.newusers: : : I have never come across such an ill thought out, unintuitive or : illogical piece of software. : : Fortunately you have every right in the world to ignore it and use : something else. : Likewise people here have every right in the world to ignore *you* and : read something else. : : G'day! : : *plonk* : : -- : Amedee Van Gasse using XanaNews 1.17.1.2 : If it has an "X" in the name, it must be Linux? : Please don't thank me in advance. Thank me afterwards if it works or : hit me in the face if it doesn't. ;-) |
#4
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Is there supposed to be a question in here somewhere??
"David" wrote: I have never come across such an ill thought out, unintuitive or illogical piece of software. |
#5
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The loser oops I mean "user" took the time to find a Microsoft Newsgroup,
Subscribe, and post a thread about something he doesn't like. No one talks to you much, huh? Wonder why? Hmmm... "Treesy" wrote in message ... Is there supposed to be a question in here somewhere?? "David" wrote: I have never come across such an ill thought out, unintuitive or illogical piece of software. |
#6
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Gosh, shows you how much I know.
I thought it worked really well (mind you, I had to read the directions). -- Regards; Rob ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "David" wrote in message ... I have never come across such an ill thought out, unintuitive or illogical piece of software. |
#7
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Yeah, I guess the millions of us that use and love (okay, maybe not *love*)
are wrong. "RWN" wrote: Gosh, shows you how much I know. I thought it worked really well (mind you, I had to read the directions). -- Regards; Rob ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "David" wrote in message ... I have never come across such an ill thought out, unintuitive or illogical piece of software. |
#8
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Treesy wrote:
Yeah, I guess the millions of us that use and love (okay, maybe not *love*) are wrong. Millions of you use it because you're not given any other choice. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#9
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There are other choices, Corel Wordperfect, Firefox, Safari, Lotus Notes..
Is there a point in here? "Gordon" wrote in message ... Treesy wrote: Yeah, I guess the millions of us that use and love (okay, maybe not *love*) are wrong. Millions of you use it because you're not given any other choice. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#10
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I don't have to use Word, and in fact I moved to Word from other word
processing software (WordStar, XyWrite, WordPerfect). There are still some features of those programs that I miss in Word. But by and large I feel I understand the way Word works, and I'm comfortable with it. Most of the time I just use it, some of the time I get frustrated with it, but more often I am very pleased with it. I think most Word users have at best a love-hate relationship with it, with love outweighing hate most of the time. I suspect that's true with other programs as well (I certainly find it true of most of the software I use--and not just software from Microsoft, either). One of the things that most often makes the balance tip to the "love" side for me is the extent to which Word can be customized to work the way I want. I also love the fact that there is always uncharted territory to explore. There are some features of Word that I may never need to use and consequently never fully understand, but I am happy knowing that they are there if I need them. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Gordon" wrote in message ... Treesy wrote: Yeah, I guess the millions of us that use and love (okay, maybe not *love*) are wrong. Millions of you use it because you're not given any other choice. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#11
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HT wrote:
There are other choices, Corel Wordperfect, Firefox, Safari, Lotus Notes.. Is there a point in here? Yes. For some reason, it seems that most organisations have gone for MS Office. Why, I'm not quite sure......so that's why most people don't have a choice. Private individuals certainly have a choice, but I should think they are far outnumbered by those who use Office at work. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#12
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Hi Amedee,
OTOH, Gentoo has this system of USE-flags. Got a feature you don't need? Don't use it! Need it later? Activate the flag and recompile! Like this: app-office/msoffice -VBA -WIZARD -SPELL In theory, this would compile MS Office without VBA, that bloddy stoopid paperclip, and spellling checker. (find the joke) Control Panel/Add-Remove Softare. Choose Office from the list. Click Change. Find the options you want to enable/disable and set "Run from my computer" or "Unavailable". OK. Comes to about the same amount of work, I imagine... Of course, MS Office is NOT Open Source That's right, it's not. Advantages and disadvantages. Advantages? Someone in this thread mentioned they couldn't understand why so many companies choose/chose the MS product over others on the market. One reason is standardization (definitely NOT provided by open source). IT departments want to have *control* over what's installed, and when people call in with problems, have an idea what it could be. When Open Source involved, that's more of an issue. As is having some assurance that the source of the program will still be around in a few years. Cindy Meister INTER-Solutions, Switzerland http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004) http://www.word.mvps.org This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) |
#13
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Then my choices are work here with MSOffice or work someplace else.
There are always choices. |
#14
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Greg wrote:
Then my choices are work here with MSOffice or work someplace else. There are always choices. That's not really the point though is it? My thoughts were *why* Office has become so widespread. Take the comparison between Office and Smartsuite. I find (as an Advanced Excel user) that there are some things that Excel does which 123 doesn't, and there are some things that 123 does that Excel doesn't. (The ability to email PART of a worksheet directly from that worksheet springs to mind). I find Outlook is exceptionally good in the corporate environment. Smartsuite doesn't have an email client - perhaps that may be one of the reasons why office is used rather than Smartsuite? I don't know. I also find that Word is one of the most infuriating and illogical WP applications I have ever used! Yes it's very clever if you need to produce fancy formatting and graphic documents - most users just need to write letters and memos, and for that Word is far to complex and complicated and does some of the most irritating things imaginable. Example. You want to indent the first line of a paragraph. Logical action, place the cursor at the beginning of the line and press tab. In Word? Oh no! That indents the WHOLE paragraph! And that's the DEFAULT setting! And then you try to get it back to where it was in the first place. A real waste of time. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#15
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Example. You want to indent the first line
: of a paragraph. Logical action, place the cursor at the beginning of the : line and press tab. In Word? Oh no! That indents the WHOLE paragraph! : And that's the DEFAULT setting! And then you try to get it back to where : it was in the first place. A real waste of time. Gordon What you have described above is NOT normal: it is because Normal Style has been set to automatically update. If you use Format, Style and select Normal, you will see an Automatically Update check box that should be cleared. What you say about just writting letters and memos is also nonsense. Just writing a letter more than a couple of times means that you are constantly typing in your address, entering the current date and a signature block, etc. All these repetitive actions are wasting your precious time. Spend just five minutes creating a personailised letter template and reap the rewards: you will never have to add your address or the current date again. Take some time and learn to use Word's powerful features: it will save you loads of repetetive work and make your output consistent, error free and faster. -- Terry Farrell - Word MVP http://word.mvps.org/ |
#16
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TF wrote:
Example. You want to indent the first line : of a paragraph. Logical action, place the cursor at the beginning of the : line and press tab. In Word? Oh no! That indents the WHOLE paragraph! : And that's the DEFAULT setting! And then you try to get it back to where : it was in the first place. A real waste of time. Gordon What you have described above is NOT normal: it is because Normal Style has been set to automatically update. If you use Format, Style and select Normal, you will see an Automatically Update check box that should be cleared. But that's just my point - that is the the *DEFAULT* setting - unless you "undo" it, that's how Word is installed. At least with Office XP. You shouldn't have to "undo" a function that isn't needed and causes a lot of irritation - those who DO need it should be able to enable it, not the other way around. What you say about just writting letters and memos is also nonsense. Just writing a letter more than a couple of times means that you are constantly typing in your address, entering the current date and a signature block, etc. All these repetitive actions are wasting your precious time. Spend just five minutes creating a personailised letter template and reap the rewards: you will never have to add your address or the current date again. Take some time and learn to use Word's powerful features: it will save you loads of repetetive work and make your output consistent, error free and faster. Don't quite know where you got that lot from in my post :-) - I can't see any mention of that! Of *course* I use templates etc,and have done in all the WP apps I've ever used, my point was that Word does some very illogical and unintuitive things which other WP apps do NOT - and the "average" user (and by that I *don't* mean secretaries, I mean those people to whom Word is not something that they use sufficiently frequently to warrant advanced training in all it's functions) finds these blips frustrating. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#17
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Amedee Van Gasse wrote:
Closed source software does NOT give you any assurance that the source will be around when the company that developed it goes out of business. In fact it's happened with MS - the Outlook 2003 pst file format is NOT backwards compatible! -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#18
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If an SME buys a server with open source OS (Linux), when something doesn't
work as expected, who is going to fix it? Who is going to patch the security holes when they are discovered? Who is going to sort out the incompatibilities? OTOH, if an SME buys a standard Microsoft solution, they know how long it will supported by Microsoft and they know which products are compatible and who will sort out the problems. Buy a server from IBM and they will tell you the server is Linux compatible: they will not sell you a server with Linux: but they will introduce you to a company that will provide Linux. HP and Dell are the same: they let a third party sell the Linux. But they all provide - and will support - an MS Windows based server. I work for a company that provides IT management and support for SMEs and I can absolutely guarantee you that the company with 200 users spread over several sites using a standard MS solution will spend a fraction on support than a similar company that has splashed out on Linux, Novell, Notes and other non-standard solutions. It is the cost of supporting these systems that far out-strips the initial purchase cost. Open Source provides absolutely no benefit to the average company: all they want is the IT to support their work with minimum of interruption. A standard solution provides just that. Terry Farrell "Amedee Van Gasse" wrote in message ... : Cindy M -WordMVP- shared this with us in : microsoft.public.word.newusers: : : Hi Amedee, : : Of course, MS Office is NOT Open Source : : That's right, it's not. Advantages and disadvantages. Advantages? : Someone in this thread mentioned they couldn't understand why so many : companies choose/chose the MS product over others on the market. One : reason is standardization (definitely NOT provided by open source). : : May I mention LSB here? : http://www.linuxbase.org/ : : IT departments want to have control over what's installed, and when : people call in with problems, have an idea what it could be. When : Open Source involved, that's more of an issue. : : You have a point there, however one might argue that some non-MS : systems give IT departments even more control and standardization. It : all depends how well it is implemented. I'm sure you'll agree on the : implementation argument. : : As is having some assurance that the source of the program will still : be around in a few years. : : I do not agree. (or: I don't understand your point of view) : : Closed source software does NOT give you any assurance that the source : will be around when the company that developed it goes out of business. : I can name you dozens of excellent closed source programs that are lost : for humanity forever, because the makers stopped. : I know about escrow services, but these can be quite expensive, and the : escrow system only works if you registered the software before Bad : Things Happened. : : Open Source software OTOH will always be available as source - why, : that's the very definition of Open Source. Your opinion seems to differ : so could you please explain? : : : -- : Amedee Van Gasse using XanaNews 1.17.1.2 : If it has an "X" in the name, it must be Linux? : Please don't thank me in advance. Thank me afterwards if it works or : hit me in the face if it doesn't. ;-) |
#19
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TF wrote:
I work for a company that provides IT management and support for SMEs and I can absolutely guarantee you that the company with 200 users spread over several sites using a standard MS solution will spend a fraction on support than a similar company that has splashed out on Linux, Novell, Notes and other non-standard solutions. Umm I wouldn't call Novell and Notes a "non-standard solution"!!! there are still a VERY large number of organisations using both. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#20
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I've been using Word for so long that of course I've customized it a good
bit, but whenever I get a new computer, I start from scratch with a clean copy of Office, and I don't believe that indenting when you press Tab is the default setting. If it were, why would we have so many questions in these NGs asking how to get Word to do it? It would be easy enough to check this by starting Word with the /a switch, and I'll do that when I get time. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Gordon" wrote in message ... Greg wrote: Then my choices are work here with MSOffice or work someplace else. There are always choices. That's not really the point though is it? My thoughts were *why* Office has become so widespread. Take the comparison between Office and Smartsuite. I find (as an Advanced Excel user) that there are some things that Excel does which 123 doesn't, and there are some things that 123 does that Excel doesn't. (The ability to email PART of a worksheet directly from that worksheet springs to mind). I find Outlook is exceptionally good in the corporate environment. Smartsuite doesn't have an email client - perhaps that may be one of the reasons why office is used rather than Smartsuite? I don't know. I also find that Word is one of the most infuriating and illogical WP applications I have ever used! Yes it's very clever if you need to produce fancy formatting and graphic documents - most users just need to write letters and memos, and for that Word is far to complex and complicated and does some of the most irritating things imaginable. Example. You want to indent the first line of a paragraph. Logical action, place the cursor at the beginning of the line and press tab. In Word? Oh no! That indents the WHOLE paragraph! And that's the DEFAULT setting! And then you try to get it back to where it was in the first place. A real waste of time. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#21
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But Normal style is *not* set to update automatically by default. This
problem is caused by an add-in. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "TF" terryfarrell%40%6d%73%6e%2ecom wrote in message ... Example. You want to indent the first line : of a paragraph. Logical action, place the cursor at the beginning of the : line and press tab. In Word? Oh no! That indents the WHOLE paragraph! : And that's the DEFAULT setting! And then you try to get it back to where : it was in the first place. A real waste of time. Gordon What you have described above is NOT normal: it is because Normal Style has been set to automatically update. If you use Format, Style and select Normal, you will see an Automatically Update check box that should be cleared. What you say about just writting letters and memos is also nonsense. Just writing a letter more than a couple of times means that you are constantly typing in your address, entering the current date and a signature block, etc. All these repetitive actions are wasting your precious time. Spend just five minutes creating a personailised letter template and reap the rewards: you will never have to add your address or the current date again. Take some time and learn to use Word's powerful features: it will save you loads of repetetive work and make your output consistent, error free and faster. -- Terry Farrell - Word MVP http://word.mvps.org/ |
#22
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Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
I've been using Word for so long that of course I've customized it a good bit, but whenever I get a new computer, I start from scratch with a clean copy of Office, and I don't believe that indenting when you press Tab well I've gone from office 97 through office 2000 and am now on office XP, and currently, that is the default setting when I first installed Office XP. (I've now turned it off, but it was indeed turned on by default when the installation had completed) -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#23
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Gordon
Normal style is not set to Automatically update by default. Something else (incompatible or malicious) on your computer has done that. I agree with some of your points about the 'automation'. We have discussed this with the developers - but there seems to be a bit of a Catch22 point here. If the install has the automation turned off by default, then the average user will never know about it and never reap its benefit. OTOH, because a new user doesn't know what automation is active, all they see is strange and unexpected affects. The 'turn on by default' party has won the day! Terry "Gordon" wrote in message ... : TF wrote: : Example. You want to indent the first line : : of a paragraph. Logical action, place the cursor at the beginning of the : : line and press tab. In Word? Oh no! That indents the WHOLE paragraph! : : And that's the DEFAULT setting! And then you try to get it back to where : : it was in the first place. A real waste of time. : : : Gordon : : What you have described above is NOT normal: it is because Normal Style has : been set to automatically update. : If you use Format, Style and select : Normal, you will see an Automatically Update check box that should be : cleared. : : But that's just my point - that is the the *DEFAULT* setting - unless : you "undo" it, that's how Word is installed. At least with Office XP. : You shouldn't have to "undo" a function that isn't needed and causes a : lot of irritation - those who DO need it should be able to enable it, : not the other way around. : : : What you say about just writting letters and memos is also nonsense. Just : writing a letter more than a couple of times means that you are constantly : typing in your address, entering the current date and a signature block, : etc. All these repetitive actions are wasting your precious time. Spend just : five minutes creating a personailised letter template and reap the rewards: : you will never have to add your address or the current date again. : : Take some time and learn to use Word's powerful features: it will save you : loads of repetetive work and make your output consistent, error free and : faster. : : Don't quite know where you got that lot from in my post :-) - I can't : see any mention of that! Of *course* I use templates etc,and have done : in all the WP apps I've ever used, my point was that Word does some very : illogical and unintuitive things which other WP apps do NOT - and the : "average" user (and by that I *don't* mean secretaries, I mean those : people to whom Word is not something that they use sufficiently : frequently to warrant advanced training in all it's functions) finds : these blips frustrating. : : : : -- : Registered Linux User no 240308 : Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and : counting!) : gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk : to email me remove the obvious! |
#24
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TF wrote:
Gordon Normal style is not set to Automatically update by default. Something else (incompatible or malicious) on your computer has done that. A fresh install of office XP on a fresh XP install (before internet connection) installed it turned on! -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#25
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Gordon
I have to agree with you: I'm sure that the 'Tab' setting is one of those on by default. I don't like it and turn it off immediately I install (along with some of the other automations, the periscope, Keep Track of Formatting, Prompt to Update Style and loads of others). Terry "Gordon" wrote in message ... : Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote: : I've been using Word for so long that of course I've customized it a good : bit, but whenever I get a new computer, I start from scratch with a clean : copy of Office, and I don't believe that indenting when you press Tab : : well I've gone from office 97 through office 2000 and am now on office : XP, and currently, that is the default setting when I first installed : Office XP. (I've now turned it off, but it was indeed turned on by : default when the installation had completed) : : : -- : Registered Linux User no 240308 : Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and : counting!) : gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk : to email me remove the obvious! |
#26
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True. It was unfair to call them non-standard. 'Alternative' would have been
a better choice. But have you listened to any Notes users! Terry "Gordon" wrote in message ... : TF wrote: : : I work for a company that provides IT management and support for SMEs and I : can absolutely guarantee you that the company with 200 users spread over : several sites using a standard MS solution will spend a fraction on support : than a similar company that has splashed out on Linux, Novell, Notes and : other non-standard solutions. : : Umm I wouldn't call Novell and Notes a "non-standard solution"!!! there : are still a VERY large number of organisations using both. : : -- : Registered Linux User no 240308 : Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and : counting!) : gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk : to email me remove the obvious! |
#27
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TF wrote:
True. It was unfair to call them non-standard. 'Alternative' would have been a better choice. But have you listened to any Notes users! No but I was at one company that used Groupwise! Awful! -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#28
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That was installed on freshly formatted disk? No chance that there was a
legacy normal.dot on it? I've never seen that happen before. What version of Office is it: OEM, retail or licensed media? Terry "Gordon" wrote in message ... : TF wrote: : Gordon : : Normal style is not set to Automatically update by default. Something else : (incompatible or malicious) on your computer has done that. : : A fresh install of office XP on a fresh XP install (before internet : connection) installed it turned on! : : : -- : Registered Linux User no 240308 : Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and : counting!) : gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk : to email me remove the obvious! |
#29
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A couple of our customers use Groupwise: shudder!
Terry "Gordon" wrote in message ... : TF wrote: : True. It was unfair to call them non-standard. 'Alternative' would have been : a better choice. But have you listened to any Notes users! : : No but I was at one company that used Groupwise! Awful! : : : -- : Registered Linux User no 240308 : Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and : counting!) : gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk : to email me remove the obvious! |
#30
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TF wrote:
That was installed on freshly formatted disk? No chance that there was a legacy normal.dot on it? I've never seen that happen before. What version of Office is it: OEM, retail or licensed media? It was a freshly formatted HDD. It's a promotional copy, that I got at a seminar, and I've slipstreamed SP2 into it. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and counting!) gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk to email me remove the obvious! |
#31
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Gordon
Unfortunately, it is unlikely that I will ever have a 'fresh' system that needs Office XP install, so it unlikely that I can corroborate if this is just a problem with the version on that disk or if it an Office XP-wide problem. It certainly is an undesirable install though. Terry "Gordon" wrote in message ... : TF wrote: : That was installed on freshly formatted disk? No chance that there was a : legacy normal.dot on it? I've never seen that happen before. What version of : Office is it: OEM, retail or licensed media? : : : It was a freshly formatted HDD. It's a promotional copy, that I got at a : seminar, and I've slipstreamed SP2 into it. : : -- : Registered Linux User no 240308 : Just waiting for Broadband to complete the conversion!(4 weeks and : counting!) : gordonATgbpcomputingDOTcoDOTuk : to email me remove the obvious! |
#32
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.com Newsgroups: microsoft.public.word.newusers NNTP-Posting-Host: 2.47.62.81.cust.bluewin.ch 81.62.47.2 Path: TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl Lines: 1 Xref: TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl microsoft.public.word.newusers:80395 Normal style is not set to Automatically update by default. Actually, Terry, it is in Word 2002 (XP). Drove me (and everyone else) absolutely nutty until we figured it out. It was THE FAQ when the version hit the markets. -- Cindy |
#33
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Hi Gordon,
Closed source software does NOT give you any assurance that the source will be around when the company that developed it goes out of business. In fact it's happened with MS - the Outlook 2003 pst file format is NOT backwards compatible! No, but Outlook 2003 still supports the older file format, so that you can bring *.pst files forwards (and continue to use them with older versions, or convert them). File format compatibility has always been a big discussion, for any software (not just MS). I remember the uproar when Word changed file formats, going from 6.0 to 97. (There was also a change from 2.0 to 6.0, but somehow, that didn't throw as many waves; maybe because 6.0 was so clearly an improvement.) The thing is, if a program is going to develop, and be able to do new things, sometimes internal structures MUST change. I've heard discussions among MS people about: should/can we go forward, will it break backwards compatibility, and is it worth it. I suppose we react more strongly / are more sensitized to this with Office-type products because that's where we're most likely to exchange files with other people. Used to be, the biggest concern was whether "the other guy" could open my WP/AmiPro/Word/QuattroPro/1-2-3/Excel file. Now it's more a version, rather than a product question. And BTW, when discussing MS vs. other products, this is another reason why big companies choose MS: highest chances for compatibility when exchanging files. Cindy Meister INTER-Solutions, Switzerland http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004) http://www.word.mvps.org This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) |
#34
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Hi Amedee,
however one might argue that some non-MS systems give IT departments even more control and standardization. It all depends how well it is implemented. I'm sure you'll agree on the implementation argument. Certainly. Then there's also the maintainance aspect, that Terry pointed out. That's mostly what I was thinking about. Along with being able to exchange files with other people (see my reply to Gordon). Cindy Meister INTER-Solutions, Switzerland http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004) http://www.word.mvps.org This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) |
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I'm curious as to why I didn't experience it, then. I bought a new computer
with Office XP installed. I set it up from scratch (didn't import an old Normal.dot), and I don't recall ever having to change this setting. My charmed life again, I guess! g -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Cindy M -WordMVP-" wrote in message news:VA.0000a6ff.00df642b@speedy... Normal style is not set to Automatically update by default. Actually, Terry, it is in Word 2002 (XP). Drove me (and everyone else) absolutely nutty until we figured it out. It was THE FAQ when the version hit the markets. -- Cindy |
#36
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Cindy
I take your word for it: XP is history now! Terry "Cindy M -WordMVP-" wrote in message news:VA.0000a6ff.00df642b@speedy... : Normal style is not set to Automatically update by default. : : Actually, Terry, it is in Word 2002 (XP). Drove me (and : everyone else) absolutely nutty until we figured it out. It : was THE FAQ when the version hit the markets. : : -- Cindy : |
#37
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Hi Amedee,
Or maybe because there were less computer users then than there are now. Point g Also, support questions were "free" (because we paid a LOT more for the apps) What Microsoft lacks, is communication. If they communicated every file format combatability as they communicated the change for example from VB6 to VB.NET, this world would be a very happy place. You're right about the communication, no question. (Whether that would make the world a happier place is still open for debate.) Used to be, the biggest concern was whether "the other guy" could open my WP/AmiPro/Word/QuattroPro/1-2-3/Excel file. Now it's more a version, rather than a product question. Honestly, what's the difference? Versions or products, if files are combatable you are stuck. Only difference is what we're primarily concerned about / complain about. As you say, this changes as time goes on. (FWIW, I was a died-in-the-wool WP person before 1992. And I, too, recall the program I was using prior to that, but without any nostalgia ugh!) but if future office apps will be able to open the letters I write today. I seem to recall even the U.S. government running into this problem. And people ask why we still haven't reached the "paperless office" point? Even if one would back up the text content as plain text files, who can ensure that the *medium* can still be read 10 years down the line... Let's start a flame war about software patents, shall we? This IS relevant, because there are quite a few in MS Office. I don't like flamewars :-) But a good discussion is always fun. Although software patents aren't something I know very much about (gene-patenting is a pet peeve of mine, however). Cindy Meister INTER-Solutions, Switzerland http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004) http://www.word.mvps.org This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) |
#38
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Hi Amedee,
Along with being able to exchange files with other people (see my reply to Gordon). ObRant: I don't see a problem there. I can exchange files with other people, even though I don't have any Microsoft product on my home pc at all. Ah, well. I remember working for a large corporation that received docs and spreadsheets in so many different file formats. And it was always a fight about being able to open AND print them, and still have them the way the originals looked. We wasted more time on that... If everyone has the same, the amount of time/work/money involved is reduced considerably. Not that I'm saying Word is really good at passing along something that will look exactly the same on the recipient's machine/printer. NOT!!! But that's the theory behind many of the decisions. Cindy Meister INTER-Solutions, Switzerland http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004) http://www.word.mvps.org This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) |
#39
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.com VA.0000a6ff.00df642b@speedy Newsgroups: microsoft.public.word.newusers NNTP-Posting-Host: 165.5.78.83.cust.bluewin.ch 83.78.5.165 Path: TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl Lines: 1 Xref: TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl microsoft.public.word.newusers:80608 Hi Suzanne, I'm curious as to why I didn't experience it, then. I bought a new computer with Office XP installed. Could be that an later SP is part of that installation? I wouldn't be surprised if MS changed that default setting in an SP, somewhere down the line... I don't KNOW this is the case, but they have to have become as tired of the support questions as we did. Cindy Meister INTER-Solutions, Switzerland http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004) http://www.word.mvps.org This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) |
#40
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I don't think an SP is involved because when I bought my computer Office XP
was brand-new--so new that Dell was still offering a choice of Office 2000 or XP (and I selected 2000 but got XP anyway, which I was annoyed about initially but later grateful for). -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Cindy M -WordMVP-" wrote in message news:VA.0000a735.003eba59@speedy... Hi Suzanne, I'm curious as to why I didn't experience it, then. I bought a new computer with Office XP installed. Could be that an later SP is part of that installation? I wouldn't be surprised if MS changed that default setting in an SP, somewhere down the line... I don't KNOW this is the case, but they have to have become as tired of the support questions as we did. Cindy Meister INTER-Solutions, Switzerland http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004) http://www.word.mvps.org This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail :-) |
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