[JoAnn Paules]

It's what you get when the keys on your keyboard trade places. ;-)

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"



"Doug Robbins - Word MVP" wrote in message
...
Hey, what's a "comouter"?

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

"JoAnn Paules" wrote in message
...
When I worked for a comouter manufacturer, all of the tech people,
located here in the states, used pseudonyms. (Our company had a directory
of their real names and aliases.) One of the reasons is security. People
don't always like the answer they're given and there are a few nut cases
out there who will seek revenge. We didn't use pseudonyms (we were local
sales reps) and one of my coworkers was getting harassing phone calls at
home.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"



"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
It is amazing to me how many Indians name their children "Steve" or
"Ken" or whatever. g But I admit that the one time I was dealing with
an Indian who actually gave her true name, I had to ask her three times
how to spell it. I'm sure they feel they are making things easier for us
by using "familiar" names (and of course it also provides a certain
measure of privacy and perhaps even plausible deniability).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

"grammatim" wrote in message
...
On Jul 12, 12:59 am, RBlan wrote:
Thanks for the input. I called MS (thanks for the number, Anup Tawde)
and
after bullying my way up to a supervisor (the first rep said "of course
you
can sell it, you own your own creations") I got the answer from the
honchos
at Sales and Licensing who confirmed Joanne Paules first judgment:
PROHIBBITED.

Naturally, this irritates me. For the sake of the argument, let's say I
write a novel (for my own amusement) in Word Home and Student. I finish
it
and, just to be safe from future software incompatibilities (such as
going
from .doc to .docx), I decide to save my work as an .rtf file. A year
later,
after I've scrapped my Vista Ultimate machine for a Mac, I open the old
.rtf
file and say to myself, "Hey, this is pretty good -- I think I'll try
to sell
it." No way, right? Microsoft owns me. If I'm honest about it the
courts will
grant Microsoft at least half the revenue from this sale, for I
shamefully
breeched a contract that couldn't be clearer: "The software is not
licensed
for use in any commercial, non-profit, or revenue-generating business
activities." Trying to sell a novel is clearly a "business activity" so
even
if it doesn't sell, or if I self-publish and it bombs, i.e. it was a
'non-profit' venture after all, I'm in violation of the license, and I
owe MS
whatever the lawyers can squeeze out of me. Of course if I'm dishonest
about
it, whoTF is going to know about it? Honesty is the best policy, of
course.

I called Hewlett Packard, from whom I bought the software along with a
$3000
state of the art computer to replace my Win98SE system and said, "I
want to
return this software -- the license terms are unacceptable to me."
Sargi
consulted with her supervisors and reported that they could not accept
returns of software sold with a computer system. Blessedly, HP has a
30-day
system return policy. "Okay, I said, if you won't take the software
back, I'm
returning the whole system." More consultation: "We can't take the
software
back but we'll refund you $80." "How much did I pay for this software?"
"$149" ($.99 short, but close enough.) "That's not acceptable -- I'm
returning everything." More consultation. "$100." "Not acceptable, --
I'm
returning everything." More consultation. (You know, I miss my Firefox
spell
checker -- I think I'll switch back after I finish writing this.) They
fold.
I'm getting the $149 and they can keep the change. And I still own (I
mean,
license) this crippleware, but soon it will be in the trash. No part of
my
novel will be written in Home and Student. However I did irresponsibly
open
my primary file of notes for my novel in this software (though I only
read,
did not write), so technically, I have used Home and Student for
commercial
purposes, and I was in violaton of the license terms. I admit this
freely and
I invite Microsoft to send me the bill for damages -- no need to get
into
messy legal proceedings.

I almost paid HP $399 for Office 2007 Standard but at the last minute I
said "I changed my mind, I'll buy it from a software discounter. I
didn't.
To make a long story short(er), I found out that my old Word 2000 from
the
Win98 machine was elegible to upgrade to Word (not Office, mercifully)
2007
for $109.00 list (See
e.g.http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Word...dp/B000HCVR5S).
Don't you just love a happy ending?

By the way, MS wanted to charge me $79? (I forget the exact amount) to
answer my question as to whether Word 2007 Standard would run on my
64-bit
system since the system requirements say "32 bit browser only". They
said to
ask HP since I bought the OEM Vista Ultimate. Of course the crack staff
at HP
didn't really know either but suggested that since Home & Student ran
on my
machine, I should have no problem. Wouldn't it be funny if it didn't
work
after all?

I don't think you're going to have any trouble selling that novel.

But it looks like you could start taking advantage of your license to
do commercial use by selling short stories!

BTW the one time I tried dealing with HP customer "service," all those
Indian software geeks claimed to have American names like any other
company's. Congratulations on finding Sargi!