Greg Cox wrote:
In article <EOudnX_FXoLA6irbRVnyhAA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
gbplinux@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx says...
Greg Cox wrote:
In article <6O2dnRT2JMV3rSrbnZ2dnUVZ8tqinZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
gbplinux@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx says...
Roy Schestowitz wrote:
and Microsoft Office documents that are incompatible (even across versions of the _same
software
I have to say that's a big shoot-in-the-foot job - the default save in
Office 2007 is .docx, xlsx and pptx - and it does NOT automatically flag
up that these formats are unreadable by standard installs of prior
versions of Office...just like the default pst file formats of Outlook
2003 and 2007 are incompatible with prior versions of Outlook...so for
all the new versions of office, you install the trial version "to have a
look", create documents/pst files, trial runs out, Bingo! You're
stuffed. Unless you have access to a machine with a full version on, or
pay out for your full version, you cannot recover your documents/email,
which legally belong to YOU the USER, not to Microsoft.
Or you can just install the free download Microsoft Office Compatibility
Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 file formats available at
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101686761033.aspx to
read/modify/write the docx, xlsx and pptx files in Microsoft Office XP
or 2003.
Yes you *CAN* do that, and you *CAN* also change the default "save as"
in Office 2007 to be that of prior versions and you *CAN* create a
default pst file in Outlook 2003 and 7 that is compatible with prior
versions - but my point is that the "normal" user is not *TOLD* that the
default file formats are not compatible with prior versions. (Plenty of
posts on the MS groups in the form of "downloaded Office 2007 trial,
created documents and pst file, trial expired, don't like it, don't want
to pay for it, can't open my documents/pst file with Office 2003...the
pst file is the real bummer because if you have office 2002 or prior
there is no WAY of converting a 2003/7 format pst file without access to
outlook 2003/7). Now that is IMHO, underhand, and smacks of attempted
profiteering, especially when the cost of the software is pretty high,
apart from the lack of document transportability from one version of the
suite to another. The ethos obviously being "we don't care about whether
you need all the bells and whistles of the new version (and most people
don't), we just want your money because we've locked you in to the
newest version by making the formats incompatible with prior
versions....that's unethical business practice IMHO...
You just stated that data in the new file format versions can easily be
moved to older versions,
No I didn't.....what I implied was that the AVERAGE user doesn't KNOW
about these things - there's nothing in Office 2003 Help for example
about the add-in to read 2007 formats..and it's only a READ add-in, you
have to do a Save as if you want to edit it...
then you state that people are "locked in" once
they start using the new file format. Pick one or the other. Oh, and
people are being locked in to a published format? So is ODF a locked in
format also?
Not in the same sense - you don't pay for a new version of Open Office....
And as far as the user not being told, I just started Word 2007, hit F1
to bring up help, on the first page the 3rd item down is "Converting
documents", click that, the 4th item down is "Open a Word 2007 document
in an earlier version of Word", click that, now you get a description
and a link to the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack. Just how much
hand-holding do you need?
as a retired Systems Accountant I can tell you quite categorically that
most people do NOT use the "Help" function....
The situation is obviously that the older file formats are incapable of
encoding all the features of the new version. In addition, despite the
long history of Microsoft not publishing its default file formats, they
have not only published the format but are trying to get it accepted as
an international standard. I would think you would applaud this move
rather than whine about incompatabilities with prior verions of Office
that can easily be worked around.
No I don't accept it because there already IS an international standard
- ODF. MS are trying to use their monetary clout to make OXML the
industry standard instead...and if that happens we all know what the
next instalment will be....
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