[lbo-talk] Microsoft: 0, Google: 1

[Wojtek S]

I am not complaining about the Office - I use it extensively.  My complaint
is about the 2007 version of it, in which they totally redesigned the layout
and location of menus to the point that you have to learn how to use it from
scratch.  People told me that it got them months to re-learn how to use
Office after switching to 2007.  I refused to switch altogether and I had to
bring my personal notebook with the 2003 version to work - and it pisses me
off quite a bit.  I am quite proficient in using Excel but the 2007 version
really pulled a rug from under me - and I am not the only one who complains
about it.  It does not take rocket science to figure out that this
switcheroo must have cost businesses thousand of hours of lost productivity
- hence my bewilderment why they go along with this game.

The reason I am refusing to switch is that I am pretty sure that in a few
years the assholes in Redmond will pull the same trick again - as they have
in the past - so it is not worth my effort to learn a skill that will almost
certainly become purposely obsolete in the near future.  Thus far I am
staying with Office 2003 which is practically as good as the 2007 and will
be good for a few years and then will see what my options are.  I am very
much inclined to move away from Microsoft products to avoid jumping though
the planned obsolescence hoops these assholes create, and I hope that
alternatives will improve by that time, so I can switch without losing any
functionality.

Wojtek

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 11:46 AM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:


>
> On Aug 21, 2009, at 9:51 AM, Wojtek S wrote:
>
>  So, really, what makes otherwise cost-conscious people and businesses,
>> especially outside the US, fork over good money to Redmond for their
>> overpriced and poorly debugged crap?
>>
>
> Though I'm using a 2000 version of Office for the Mac - the latest version
> is full of improvements that suck - I think it's pretty terrific. Word and
> Excel are tremendously useful and work well. I didn't pay all that much for
> it either. From what I've seen of Windows, it sucks. But no complaints about
> Office from me.
>
> Doug
>
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