Submitted by “Buried in a Knowledge Base article that Microsoft published to the Web on November 14 are details of Microsoft’s plans to combat Office 2007 piracy via new Office Genuine Advantage lockdowns. Microsoft’s intentions are clear: Just as it is doing with Vista, Microsoft plans to incorporate what basically amounts to a ‘kill switch‘ into Office 2007. Office 2007 users who can’t or won’t pass activation muster within a set time period will be moved into ‘reduced-functionality mode’, according to Microsoft.”
As many false positives as WGA has reputedly generated in XP-land, this could become quite the annoyance.
The annoyance is that my legal real-world receipt I hold in my hand apparently isn’t valid to Microsoft. (for my XP Pro CD, bought weeks after release, now n’lited and streamlined with SP2).
The worst thing? The legality of this whole thing has to be contested by somebody with a lot of money, this sort of thing should be clear to begin with, the same as we have with the Sale of Goods Act etc, defining what is legal with regards the sales of goods.
“The annoyance is that my legal real-world receipt I hold in my hand apparently isn’t valid to Microsoft”
It may seem I’m selling you something, but have you considered using other OS (no names here)? If I buy something and the provider makes my life hard, I just say f–k them and don’t buy again from them.
“The worst thing? The legality of this whole thing has to be contested by somebody with a lot of money”
Money and time and patience. You should read the EULA before buying anything from Microsoft. If you still buy from them, then don’t complain. You still can get a cracked version and use that. As you already have a licence to use the software, it doesn’t matter if it’s cracked or not.
I switched to a Mac, no key, no activation, no bullcrappen, just trust. But I still run Windows in Bootcamp and Microsoft really get on my goat. I had to crack IE7 to get it to install, in my legal copy of Windows. Go figure.
edit (my Windows CD is from 2001, so Microsoft haven’t had my money since then)
Edited 2006-11-20 21:17
> I had to crack IE7 to get it to install
Lol, better try myie2 (running on top of usual IE6)
It offers much more than buggy IE7.
You don’t understand. I use Firefox as my main browser. I need IE7 only for compatibility testing for web design work. Maxthon is just a tacky shell stuck onto IE6, I would still need to install IE7 to get Maxthon to render with the IE7 engine – the thing I actually need.
That’s the bad thing about a monopoly, choice isn’t a valid option. I know that there *are* alternatives out there, but if (as notparker claims) 99.6% of people in the world run Microsoft products, then being in such a minority is a definite inconvenience.
“99.6% of people in the world run Microsoft products, then being in such a minority is a definite inconvenience.”
I would like to be included in the minority that can drive a Lamborghini
You know what’s annoying? Paying owners harrassed by WGA, when you know that the cracks are already out and thousands of people on forums all over the Internet gloat about already using Vista, IE7 and Office 2007 as we speak. So I ask you, what’s the point of WGA at all?
There really isn’t a point, but you seem to assume that corporations are rational entities. They aren’t.
“but you seem to assume that corporations are rational entities”
WGA won’t apply to most corporations as they get their software via Volume License (no activation required).
“WGA won’t apply to most corporations as they get their software via Volume License (no activation required).”
You might double check, but I read that in Vista and Office 2007, enterprise users must activate their copies, it’s called Volume Activation.
Side note: My copy of Windows XP w/sp2 was bought from the MS employee store. WGA says its stolen. Real nice.
Edited 2006-11-20 22:25
It looks like you are halfway right: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/resources/vol/default.mspx
VA 1.0 will continue to be used for Office 2007 (no activation required, which I’ve already confirmed on my local network), however Vista will move to VA 2.0, which requires activation.
Here is some more info: http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=26
Interestingly it looks like Vista Ultimate won’t have VA baked into it.
THat’s odd about your MS store bought copy; I’ve never had that issue myself.
You might double check, but I read that in Vista and Office 2007, enterprise users must activate their copies, it’s called Volume Activation.
You’re half right. it seems that Office 2007 doesn’t need activation (yet!) on Volume licence. Vista, however, does.
Another advertisement for open office.
Unless of course you like this kind of thing.
Microsoft would rather have people trying OpenOffice.org than pirating Microsoft Office.
No, they wouldn’t.
Pirated MS office users are still MS Office users and contribute to increasing awareness of the MS Office product.
You know, I thought that for years. Yet now they’re suddenly tightening the screw. Why? Isn’t this the time they need awareness more than ever, now that competing products are out there for both Office and Explorer? Are their sales going down? Are they that desperate for profits that they’d risk destroying the de facto standard that Explorer and Office created?
No, they wouldn’t.
I doubt that the prospect of people running OpenOffice on Windows angers Microsoft terribly. It’s still sales for them, just not as many as they want (as with Private Tucker from RedVsBlue, they love to eat ALL the food).
Microsoft would rather have people trying OpenOffice.org than pirating Microsoft Office.
Not really, they would have blocked everything if that was the case. Instead, they turn it into a demo version, that can still read & print every Office 2007 document you receive or made previously. From the article:
“Some of the limitations of reduced-functionality mode include the following:
• You cannot create new documents.
• You can view existing documents. However, you cannot edit them.
• You can print documents. However you cannot save them.”
Rumor has it that the reduced functionality mode will be known as Office 2007 Manager’s Edition.
Seriously though, that kind of functionality is about two steps from useless. For most intended purposes, they might as well just have prevented a non-OGA compliant version of Office from opening at all.
Rumor has it that the reduced functionality mode will be known as Office 2007 Manager’s Edition.
ROFL. Get me a copy now!
Good one.
The Funny is strong in this one.
In other words, it becomes the same as Microsoft’s free Word/Excel/Powerpoint viewer software.
It’s the last thing they would do, it’s much easier to force someone who uses pirated version of ms office to buy it that to make him switch from free openoffice to ms office and pay for it.
“Microsoft would rather have people trying OpenOffice.org than pirating Microsoft Office.”
Wrong.
Whether it’s the system lockups of yore, WGA lockdowns, or the lockup of markets with subterfuge and monopolistic abuse, Microsoft should just been locked up itself. Demand better.
I read through the article and knowledge base. But how is significantly different from what already happens in Office 2003, for instance. In our university, we get some through site licences that do not require activation. But in many vendor supplied computers, we get Office pre-installed which can be used for a certain number of “starts” before it forces you to activate. So don’t retail box version of Office (which I have never had to buy so far) already have this “kill” switch. Or is this just reporting FUD, originating from MS at that? 🙂
Edit: After a tiny search found another knowledge base
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293151) which pertains to Office XP and later. So again, seems pretty much the same. Though I would much like to see oo.o gain users, this might not be the way.
Edited 2006-11-20 20:28
I read through the article and knowledge base. But how is significantly different from what already happens in Office 2003, for instance. In our university, we get some through site licences that do not require activation. But in many vendor supplied computers, we get Office pre-installed which can be used for a certain number of “starts” before it forces you to activate. So don’t retail box version of Office (which I have never had to buy so far) already have this “kill” switch. Or is this just reporting FUD, originating from MS at that? 🙂
This is very differnt from previous schemes. WGA has the ability to lock you out at any time. I’ve seen it misbehave on more than one occaison. A week ago I helped a friend with his computer issues and found that WGA had locked him out of an update. Investiagting further it seemed that his product key was not the same as his licenced version. He had never reinstalled the system so the product key was changed some other way. I changed the product key and reactivated. I had to call microsoft but they activated the license. When I rebooted the product key was correct and activated but WGA was still telling me I wasn’t valid.
This type of behaviour is very different from what happened before WGA. If your product key was changed after you were activated you would continue to have a valid license. Not only that even with the correct activated key WGA continued to complain and cut the machine off from needed updates. Activation is a one time thing while WGA is constantly monitoring. It’s like having to reactivate Windows every time you go to windowsupdate.com.
I must say I really dislike Microsoft, but I also dislike software pirating. So they have their right to implement the WGA Kill Switch. Maybe then people would start paying for the software they use or otherwise use a free (as in beer) or cheaper product.
Unfortunately this wasn’t implemented in previous versions of Windows and Office; those versions are what people use today. I think it’s time for pirates to pay with nuisances or money for using commercial software for free, unless WGA is cracked (it will).
The problem I have with it is that it doesn’t really stop piracy, but it makes it a pain for me to install software on all of my machines.
I can see charging companies on a per machine basis, but that is utterly ridiculous at a home user level. I realize it is their software and they can license it however they want, but I don’t like the idea of having to buy multiple copies of something just so I can use it on multiple machines at home.
That’s why I choose not to use Windows or any proprietary software that follows such a model.
Completly agree as well –
Its their software – it is not open source – they have the right to enforce for people to pay for their products & not steal them .
I like pirated software – saves me tons of money I dont have – but then there are also educational versions of programs – often not – I wish very much for these “programs” to be expanded – so that young people without tons of money can get hold of certain industry standard programs without saving saving saving or pirating .
I agree it certainly would/does suck when the genuine – you paid for this – software check does not properly work .
Im quite for for anti-piracy features as long as they work .
In the age of the internet – why is it so hard for companies to make their programs piracy proof ?
//In the age of the internet – why is it so hard for companies to make their programs piracy proof ?//
Hey, here is an idea. Make the Office 2007 CDs write only.
That will save enormous grief all over the world, and cut the piracy down to zero!
//Its their software – it is not open source – they have the right to enforce for people to pay for their products & not steal them . //
//Im quite for for anti-piracy features as long as they work . //
OK, fair enough.
You are prepared to jump through all sorts of hoops with CD keys and phone calls to Microsoft and taking a risk that your software will get killed by Microsoft anyway.
I’m not prepared to do all that, and run that risk, for software that doesn’t even comply to the international standard in any event.
I’m also not prepared to listen to anyone who even tries to claim “Windows is easier to install software than Linux”. With WGA & CD keys and activation and all the sundry hoops you poor people are forced to go through clearly installing software on Windows is far & away more difficult than it is on Linux.
Another previous advantage to Windows, driver support, seems to be slipping too. I tossed XP Pro SP2 on another drive, booted it up; still can’t get it to pick up my 2nd TV tunercard, nor use the 3rd/4rth monitors on the 2nd video card. Using Windows to control wireless is painful; if the connection drops momentarily, it’s down for 30sec.+ as it starts scanning channels or something.
Increasingly, it seems only the desirable trait of the windows driver scheme is the accellerated video performance and [cheap] printer support.
“Unfortunately this wasn’t implemented in previous versions of Windows and Office; those versions are what people use today.”
Unfortunate for who? Not for MS. The rampant piracy of Windows (and DOS before that) has considerably contributed to MS’ market and brain share.
“I think it’s time for pirates to pay with nuisances or money for using commercial software for free, unless WGA is cracked (it will).”
Uh. So you’re saying it’s ok to pirate if you figure out how to break the protection?
After 5 successful hacks it will be placed into, “increased piracy mode”. Bummer they can’t learn from their own history and so get to repeat the ancient lessons of copy protection. They will lose, they’re customers will lose and some pirates will win a new hobby.
… their customers will lose …
Please, how can people do this kind of mistakes. English isn’t my native language, and I’m really shocked when I see that there are often confusion between their, they’re and there. This makes the sentence totally unreadable !
“make this kind of mistake”
“there is often confusion”
/sorry
I quite agree with you (sorry for being condescending) but you must appreciate that, though we ‘own’ the language, that doesn’t mean we have any skill or rigour at teaching it to our offspring.
And this goes double for our errant former colonies
Due to reported false positives, WGA has generated legions of ticked off XP users (who paid their XP license, fair and square).
It will great and funny, in terms of pie in MS’s face, not in terms of the poor suckers who have to deal with it, when the WGA kill switch turns of paid installations of Office. The complaining from hapless users will be deafening.
Go Microsoft, go!!
You mean like Paul from http://www.winsupersite.com who whined and moaned about being locked out, then later admiting he was using a bootleg copy.
Sorry, if idiots out there buy computers off non-reputable companies, and get charged for their copy of windows, then it is their own problem – stick to the big names like Dell, Lenovo, HP and the likes, and you won’t have problems.
stick to the big names like Dell, Lenovo, HP and the likes, and you won’t have problems.
Sure, once you clean off all the junk that comes pre-loaded by those companies.
So you’d rather pay another $200+ for a copy of Windows after getting shafted by your local whitebox vendor?
Sorry, all I had to do is uninstall some stuff from my Toshiba, and voila, a clean laptop without any problems. Obviously you’re soooooooooooo busy that 15minutes of uninstalling is way too much time <rolls eyes>
So you’d rather pay another $200+ for a copy of Windows after getting shafted by your local whitebox vendor?
Why would you equate buying from a local whitebox vendor with getting shafted? And to answer your question: yes. Considering two factors: one, the lower cost the whitebox vendor will charge me for the hardware will more than offset the added cost of XP, relative to a big OEM. Oh, and where are you getting the $200 figure from? I don’t pay that much even in Canadian funds – any competent whitebox vendor should be able to sell you a vanilla OEM copy of XP with the hardware, for much less than the cost of the shrink-wrapped retail copies. You know, those discs that Dell, Compaq, et al have stopped including in favour of model-specific restore CDs?
And the second factor is that, out of all the computers I’ve done support work on, the ones from big OEMs with the original pre-loaded OS installs have been the most hassle. Almost invariably, reformatting and reinstalling from a proper CD has cleared everything up (except when the OEMs are anal enough to tie the CD/activation key specifically to their restore CDs – thank you, Dell).
Sorry, all I had to do is uninstall some stuff from my Toshiba, and voila, a clean laptop without any problems. Obviously you’re soooooooooooo busy that 15minutes of uninstalling is way too much time <rolls eyes>
Riiight. Fifteen minutes, you say? I haven’t used a recent Toshiba lately, but on a Dell or a HP/Compaq, that would give you enough time to uninstall the extra redundant media players and maybe get about halfway through uninstalling the timebomb demo of Norton/Symantec. Then you still have the fun of playing whack-a-mole in msconfig to disable all the useless background apps that auto-run on startup – while trying not to disable any that provide useful functionality. And God help you if there’s any AOL software pre-loaded. At this point, big OEMs clutter their default installs to the point where it’s often faster to just re-format, reinstall than try to uninstall the crap.
@JeffS
Due to reported false positives, WGA has generated legions of ticked off XP users (who paid their XP license, fair and square).
My condolences to all 4 persons that make up the ticked off legion. LOL
Edited 2006-11-21 11:16
//My condolences to all 4 persons that make up the ticked off legion. LOL.//
Google search for “WGA” and “false positive”.
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=wga+%22false+positive%22&…
Results 1 – 10 of about 25,200 for wga “false positive”.
“4 persons”? LOL. That is 4 very busy persons writing on 25,000 web pages.
Windows XP Pro Corp.
Many users contemplating OpenOffice should realize that Microsoft’s “innovations” are likely contained within OpenOffice and therefore OO users owe MS. At least that’s what Steve Balmer said.
Come on, you can’t believe that shit!
I think he was joking. Sure, he does not believe it, but Microsoft will work hard to convince a judge somewhere in the world that it is true. Just look at at Lindows case history.
He is absolutely right, all OO users are infringing on MS IPs.
So MS is about to gain fair shareholder returns on these IPs by giving these OO users a mutual indemnification agreement. For this they will pay the OO users a given amount, say $20 per user, and the OO users will pay MS a given lower amount, say $5 per user.
OO users everywhere are shaking in their shoes at this prospect, and MS shareholders are rejoicing that finally they will get some returns from the abuse of their IPRs.
Both of which reactions are very curious, when you think about it….
I do hope you are joking…
I don’t see nothing in MS Office (any version) that some other software hasn’t previously incorporated before. In fact, MS has ‘borrowed’ lots of ideas from other packages… So it owes them? Specially after MS Office ‘sucess’ making lots of them disappear from market?
//He is absolutely right, all OO users are infringing on MS IPs. //
In order to “infringe”, OpenOffice must implement something which is covered by a valid MS patent.
In order to have a valid patent, MS must reveal exactly how their new “invention” works. They must reveal this on the patent application.
Since Microsoft have not revealed any such thing about MS Office, the only “IP” that MS can have in Office are trade secrets.
OpenOffice does probably work out some of Microsoft’s trade secrets.
Microsoft’s problem is that it is perfectly legitimate for OpenOffice to do that. Anyone is perfectly entitled to try to figure out any trade secrets. Good luck to you if you do figure one out.
Microsoft’s problem is that OpenOffice users do not owe Microsoft anything at all, despite what Ballmer is huffing and puffing about.
//Microsoft’s “innovations” are likely contained within OpenOffice and therefore OO users owe MS.//
Microsoft’s stuff that OpenOffice works with (that is, the Microsoft Office binary file formats) are trade secrets. They are not patents, because in order to get a patent you have to publish the invention, and Microsoft has not published these file formats. So they are trade secrets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_secret
“Trade secrets are by definition not disclosed to the world at large. … Trade secret protection can, in principle, extend indefinitely and in this respect offers an advantage over patent protection (which lasts only for a specifically delimited period, for example twenty years in the U.S.). (One company that has no patent for its formula and has been very effective in protecting it for many more years than a patent would have is Coca Cola.) However, the “down side” of such protection is that it is comparatively easy to lose (for example, to reverse engineering, which a patent will withstand but a trade secret will not) … Companies often try to discover one another’s trade secrets through lawful methods of reverse engineering”.
So, Ballmer is wrong. If OpenOffice has worked out Microsoft’s trade secret binary file formats, then that is perfectly legitimate and OpenOffice users do NOT owe Microsoft at all.
“therefore OO users owe MS”
No they don’t. Consumers/end-users are not liable for patent infringements made by the manufacturers of the products they are using. Why? Because it is not reasonable to expect end-users to have the kind of technical knowledge necessary to know that. Just ask any real lawyer (ie, not Steve Balmer).
“At least that’s what Steve Balmer said.”
That’s because he is either clueless about how patents work or he’s outright lying.
Edited 2006-11-21 10:56
question:”Who was first,Balmer or the Egg”?
Regardless of what you think of MS, they are just trying to make life for pirates more difficult… The tool itself might have some glitches, but intentions are not bad in this case. And may be some of those running pirated versions of the program will consider alternatives…
this will only convice people to find alternatives!
oh, that clone of OpenOffice.org ?
… work for a version of Office 2007 downloaded from Bit torrent with the Activation/WGA hacked out of it?
I don’t think so.
In any case, if I’m going to be treated like a criminal, I might as well act like one.
“In any case, if I’m going to be treated like a criminal, I might as well act like one.?
And if you do “act like one” then you *are* one. Thanks for admitting that. But it must be painful to get up each day, look in the mirror, and know that a criminal is looking back at you.
BTW, do you say the same to yourself when walking by the scanners when exiting a retail store? “Well, if I’m going to be treated like a criminal, I may as well go ahead and steal a few items while I’m here.” Oh, and the indignity of having to actually present a ticket when boarding a plane, ferry, or entering a concert, baseball game, or movie theater must really piss you off!
The fact is, you *are* an admitted criminal. So *you* being offended at anti-piracy measures is a joke.
Edited 2006-11-20 23:23
> BTW, do you say the same to yourself when walking by
> the scanners when exiting a retail store?
I’d say this is a bit different, though. If you buy software you have the scanners in the store check you for stolen goods. But once you’ve bought those goods, you don’t expect to have a scanner in your home to check you’re not bringing anything else stolen home, nor do you expect to have to go through it every time you want to use those goods. I think this is the thing that annoys people about WGA – the continual expectation that you need to be monitored for wrongdoing.
What makes it worse is that if MS mess up and get the checks wrong, the person who legally bought the copy suffers. MS have their money already, so they don’t suffer. Real pirates will be running a cracked version, so they don’t suffer. I must admit, this sort of thing does make me wonder why one would bother paying for things at all.
I don’t really trust MS to get this right.
I’ve got numerous copies of XP Pro around my place (2 retail, 3 OEM) and everything was fine then suddenly, with one WindowsUpdate both my retail XPs were declared dodgy.
Pretty frustrating when you’ve got the boxes sitting in the bookcase opposite you when it happens.
It took some time to get around, which involved calling MS activation, speaking to a person, getting put to another person, to another, and then being told to send back the box lids to get another copy.
For some reason my two legitimate copies were blacklisted.
WGA/Activation doesn’t fill me with confidence.
Microsoft has the right to do as they please with their software, just as a user has the right to pick the software in the first place. The solution is easy, if you don’t like MSO, pick something else, it’s not as if one doesn’t have a choice. I really don’t know what the problem is.
No, they don’t have the right to do as they please. Making the customer pay for a service, and then refusing to render that service, is theft. They don’t have the right to steal the customer’s money by freezing them out of software that the customer legitimately purchased.
If they want to complain about piracy, fine — but if they’re going to act like pirates themselves, I have no sympathy.
“Microsoft has the right to do as they please with their software, just as a user has the right to pick the software in the first place. The solution is easy, if you don’t like MSO, pick something else, it’s not as if one doesn’t have a choice. I really don’t know what the problem is.”
Umm, the problem is that when I go into most retail electronics stores, I CAN’T purchase a PC without Windows on it. Even if I choose to delete Windows and install something else, stores won’t refund the cost of the Windows license. If they do, they violate the sweetheart deal they made with Microsoft that says they get reduced pricing for preinstalling Windows to the exclusion of other operating systems. At school, I have no choice in the operating system and word processor installed in the computer labs. Since the school likely got a HUGE discount from Microsoft to pre-install Windows and Microsoft Office to the exclusion of anything else (save for a handfull of Macs crammed in a back corner) my choice was made for me. Since Windows and Office are already on the computers in the school, the classes dealing with computer instruction teach Windows and Office specifically; barely mentioning any alternatives that might exist, if at all. Finally, since most schools train on Windows and Office, most businesses adobt them too because they get sweet corporate licensing and employees already trained. Who really pays for Windows and Office? John Q. Public who has no access to a sweet student or corporate discount, and lacks the training or knowledge required to locate and use something else. Don’t sit there and tell me that I can simply choose something else if I don’t like MS’s policies. While it’s true that I happen to be very tech savvy and have been using computers and various operating systems for the past fifteen years, my family, friends, and collegues who lack such technical training are stuck with the choices that were made FOR them; not BY them.
Can’t recall having seen this mentioned on OSnews, but if you live near a Tesco store (and the way that company is growing, this could soon be global!), there’s always this alternative:
http://www.silicon.com/retailandleisure/0,3800011842,39162918,00.ht…
The overall package won’t be for everyone,I am sure,even though the office suite is being supplied by the folks behind Ability Office, but MS, not least by ticking legit users off, may be facing some unexpected competition from others who have also decided on the ‘we are gonna be ubiquitous’ strategy.
Why does this remind me of shareware programs? Programs that you can use 30 days, and if you don’t register after that, they will either cease to function or limit the available features. Others are limited from the start, and you can unlock the features by registering.
People bitching about Pirates yet the only ones I know of are operating off out of South East Asia.
Software theft is a problem but then when you see that the ones being stolen from or denied income and the monopolistic means they use to screw the computing industry, who sheds a tear? I sure as hell don’t.
When MS is prevented from forcing consumer choice by deliberately restricting it then I’ll feel sorry for them. As for paying for software, support those that support you, educate others where possible.
MS ain’t the only asshole company out there in computing just one of the biggest.
nice piece of information
thats nice
There are number of very viable alternatives to the hassle Microsoft is putting it’s honest, paying customers of Office through:
OpenOffice
ThinkFree Office
WordPerfect
Lotus
AbiWord
There are even a number online Office products from the likes of Google, Yahoo, and many others, all using Ajax techniques to produce a rich interface. These are viable alternatives if you don’t mind having your documents stored on someone else’s server.
Face it, Microsoft is not even remotely interested in customer satisfaction. Otherwise, WGA would not exist. WGA is a flawed technology, which produces far too many false positives.
The sad thing is that WGA does not come close to stopping piracy. The software pirates will always be able to hack around such anti-piracy schemes. WGA only produces major headaches to regular, honest, paying customers.
I can’t blame MS for wanting to curb piracy. But they are completely off their rocker if they think this stuff will work, without unintended consequences.
Dump MS Office. Use the great alternatives. Simple.
Lotus is dead. IBM bought Lotus.
Face it, Microsoft is not even remotely interested in customer satisfaction.
LOL
Microsoft listens a lot to their customers. Just because they don’t fulfill your wishes that doesn’t mean that MS isn’t listening.
Dump MS Office. Use the great alternatives. Simple.
I use and (like) abi word on my Xubuntu system.
But.
Last year, very shortly after Hurricane Katrina, a friend of mine who is a medical transcriptionist living in Mississippi had her hard drive die. (Knoppix, SpinRite and the old “stick it in the freezer for 20 minutes” trick could not make it mount.)
She could find her XP disks, but her Office disks were missing (and have never been found.)
I suggested OO and Abi Word as replacements.
After reading the manuals and contacting the teams for both OO and Abi Word, she discovered that neither had template related features she *counted* on to automate her workflow.
OO and Abi Word are good programs, but, just as with Gimp, both are missing some key features that pro-power users *must* have to complete jobs.
—
In the end several of us pooled money and bought her an new copy of Office.
“OO and Abi Word are good programs, but, just as with Gimp, both are missing some key features that pro-power users *must* have to complete jobs. “
Good point. OO.o Abiword, and the like, typically don’t have all of the advanced features that MS Office does.
However, perhaps the commercial alternatives can meet the needs of those utilizing those features. StarOffice, for instance, has several extensions above and beyond OO.o. ThinkFree Office, another commercial alternative, has many of the same advanced features. Then there is WordPerfect, Lotus, etc.
Now, if those commercial products still don’t meet the advanced user’s needs, then I guess those users are pretty much stuck. They have my condolences.
However, those advanced users represent perhaps 5%, at most, of the overall Office users. For the remaining 95%, OpenOffice will do just fine.
Remember, Microsoft will continue to slap you around for as long as you let them.
Please do use the power of the free market to not let them get away with it. Otherwise, you only have yourself to blame.
//After reading the manuals and contacting the teams for both OO and Abi Word, she discovered that neither had template related features she *counted* on to automate her workflow. //
Google says:
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=openoffice+template&ie=utf-8&oe=u…
“Results 1 – 10 of about 1,510,000 for openoffice template”.
Over a million hits and she missed it?
OpenOffice probably would work fine even with MS Office templates.
Whatever Microsoft. I’ll just do what I did with Office 2003 and Windows XP: continue to use the pirated corporate editions even though I own legitimate licenses. Its kinda sad when using the pirated copy is easier than owning a legitimate copy.
From what I read the activation on their Flight Simulator X is a mess. Luckily last night I was able to find a reliable patch for it (or so I think) to deactivate activation. I can now safely purchase that program for my enjoyment.
It’s Microsoft’s right to do this. It’s their software, their licence and so on. However, users have the right to be _very_ unhappy when the inevitable false positives happen and they’re locked out of their legitimately purchased software.
The only people this hurts are MS’s legitimate customers. Their software will fail and they probably won’t even understand. It’s no deterrent for a determined pirate (arr).
Speaking purely for myself, I couldn’t give a monkey’s. Work pay for my MS licences at work and I’ve long since thrown off the MS chains at home :o)
Simon
http://www.techweb.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=194700010&cid=RS…
So many overreactions about nothing…
As a Linux user in a Windows corporate environment I can honestly say that I have no problems using OpenOffice for all of my office needs. I can send and receive docs and none of my Windows using coworkers can tell the difference. I’m not trying to tell people that they should ditch Office; if they like it enough then they can feel free to pay the exorbitant price tag for it, and they should. This is no different than buying a Mac that come preloaded with iWork trial on it. Once your time is up, if you don’t pay then you lose functionality. I don’t like MS but they do have a large quantity of time and money invested into MS Office, and they do deserve to get paid for it…just not from me.
rofl @ reduced funtionality..
microsoft are obviously scared of completely stopping pirates(even though they cant succeed either).
Microsoft official speech: “NOO!! DONT PIRATE!”
Microsoft internal speech: “YES! they pirate our crap! those fools! we rule!”
So Office 2007 is a crippled Shareware.
You have to pay to get the full version ?
We all know that the Shareware business model has largely failed, thanks to free software…
Why would anyone need to resort to piracy to get a decent Office software when OpenOffice is free??? It does everything that an average user might need.
What if the computer is used offline?
HTAT,
http://www.hardwaretipsandtricks.com
Plz explain more?
Plz explain more…….?
Plz explain mor?