"Back in my university days, when Netscape was the latest web browser on the scene and the Pentium MMX was the power user's processor of choice, UNIX was part of my everyday life. Since graduating, my chosen desktop operating system has been Windows of some variety. This is partly because it was the most readily available consumer desktop operating system and also because it served me well for the most part." More here. In other Ubuntu news, Automatix2 for Feisty is released.
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Member since:2005-12-31
> Actually, you are going to be forced to upgrade.
So you are with any version of any Linux distro, simply because at one point in the future, it will be outdated. "being forced to upgrade" is a constant for computers these days and has nothing to do with Windows.
> However, you advertise a job for hire and give your email address for
> people to send their CVs, (resumes), and get hundreds of emails, they
> are all in .DOC, (office XP,2003 and 2000). You cannot open any of them.
[...]
> Use a solution that has open formats. Try OpenOffice.org, it will allow
> you to read propriatary formats, but allow you to save in an open
> format that will never be locked or owned by one company.
First you say that an old Windows won't help you because you need DOC, and then you advertise open formats? If DOC is a requirement stated by your future employer, using open formats won't help (those employers that would regard you higher for using open formats wouldn't try to force you into DOC from the beginning).
> The danger is simple.... what is to stop Microsoft putting a lock on
> the format and charging you for access to your own documents ?
First, there would be a massive uproar from customers and ODF would be the #1 format immediately. Secondly, any old document can still be accessed with old Office versions, as well as OO.org, so no important data is lost (and even formatting would survive for the most part). This would be the perfect suicide for MS.
May I also say that mentioning all the things that *could* happen, but are very unlikely to *actually* happen, with the intention to draw customers off a competitor (in this case, MS) is exactly the classical F.U.D. game that MS is infamous for.
Member since:2005-07-06
Re-read my post please. I was saying that YOU are advertising a job, and OTHER people are sending you .DOC files, across many of the office formats.
So YOU need to keep upgrading to be able to read them all.
It is not the same using Linux, as there is not a single vendor trying to get everyone to use its formats.
So, for example, you are running Ubuntu and using Openoffice. You vreate a load of files in .ODF, the Ubuntu goes bust, and Openoffice developers give up and start making games, no more Openoffice. What do you do ?
You simply choose another Linux, like Mepis, and another application like Koffice and you are back to editing your .ODFs again.
With Linux, you are free to type "apt-get dist-upgrade" and move from one older version to a newer one, or you can stick with back-ports.
This is what Windows users needs, the freedom to stay with something like Windows 2000, and get all the goodies like DX10 from the future versions. Although there is no "could" or "would" here, we all know that will never happen.
Member since:
2005-07-06
Actually, you are going to be forced to upgrade.
An example.
You have win3.1 on your 486, running Word6. It does everything you need of it.
However, you advertise a job for hire and give your email address for people to send their CVs, (resumes), and get hundreds of emails, they are all in .DOC, (office XP,2003 and 2000). You cannot open any of them.
Do you....
Reply to them all asking them to change the format of the attachment.
Only give the job to someone who sends in .TXT format.
See, it is not just how YOU use your computer, it is how well you can interoperate with others, and being locked into a propriatary only solution, will limit your timescale for doing so.
Some people use Windows because that is all they know, fair enough, use Windows, but DO NOT USE formats that lock you in to specific applications.
Use a solution that has open formats. Try OpenOffice.org, it will allow you to read propriatary formats, but allow you to save in an open format that will never be locked or owned by one company.
The danger is simple.... what is to stop Microsoft putting a lock on the format and charging you for access to your own documents ?