two nits

Story: HI Researcher Continues OpenDocument FUDTotal Replies: 4
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number6x

Jun 14, 2006
9:44 AM EDT
dcparris,

Two nits to pick.

The first is yours. Microsoft Office is also available for Mac OSX. Microsoft always threatens Apple with end of life on the product to keep them on their toes, but it is available. MS has not committed to a version that will handle Open XML for the Mac, but they have not completely ruled it out either.

The second is with Mr. Titch. You point out many flaws in his arguments, but he also refers to Andy Updegrove as a '...a more level-headed open source advocate...'. I don't believe I have ever read Mr. Updegrove advocating Open Source over proprietary. He seems pretty neutral, and accepts both as facts of life in IT. Andy Updegrove is a strong advocate of well documented publicly developed standards.

Thanks for the well written rebuttal.
dcparris

Jun 14, 2006
12:12 PM EDT
Thanks for the feedback. I just recently read where MS was pulling Office off the Mac, or something to that effect. And I agree with you on his picking on Updegrove. That was pure stupidity on Titch's part.
number6x

Jun 14, 2006
12:53 PM EDT
Just another innaccuracy or a try to undermine Mr. Updgrove's reputation with MS Fancois?

With Titch it could be anything.

Microsoft used to deliver new features to Mac users before they came to the Windows version of Office, but Office has been available in a pure gui form to mac users for a few years before Windows was stable.

Currently MS Office for Mac feature Entourage, the planned replacement for the much maligned outlook client: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/entourage2004/entourag...

I don't have a mac any longer, but OSX is sweet. I may pic up a mac mini to play with someday.
mark_oz

Jun 14, 2006
4:59 PM EDT
//Microsoft Office is also available for Mac OSX.//

Yes, but even on Mac OSX it still depends on proprietary, secret MS technology. ActiveX is one example, OLE is another.

Given that all MS Office formats (the current formats and the new Open XML formats as well) depend on secret proprietary OS technology from one vendor alone (Microsoft), then the formats are not future-proof. There is no guarantee that in the future anyone will be able to write software that can decipher the formats.

With ODF, being a fully documented, open and unencumbered format, there is that guarantee. Even if every single one of the ODF-compliant applications and platforms on which they now run is not available in (say) twenty years time, it would still be possible given the ODF specifications to write a new application which would be able to read a document saved today in ODF format.

You cannot say the same about any one of Microsoft's formats.

Therefore, none of Microsoft's formats meets Mass. requirements.
ayeomans

Jun 15, 2006
7:17 AM EDT
Microsoft Office for the Mac is not completely compatible with Microsoft Office for Windows. I have a letterhead document with embedded logo in .wmf. Works fine in Word for Windows (and OpenOffice.org on WIndows, Linux and Macintosh and NeoOffice for Macintosh), but the logo just gets unusably scrambled in Office for the Mac. Ouch!

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