* Paul Abrahams <abrahams@acm.org> (Thu, May 31, 2001 at 11:08:03AM -0400)
The sad truth is that MS Office, and Word in particular, has become a de facto standard in much of big business and government, both in the USA and (it appears) in other countries such as Great Britain. Documents get exchanged in that format, and if you don't have the latest version (soon to be XP) you can't work with them. The behavior is self-reinforcing.
Sorta so. However 1) many people are still on '97. Office 2Ks format is '97 compatible. XP will be using XML (although that obviosuly will not be standard XML but rather standard XML with just enough M$ proprietary sh&t to make it incompatible with the rest of the universe), but unless evryone upgrade to XP , they have to use backward compatibility mode 2) Many corporations aren't happy with the XP licensing /pricing scheme, so the big move to XP might be (much)_ further away than M$ wishes. 3) In fact many compnaies are investigating alternatives to M$ office. I know we are , and I would be very happy if we did move to something else.
Star Office isn't a solution, and won't be until and unless it is able to both import and export the most recent MS formats. I wish that would happen, but I don't expect it to.
The moment Sart Office gets 100% compatible on office97 docs we move in a flash. Currently listening to: the hum of my computer Gerhard, <@jasongeo.com> == The Acoustic Motorbiker == -- __O You can manage a snake, though its poison might kill =`\<, It's amazing how humping a camel will thrill (=)/(=) You can go with a snail if you slow to a crawl But the hedgepod can never be buggered at all.