I apologize now for the long email... but didn't you realize you were posting a pro- MS Office message to the OOo user's group? :)
Let's forget the price for a moment. In real life, Microsoft Office is available to everyone for free. Those who choose not to use pirated software are noble, but that is a choice. It's not because it's not available. Availability under Linux is also not a problem. I can tell you from experience that Microsoft Office XP works perfectly under Linux with Crossover Office. So, why use OpenOffice.org? How do I love thee? Let me count the ways... 1. I don't like a monopoly. Even if it doesn't fit the legal definition of a monopoly, I don't like the feeling that Microsoft Office is the end-all and be-all of office productivity. In this sense, if Microsoft was the one with the smaller market share, I would probably support them. 2. I like the concept that I might have some input into the creation process. I have the source code and I can even make changes myself. Does anyone know a Microsoft programmer? Does anyone know someone who has worked on the code of Windows or Office, or even clippy? I think they are locked in a secret bunker 25 miles below the ground in Area 51. If Microsoft and OpenOffice.org (or any other alternative) ever have close to an equal market share, I may re-examine my decision. However, I will not use Microsoft products for the forseeable future. Often people come to me for advice in their computing purchases and decisions. I'll show them OpenOffice.org and Firefox. Having worked in the Information Technology field for over 15 years, I can say that the advice I give is at least valid. Microsoft has had the greatest measure of success in making computers easier to use for people who didn't know how to use computers. The newest generation of computer users know how to use a computer. Having never known life without a computer, they will blow us away... yes, even the best of us. They will make good, informed decisions based on their own experience. And I don't think they will overwhelmingly choose Microsoft or any other particular vendor. I mean to say that, someday, there will be a fair software market again. On 10/25/05, John P Wohlscheid <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > To Whom It May Concern: > > First off I would like to clarify something. I'm biased towards Microsoft > products since they are the only things I have ever used. I looked at the > screenshots of your products out of curiosity and I was surprised how much > they look like Microsoft products. I understand that you want to make it > easy so that the few people the convert from Microsoft products will not > have > trouble using yours, but in my opinion you should try to give your > products a > different look. I'll choose one very basic item to explain this: Why is it that the File menu is on the top left and, from that menu, you can choose New, Open, and Close? Because people are used to it. In computing, we've progressed to a stage where we kind of do know how to use computers as long as they work a certain way. I have to honestly give credit to Microsoft for this. Why change what everyone is familiar with if there's no problem with it and there's no improvement to make. In fact, even if there is an improvement to make, it might not be worth it. For example, the "QWERTY" keyboard was designed to slow down people typing in English because old typewriters couldn't handle fast fingers. Is anyone using a Dvorak-style keyboard? Let me phrase it another way. Let's pretend that there are > two cars. They look a lot alike, except that one has been around for > years; > it is trusted, and owned by hundreds of thousands of people. Haven't you noticed... in come classes cars do all look and feel the same. Have you seen a recent model sportscar without an aerodynamic shape? How about the SUV phenomenon? I don't even know where that came from. It's all for the same reason. There are proven methods that work for everyone. Everyone is used to them and there are no significant problems. When an improvement is made, all of the auto manufacturers will eventually adopt the improvement. It might even be mandatory: air bags, seat belts, third brake light, anti-lock brakes, 4-wheel steering, etc... If a > middle-aged man was shown the two cars and it was proven that they looked > and > felt the same, he would probably buy the older one because of looks were > the > same, but the older one had more experience behind its manufacturing. This is just an unfortunate analogy... of course he would choose the free one. I get your point, but consider this: The younger car company came into existence because the users of the older car company's products were unhappy with the products and the way they did business. So, they did something about it and created an alternative. My > advice (one man's opinion) is come out with a new look and feel to your > products. If you have a better product and a different feel, I would saw > that people would switch to you. Now I'll be the target of some flames... We don't have a better product, just an alternative one, but a different look and feel might hurt OOo and might even make it difficult for the most faithful of us. By the way, New Look and Feel? ... - Mac OS / Xerox PARC Alto -> Microsoft Windows - Wordperfect -> Microsoft Word - Lotus Freelance / Harvard Graphics -> Microsoft Powerpoint - ??? -> Microsoft Access... ok this is original and terrible. Even MS knows it. Hence: MS SQL Server - Lotus 1-2-3 -> Microsoft Excel Again, this is just one man's opinion. You don't realize how fanatical us Open Source people are, do you?... you might want to move and change your name... Well, it doesn't really matter. We're all hackers... The Matrix has you and you're not Neo... Just kidding... you'll survive :) God Bless, Didn't you know? ... Bill Gates is Satan! <http://egomania.nu/gates.html> ( http://egomania.nu/gates.html) John Paul Wohlscheid -- Vince
