Microsoft don't want zero piracy - if by some means it was 100% impossible to use Windows/Office without paying a couple of hundred pounds there would be many many more people using alternatives and the MS market share would be smaller - that's not in their advantage.toy_soldier said:Really all Microsoft can do is slow people down when it comes to things like this, its bound to happen with probably 99.9% of software. I wonder why they have never used things like security key fobs etc, im sure that would make life harder for a lot of people, but probably make things too complicated for inexperienced users
Office 2007 to cripple itself if activation fails
- Thread starter dafloppyone
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snowdog said:
Among other changes Microsoft Office will use a new default file format OpenXML and use the ZIP file container to reduce size of the docs and spreadsheets produced. All the changes to the formats mean people will need new Office suite sooner rather than later...
v0n said:
I suppose that's a "Microsoft are evil by changing their file formats and making us buy a new version" argument more than anything else - but they have at least released a compatability pack for Office 2000 and 2003 that makes them interoperable with 2007 (at least mostly so).
It still fully supports Word Document (.doc) format. So what are you on about?v0n said:
I swear people were only last year slating Microsoft for not using an 'open' XML file format. Now that they are, the same people slate them for imposing unwanted change :/
You suspect rightFishThrower said:
The new WPF framework is bringing about a new wave of products called Microsoft Expression that will soon be the defacto for DTP, web graphic design (ala. Adobe Illustrator/Fireworks) and dare I say it.. a replacement for the aging Macromedia Flash that has served the web so well. Oh and it'll also be unseating Adobe Acrobat PDFs as the standard sealed document sharing format. It is these market entrances that are going to cause Microsoft the biggest headaches over the next few years (at least in their legal department). Adobe is already gearing up for taking Microsoft to court. Adobe also, arguably, bought out Macromedia last year for the sole purpose of teaming up against Microsoft.
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taz488 said:interesting...ill just stick to xp and office 2003 thanks, or get a fake, but in future i think im gonna buy my os and be completely legit, wouldnt that be amazing!
That quote has just made my day.
Thank you.
aaazza
Relax dude, there is no reason to be agressive about something as trivial as MS Office suite.NathanE said:
The "need for upgrade" never comes from the fact something isn't backward compatible, but from natural progress - typical office user will start sending documents in new format, other people will need to work with those docs and sooner or later "compatibility pack" will be a tad too little. We've seen that happen already guys - Office 2000 with additions to .doc format - 95/97 could read it. Interface is another thing. Take Open Office as example. It can do just about everything that expensive Office does, but in business environment it is not interchangable. Temps and office staff are flexible enough...
AcidHell2 said:
Oh please...I really wish people would stop all this "I'd buy it if it were cheaper" rubbish.
This applies to only a very small percentage of people.
The rest are in two camps - either they will buy it or they won't.
The thieves don't care how little it costs they don't want to pay ANYTHING for it.
This can easily be seen by the fact that you take your average £10 - £30 small application, maybe a video joiner, maybe a media player.
This amount of cash is trivial yet there are hacks and cracks out there because these people don't want to pay anything as they feel the world owes them a living.
You say to these people:
MS Office - Legitimate copy for £200, Legimate copy for £100 or thieve it for £0
Guess what the scum will answer?
stoofa said:
Ill take the student and teacher edition?
On a serious note you have a very good point.
People will never agree to new versions of Microsofts products.
I could not use my computer without outlook 2003, been using it every few hours since 2003 came out in stundent and teacher edition.
People will buy it, good on them needing the new features and compatability with other people.
Personally I am in the camp of not needing it and sticking with 2003, does everything I need and Outlook is an amazing bit of software, as are all the proggies in the suite.
Yes it costs money, but over the years I have and will use the product it will be probably something silly like 6p a week to use it. Good value for money considering it just 'works'.
Remmember you also pay for support when you buy the software, you are not left high and dry. The support and updates continue for years after the software is obsolete, this all costs money to provide.
I am all for the periodic updates to the suite being released, it is how progress is made.
In 2010 when office 2011 is being released we will have this same conversation. Much like there was on here at how useless 2000 and 2003 would be.
Give the software a year to mature and have any bugs ironed out then decide in my opinion. It will take that long for it to get to the point of an industry standard and then it will be going some. Office 2000 is still the main one I believe.
Thats my 1.5p student discount view on it anway.
stoofa said:
Hehe. But. "The thieves" won't pay for it whether it costs £2000 or £20. If you make it impossible to warez (temporary) they will still not buy it. So why not just save on all those little annoying things - verification systems, wrappers, single use serial numbers, staff at call centres issueing verifications etc, etc and offer the product cheaper. If students can buy it at half price, it means profit can be made on smaller margins.. Up profitability by saving costs. This applies to anything, games with protection that bother regular users, but not warezed copies, ultra expensive software that use serial port dongles and disconnects rendering farms when cleaning lady move something, but doesn't bother warezed versions with software emulators. So on, so forth. On the other hand if you make it cheap enough 90% of hardware will be shipped with it - OEM of Norton, MS Works or old Lotus 1.2.3 springs to mind, the moment they stopped being stupidly expensive they were shipped with every single office PC on earth.
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Yewen said:
Correct, FWIW.