Summary: Office Web Apps and different versions of Office are failing to work together
WE PREVIOUSLY showed that a corresponding version of Microsoft Office for Mac is not compatible with Microsoft Office for Windows [1, 2] and different versions are also mutually incompatible. Microsoft never implemented OOXML, either. In short, it is a mess and Microsoft wants everyone to buy the latest version of Office all the time, merely to be able to communicate with other people and exchange information. The following new article from the ‘Microsoft press’ says: ‘McLeish noted that the free consumer version of Office Web Apps will have some limitations. “You can’t create a table of contents, use mail merge, and many other advanced features,” she wrote. “And there would still be compatibility issues of using Office 2003 in conjunction with a newer version, such as the loss of Smart Art or other newer features only available in Office 2007 or Office 2010.”‘
“So Microsoft software isn’t compatible with itself.”
–Pamela Jones, GroklawGroklaw remarks on it by saying: “So Microsoft software isn’t compatible with itself. It’s been bragging that Google Docs isn’t seamlessly compatible. But neither is its own Office 2003, I gather.”
For what it’s worth, Google wants to sell its own proprietary software [1, 2] at the expense of Microsoft Office (Google no longer provides funding to OpenOffice.org, only to its fork, Go-OO).
In response to the problems Office is having, Microsoft has resorted to more viral marketing and aggressive tactics. The Washington Post writes about the Office EULA, reminding readers of the unnecessary pains imposed by proprietary software.
Reader Jean has a problem: she installed Office 2003 on her brand new Windows 7 system, and every single time she runs it, a pop-up forces her to accept Microsoft’s End User License Agreement (EULA).Dang it, Microsoft, she accepts already! She accepts!
This EULA may no longer hold water in the UK, not as far as liability is concerned [1, 2, 3]. So anyway, why would people actually choose Office? Because “everyone else is using it”? █
“In one piece of mail people were suggesting that Office had to work equally well with all browsers and that we shouldn’t force Office users to use our browser. This Is wrong and I wanted to correct this.”
–Bill Gates [PDF]
