MS Office 2007 Beta 2

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Whaleboy


The trouble with that, and all the other features that MS have undoubtably copied (having said that, the ribbon seems quite innovative), is that you could quite happily say "only 8 years after Apple" if they hold off for another couple of years.

Ultimately it's a meaningless idea to say who did what first is important to the end user... there it's a case of do it ASAP if it's a good idea. MS integrated PDF as soon as they could, but better late than never .

Not really. This is what happens when a company has a virtual monopoly. Customers are being screwed. Microsoft should have been broken up for the benefit of consumers back in 2001.

[Whaleboy]

I can certainly understand the argument that customers are being screwed though perhaps something like that would have had more gravitas than it does now, considering that the free and commercial alternatives to Microsoft's products are stronger than ever.

You could make the argument that, merely because it is a monopoly, it should not be unfairly penalised simply on the basis of its size. For example, I find it contradictory that Apple is allowed to include so much more functionality into OSX than Microsoft is into Windows out of the box. That's not to say that I'm a MS apologist; if funds were available I'd be using one of the new Macbooks.

My point is that Microsoft is in the same market as its competitors, and Microsoft's dominant position is the problem of its competitors, not of the company itself. I think we can take the improved quality of Office as indicative of the fact that it is worried about competition, which seems to fly in the face of a company secure in its monopoly, enough to screw customers like it used to do.

[Q Classic]

Customers are being screwed.

*cough* iPod Mini

...

Screwing customers isn't just something Microsoft does. Apple does it too, only Apple customers beg for more. Many Microsoft customers just don't know any better, which is why they take it.

[Imran Siddiqui]

S&M freaks those Apple customers are

[Q Classic]

You know what their safe word phrase is, Imran? "Dude, You're Getting A Dell!"

[Nostromo]

*cough* iPod Mini

What's wrong with the Mini? Mine works fine. And it was cheaper than the Creative micro.

[Q Classic]

Well, the fact that you were paying $50 less for a device with 1/4 the storage, that was still 80-85% the size. Oh, right, you got to pick colors.

[Nostromo]

It was more like 80$ less. With that money I got a decent pair of headphones. The Mini has a better interface (the scroll wheel) and better battery than the Micro (18 hours for the Mini, and 12 for the Micro, IRC) Btw, you also get to choose your Micro's color.

[Q Classic]

I know people are happy with their iPod Minis. Doesn't mean I think it's a good deal.

I mean, people are happy with their pre-1997 Jaguars. Doesn't make them a good deal.

[Nostromo]

Sure, if you compare it with bigger models, you have less GB for your money. But if you compare it with similar products from other companies, like the Zen Micro, the Mini was competitively priced. Well, maybe not the first generation Mini's. But the 4th generation Mini's were a good deal.
And, in a number of ways, I think they were better products than the Nano.

[Q Classic]

There's where you and I disagree. I think the Nano is a decent product, in that for $50 less, you get something that truly is significantly different from the regular iPod.

Also, I should have probably mentioned the iPod Shuffle and how much of a rip-off that one was.

===

In any case, Microsoft Office 2007. The more I use it, the more impressed I am with it. Though I have run across a few behavior changes with Excel, I'm not sure if they're intentional or bugs.

[Asher]

Breaking up MS would accomplish nothing but spreading out the profits among different corporate entities.

[Nostromo]

There's where you and I disagree. I think the Nano is a decent product, in that for $50 less, you get something that truly is significantly different from the regular iPod.

The 4th generation Mini's were a better deal, IMO. They were more robust, with their aluminium case (whereas the plastic nano's case is a scratch-prone mess), they had better a battery life, and they were cheaper (you could have a 4GB Mini for the price of a 2 GB Nano). The Nano is sexier, that's all.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

Word

[Jon Miller]

I have stayed away from Office for a while. But I recently bought a Tablet, and OneNote seems nice (I have it). I am contemplating getting Office to go with it.

I have OneNote 2003 though.

I have a hacked version of Office XP which is OK, but I don't choose to use generally. I have a 1997 version that I own. I hated Office 2000 (which is when I quit using Word and Excel). I did start using Excel again recently (Last semester) (It is what the University uses in its lab courses). I don't like it all that much, but maybe I need ot learn more how to use it.

I would like to know how to use OneNote better.

Jon Miller