OT: Massachusetts Verdict: MS Office Formats Out
Robin Laing
Robin.Laing at drdc-rddc.gc.ca
Mon Oct 3 17:58:09 UTC 2005
Jeff Vian wrote:
> On Sat, 2005-10-01 at 23:16 -0400, Nancy Merckle wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 30 Sep 2005, Tom Pangborn wrote:
>>
>>
>>>"... and word was no
>>>longer available ; How would ..."
>>>
>>>Wouldn't you just install the old version of Word, the one the file(s)
>>>were created with? Wait a minute, we're pretending aren't we.
>>
>>We weren't pretending when higher ups decided that we would now all be on
>>a Word standard. This required all official documents for our office to
>>be produced in Word format. After 18 years of a Word Perfect standard,
>>there were a lot of legacy documents to be converted to Word. Neither
>>Word nor Word Perfect was able to convert complex documents from one
>>format to the other. Many hours were spent (by others) converting
>>documentation from WP to Word. There are now less than a dozen licenses
>>for WP in the division, so finding someone to convert a legacy document
>>can be difficult.
>>
>>When OOo announced its upgraded Word Perfect filter about 18 months ago, I
>>was experimenting with it and a co-worker mentioned a document with tables
>>that he had tried to convert with no success. He e-mailed me the
>>document, I opened it in OOo, saved it in Word format and e-mailed it
>>back. It may not have been perfect, but he was very happy.
>>
>>With OOo, I'm no longer concerned about loosing access to my Word Perfect
>>Documents. Also, I can read Word docs, without having to send $ to M$ for
>>the privilege. (It is provided at work, but I don't even have to use it
>>there.)
>>
>>My point is that sometimes old versions of the software are not available,
>>having been removed for security purposes, non-renewal of the license, or
>>the only remaining copy of the software died on a dead hard drive.
>>
>>
>>Nancy
>>
>
> And that scenario IMHO is what using an open document format is expected
> to eliminate. Using one proprietary format (WP) and having to convert
> to another (M$) is a nightmare. If the format were open then it would
> not matter which work processing tool you were using. They all could
> read/write it.
>
We are working on a new archival system for our work. Not only
documentation but data files and many other file types. I pushed from
day one that all saved and archived formats must be open formats for
just the reason you post.
-
Robin Laing
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