[Opensource] BBC Article - Schools warned off Microsoft

[Adam Barbary]

Hi Stephen,

I am aware of the compatibility pack, but the issue remains with the  
less technical staff who receive 2007 file formats from their  
students. The students often don't know how to change their file  
formats, and when these teachers receive these files and are unable to  
open they panic which results in a request for help. Office 2007  
provides no tangible benefits for the novice user, but introduces a  
plethora of issues for existing users who become frustrated when they  
are unable to locate common controls, and unable to share between  
versions/platforms. This is something that a lot of people are not  
taking into account when they "upgrade".

If users have to deal with new file formats, new menu layouts and  
installing compatibility fixes, you may as well migrate to a free  
solution. At least then your retraining doesn't have the added cost of  
software on top of it, allowing your students to install at home as  
well. Not to mention open formats that will be able to be read into  
the future without having to pay for vendor software to read  
proprietary  formats. This is a trick that MS has been using for years  
to force organisations back onto the upgrade treadmill. First you  
receive documents created by the new software, then have to adopt this  
software yourself. Office 95, 97, 2000, XP, 2003 and now 2007. In many  
cases you're not buying features (most users rarely go beyond basic  
formatting), instead you're buying compatibility.

/rant off <crawls back under rock>

Adam Barbary
Viewbank College




On 31/10/2007, at 8:26 AM, Stephen Bloomer wrote:

> If you are running Office 2003 and you install the Office 2007  
> compatibility pack (Free and in MSI format for easy deployment) you  
> staff will be able to open, save and modify Office 2007 documents  
> and not even know that the different format exists and if you can't  
> print them, the problem is with you print server, not the file format.
>
> Stephen Bloomer
> support at stpeters.vic.edu.au
> St. Peter's College
> Cranbourne-Frankston Road
> Cranbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3977
> Phone  +61 3 5996 6733
> Fax      +61 3 5996 8277
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: opensource-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of Adam Barbary
> Sent: Tue 30/10/2007 10:01 PM
> To: Open Source Software Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Opensource] BBC Article - Schools warned off Microsoft
>
>
>
> Nice find Cameron,
>
> Pity that Victoria has just inked a contract for $24 Million with MS.
> Given that XP already does what schools need and alternatives are
> often free, makes you wonder why there is an upgrade deal at all.
>
> Problems with Office 2007 are already becoming apparent as students
> begin to submit work in the new proprietary formats. The schools
> computer fleet, running Office 2003, are not equipped to read the new
> file formats. (Although there is an update available to read, not
> write) so students are unable to edit their documents at school and
> teachers unable to print them without assistance from tech support.
>
> Time to stop the money trail and install Open Office ;)
>
> Adam Barbary
> Viewbank College
>
>
> On 30/10/2007, at 8:58 PM, Cameron Bell wrote:
>
>> Schools warned off Microsoft
>>
>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7063716.stm
>>
>> Cheers
>> Cameron
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