Microsoft Office 2007 SP2: So Much for ODF Compatibility

Rob Weir did some tests of the new Microsoft Office 2007 SP2, which is supposed to provide support for the Open Document Format, ODF, out of the box. From his tests of an ODF spreadsheet, ODF files created by Office 2007 SP2 can be interpreted only by Office 2007 SP2 and no other application that supports ODF. And Office 2007 SP2 cannot read/interpret ODF files created by any other application. And we’re talking about a large number of applications here: OpenOffice, Google Docs, KSpread, IBM Symphony, Sun’s ODF Plugin, and the CleverAge ODF plugin.

Interestingly, all the other applications are able to create ODF spreadsheets that are readable by each other, except in the case of the old version of KSpread, which the reviewer used for reasons given in the article. So it’s not the case that the ODF format does not give enough details for spreadsheet formulas to be properly interpreted. Everybody else managed to implement it correctly.

Is this a case of Microsoft paying lip service to standards, so that they can gain inroads into governments’ procurement systems that demand open standard document support? If so, it means that they think all government officials are suckers and idiots.

If that’s not the case, then you’ll have to blame the Microsoft developers: are they so imcompetent that they cannot implement an open standard when everyone else and their grandmother has implemented it correctly? And it’s not as though they cannot see how the others have implemented it: OpenOffice is open source after all. Perhaps they will say ODF is not clear where spreadsheet formulas are concerned. Then how is it every other application is able to implement it correctly?

Filed in Outraged, Opinon, News, Software, Windows.

It’s Official: Next Version of Windows to be Called Windows 7

It’s official. Microsoft has announced that the next version of Windows, currently codenamed ‘Windows 7′, is to be named… wait for it, drums roll… ‘Windows 7′.

Hopefully it will be a much better OS than the disaster known as Vista. I think Vista has eclipse the horrors of Windows ME in my mind.

My other posts on Vista:

• Vista’s DRM Blocks Popular Shows: More Reasons to Hate Vista
• Tekzilla Pans Vista too
• Vista’s Problems are not Exaggerated
• Vista SP 1 cannot be Slipstreamed
• Microsoft: Vista is a Disaster – Microsoft Internal Emails Dissected
• Reports Say Vista SP 1 is Still 40% Slower Than XP
• Vista SP 1 for MSDN and Technet Subscribers OutCry
• The Missing Up Arrow in Vista’s Explorer
• Vista File Copy Performance: Relearning the Same Lessons Learnt Yesterday
• Vista’s Attempt at a Comeback

Filed in Windows, News.

Is Windows a Virus? (Humor)

This is a hilarious public domain joke that a friend just sent me. It’s about Windows:

Is Windows a Virus?

No, Windows is not a virus. Here are what viruses do:

• They replicate quickly – okay, Windows does that.
• Viruses use up valuable system resources, slowing down the system as they do so – okay, Windows does that.
• Viruses will, from time to time, trash your hard disk – okay, Windows does that too.
• Viruses are usually carried, unknown to the user, along with valuable programs and systems. Sigh… Windows does that, too.
• Viruses will occasionally make the user suspect their system is too slow, causing the user to buy new hardware. Yup, that’s with Windows, too.

So far, it seems as if Windows is a virus. But I assure you there are fundamental differences. Viruses are well supported by their authors, are running on most systems, their program code is fast, compact and efficient and they tend to become more sophisticated as they mature.

So you see, Windows is not a virus.

It is a bug.

.
Filed in Humor, Windows.

Microsoft: Genuine Windows Can Revert to Become a Fake Copy Behind Your Back

Microsoft has apparently released a new version of their “Windows Genuine Advantage Notification Tool”, a tool that runs continuously in the background to check that your Windows is genuine. It’s interesting that it has to run all the time, and not just once, to check that your windows is a legit copy.

By releasing such a tool, Microsoft implies a few things:

1. Microsoft believes you are an idiot. After forking out hundreds of dollars for Windows, you somehow still don’t know if your Windows copy is genuine. Not only that, their belief in your stupidity is such that they actually think you’ll believe their spin about the usefulness of having the notification tool installed.

2. A genuine copy of Windows that you paid for, can unexpectedly revert to being a pirated copy behind your back. There would be no need for repeated checks otherwise. Neither would there be a need for people who have paid for a genuine copy to install it.

   One can also infer from the fact that they placed the notification tool in the Critical Updates that the moment you buy Windows, it is in imminent danger of reverting to a pirated copy. It can happen any time, that’s why you need to monitor it all the time. When it happens, the hundreds of dollars you paid will go down the drain, and you’ll have to pay again.

It’s times like these that make one think that the gradual move of PCs, starting with the ultra portables like Eee PC, to Linux is a good thing.

Filed in Outraged, Opinion, Software, Windows.

Wine 1.0 Released: Run Windows programs on Linux without Windows

Wow, this is really a month of big releases! First there were the new browser versions, and now Wine 1.0 has been released too. Finally.

With Wine, it’s possible to run many Windows program on Linux without buying a copy of Windows. Yup, you can be completely freed of Windows, including the fiasco known as Vista.

Filed in Windows, Software.

Vista’s DRM Blocks Popular Shows: More Reasons to Hate Vista

As if Vista was not already notorious for its driver issues, application problems and slow performance. Now, the DRM riddled into Vista’s system that the famous computer scientist Peter Guttman warned us of when it was first released has reared its ugly head.

CNET and Ars Technica are reporting that Vista’s DRM has inexplicably blocked its users from recording NBC shows. The problem is still not resolved, so those trying to record such shows will continue to miss shows until Microsoft and the content providers deign to lift their fingers to fix it.

Two things:

1. When you use DRM, you are totally at the mercy of the content providers and software makers. At any time, a software glitch can get you. Or the company may go out of business, or terminate that particular branch of business, and leave you high and dry. And these things have already happened.
2. Vista is a bitch. It’s newest features over XP, and thus claim to fame, are DRM, driver problems, slow performance and application compatibility problems.

Filed in Outraged, Entertainment, Windows.

Windows XP Service Pack 3: General Public Release

XP Service Pack 3 has been released both as a separate download as well as over Windows Update. I guess MS kept their word and released it in 1H CY2008, as they cryptically put it.

Unlike Vista though, XP SP3 can be slipstreamed.

Filed in Windows.

Tekzilla Pans Vista Too

Tekzilla, a video podcast show, gave a damming review of Vista in its episode 30. Well, actually it was in response to a viewer who asked the host why they didn’t like Vista. He replied that the big problem of Vista was its application and hardware compatibility issues.

I suppose it’s true. Maybe it’s possible to live with the slower performance or even the crashes. But if the hardware doesn’t work with Vista, and some of the applications no longer work, then it becomes a big issue, since it’s no longer possible to do work on a machine with Vista on it.

Filed in Windows.

XP SP 3 is Released – for MSDN/Technet Subscribers

After another burst of indignation from MSDN and Technet subscribers, Microsoft has relented and released XP SP3 to MSDN and Technet subscribers. Get it from the Top Downloads page after logging in.

It will still be released to the masses next week on April 29.

Filed in Windows.

Microsoft Disses Paying MSDN Subscribers over Windows XP Service Pack 3, Again

Microsoft has not learned its lesson from the outcry when it released Vista SP 1. It has announced that Windows XP Service Pack 3 will be available to the general public on April 29. But it will not be available to the MSDN and Technet subscribers, who have paid big bucks for their subscription, until the following month. Yup. Once you pay them money, they’re no longer interested in you.

Reaction to this has already started in the MSDN/Technet forum in a separate thread — the original thread was locked after 3 or so posts, so users opened a new thread. As someone on Slashdot mentioned, “Why do MSDN and VL customers get this later than Windows Update? What exactly are we paying for?”

Filed in Windows, Outraged.

Creative Takes Down Third Party for Fixing their Broken Vista Audigy Drivers

Creative probably made a major tactical error. Apparently the drivers for their sound cards do not work well under Vista, with many features crippled. A developer named Daniel K created fixed drivers that allowed Audigy and X-Fi (?) users to use their cards on Vista the way they could on XP. Now Creative has issued a notice to the modder to take down his drivers. This has led to a major hue and cry in all the major forums, including Creative’s own, as well as many tech news sites.

I have a feeling that Creative is disallowing the fixes because they want users to buy a new sound card for Vista, as well as pay for some add-on software pack called Alchemy so that their sound card will work in Vista as advertised.

There are probably at least 2 parties at fault here:

• Microsoft – for releasing a Vista that has disabled so many things that came with XP and causing so many driver problems. The Vista developers obviously don’t believe in backward-compatiblity.
• Creative – too money grubbing about the whole matter. Good grief, customers have already paid for your card. And you didn’t even have to fix the software, someone did it for you. You destroy your goodwill when you take him down without providing your own fixes.

Update: see the latest news on this, as well as the URL where you can get the modded drivers in Creative on the Defensive over X-Fi/Audigy Drivers Fiasco.

Filed in Outraged, Opinion, Windows.

Vista’s Driver Problems Are Not Exaggerated

In case you thought Vista’s problems were exaggerated, Ars Technica dissects Microsoft’s internal documentation about the vista driver problems that caused crashes. Nvidia driver crashes accounted for 479,000 of crashes, or 29% of all crashes recorded in the period under study. Microsoft’s own drivers was the next highest cause of crashes, at 17.9%. And so on. ATI’s, Intel’s, and other manufacturers’ drivers also led to crashes.

I find it amusing that Microsoft’s own drivers was the second highest cause of crashes. They can’t exactly blame the third party manufacturers for not implementing drivers correctly here!

Now that we’re in 2008, more than a year since Vista’s release, I really hope that these problems are fixed. It’s becoming quite hard to find computers that come with XP, and sooner or later, I have to upgrade my computer.

Filed in Windows.

Microsoft: Vista SP 1 Cannot Be Slipstreamed

Bad news for everyone who wanted to slipstream SP1 into their Vista DVD. Microsoft says that SP1 cannot be slipstreamed because the slipstreaming facility itself has to be upgraded before it will work. So much for those who are trying to make a smooth SP 1 install.

There’s also a new WAIK.

Filed in Windows.

Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) Now Available

Microsoft has released Vista SP 1 for download. It’s a 400+ MB download, so be ready to spend ages just getting the thing.

Filed in Windows.

Why Does Microsoft Love to Be Cryptic? What is IS7-VIS3.rar? Or IE7-VIS1.exe? Or IE7-VIS2.rar?

In a sudden urge to test my site in as many browsers as possible, I came across a link to Microsoft’s free distribution of virtual machines with various versions of IE. And there I ran into a roadblock. Remember when I grumbled about their use of cryptic acronyms in one of their announcements? Well, it’s not just their announcements. Even their download links are cryptic.

The web page tells you that you can download Virtual PC images with IE 6 and IE 7. Then it proceeds to list the various files that you can download – by shortened filenames. Take a look at this. What do you make of them?

• IE6_VPC.EXE – okay, I can figure this out. It’s IE 6 in a Virtual PC image. That’s okay so far.
• IE7_VPC.EXE – this must be IE 7 in a Virtual PC image.
• IE7-VIS1.exe – is this IE 7 running on Vista? If so, then what’s the next one?
• IE7-VIS2.rar – IE 7 running on Vista? Again? Or perhaps it’s because it’s packaged in a RAR archive. But wait – there’s more…
• IS7-VIS3.rar – IE 7 running on Vista! Again! In a RAR archive! Again! Will wonders never cease?
• IE8_VPC.EXE – IE 8 (huh?) in a Virtual PC image.

What good are all these filenames to the downloader? Why give the filenames at all? Don’t these wizards at Microsoft realize that you can give a link a different text from the actual filename? Not everyone in the world automatically knows what you mean when you give these cryptic filenames from the MSDOS era. They should at least give a description if they feel compelled to write the filename.

Anyway, if you can tell the difference between those VIS filenames, let me know in the comments. I’m just gonna download the IE6 image for now.

Yeah. And I noticed the IE 8 thing too. I think it’s probably just a beta. I’ll investigate and post again when I find out more. Update: it’s true – IE 8 beta 1 is out. Update 2: I just noticed that it’s not three IE7 links, but 2. The third one is IS7 not IE7. But what is IS7?

Filed in Web Design, Software, Windows, Browsers.