MS Office -- About to be a nightmare -- AGAIN??!

No, MS is not selling Windows 98. It's out of lifecycle and they don't
support it any more.

If you review the lifecycle policies at MS, you'll find out all about WinXP
support, which will be around a while.

"@Goddess" wrote in message
news |A question.
|
| I notice that you can still find Windows 98 for sale from what seems
| to be legitimate sources.
|
| Is this coming from MS? Does MS still sell Windows 98 to anyone who
| wants it?
|
| Following this reasoning...will Windows XP (pro) still be available
| for sale after Vista comes out into the foreseeable future?
|
| Will MS continue to allow people to buy XP well after Vista is
| available? (for weeks? months? years?)
|
| And are there conditions, such as you already have to have XP licenses
| in order to buy XP?
|
| Say you buy a machine that has Vista because the vendor will not sell
| you one with XP. Will you be able to buy XP to install on that
| machine instead if you don't want Vista?
|
| On Tue, 26 Dec 2006 10:19:10 -0500, "@Goddess"
| wrote:
|
| MS Office -- About to be a nightmare -- AGAIN??!
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| I have been reading that at least some, if not all, MS Office
| documents created in the new version 2007 WILL NOT be able to be
| opened and/or modified in previous versions of Office prior to 2003.
|
| ARE YOU KIDDING?!!!! Are we back to this AGAIN???
|
| Years ago there were huge compatibility problems every time MS
| upgraded a version of something. It was an IT nightmare.
|
| They finally got rid of that problem. NOW THEY ARE REINTRODUCING
| IT?!!!
|
| I am now in a small company that has mostly Windows 98 machines. We
| have some custom, mission critical software that cannot run on
| anything past Windows 98.
|
| The version of MS office on these machines is the one before 2003 (is
| it 2002? ... not sure).
|
| Everything works great on these machines. There are no issues. We
| CAN'T upgrade to XP or Vista because our critical software won't work
| on it.
|
| So now I am going to get a bunch of ticked off users coming to me
| saying they can't open the documents they get because they were
| created in the new version of Office?
|
| URRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! !!!!!!!!!!!!!
|
| I understand that MS wants to FORCE people to abandon Windows 98 since
| that's the only way they have to hype their new stuff and get enough
| sales for it. And this is one of the obnoxious ways they have to be
| sure that those that are satisfied with a previous OS will be forced
| to scrap it anyway. I'm willing to pay them their extortion if it
| would get things to work.
|
| But what the heck is a company like ours supposed to do.
|
| The Office version we need won't run on 98, and our other software
| won't run on anything else. I am so furious there are no words.

"Tom Willett" wrote in
:

If you review the lifecycle policies at MS, you'll find out all
about WinXP support, which will be around a while.

Link:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default.mspx

Thanks
I once read about MS support for XP after Vista. I think they will
support it (if you already own it) for up to 7 years, something like
that.

But I have not seen anything about whether or not you will be able to
buy it, to install on new or existing machines, and if so, what
restrictions there might be on buying it.

On Tue, 26 Dec 2006 14:26:20 -0600, "Tom Willett"
wrote:

No, MS is not selling Windows 98. It's out of lifecycle and they don't
support it any more.

If you review the lifecycle policies at MS, you'll find out all about WinXP
support, which will be around a while.

"@Goddess" wrote in message
news |A question.
|
| I notice that you can still find Windows 98 for sale from what seems
| to be legitimate sources.
|
| Is this coming from MS? Does MS still sell Windows 98 to anyone who
| wants it?
|
| Following this reasoning...will Windows XP (pro) still be available
| for sale after Vista comes out into the foreseeable future?
|
| Will MS continue to allow people to buy XP well after Vista is
| available? (for weeks? months? years?)
|
| And are there conditions, such as you already have to have XP licenses
| in order to buy XP?
|
| Say you buy a machine that has Vista because the vendor will not sell
| you one with XP. Will you be able to buy XP to install on that
| machine instead if you don't want Vista?
|
| On Tue, 26 Dec 2006 10:19:10 -0500, "@Goddess"
| wrote:
|
| MS Office -- About to be a nightmare -- AGAIN??!
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| I have been reading that at least some, if not all, MS Office
| documents created in the new version 2007 WILL NOT be able to be
| opened and/or modified in previous versions of Office prior to 2003.
|
| ARE YOU KIDDING?!!!! Are we back to this AGAIN???
|
| Years ago there were huge compatibility problems every time MS
| upgraded a version of something. It was an IT nightmare.
|
| They finally got rid of that problem. NOW THEY ARE REINTRODUCING
| IT?!!!
|
| I am now in a small company that has mostly Windows 98 machines. We
| have some custom, mission critical software that cannot run on
| anything past Windows 98.
|
| The version of MS office on these machines is the one before 2003 (is
| it 2002? ... not sure).
|
| Everything works great on these machines. There are no issues. We
| CAN'T upgrade to XP or Vista because our critical software won't work
| on it.
|
| So now I am going to get a bunch of ticked off users coming to me
| saying they can't open the documents they get because they were
| created in the new version of Office?
|
| URRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! !!!!!!!!!!!!!
|
| I understand that MS wants to FORCE people to abandon Windows 98 since
| that's the only way they have to hype their new stuff and get enough
| sales for it. And this is one of the obnoxious ways they have to be
| sure that those that are satisfied with a previous OS will be forced
| to scrap it anyway. I'm willing to pay them their extortion if it
| would get things to work.
|
| But what the heck is a company like ours supposed to do.
|
| The Office version we need won't run on 98, and our other software
| won't run on anything else. I am so furious there are no words.

Until XP is out of lifecycle, you'll be able to by it somewhere.

"@Goddess" wrote in message
...
| Thanks
| I once read about MS support for XP after Vista. I think they will
| support it (if you already own it) for up to 7 years, something like
| that.
|
| But I have not seen anything about whether or not you will be able to
| buy it, to install on new or existing machines, and if so, what
| restrictions there might be on buying it.
|
| On Tue, 26 Dec 2006 14:26:20 -0600, "Tom Willett"
| wrote:
|
| No, MS is not selling Windows 98. It's out of lifecycle and they don't
| support it any more.
|
| If you review the lifecycle policies at MS, you'll find out all about
WinXP
| support, which will be around a while.
|
| "@Goddess" wrote in message
| news | |A question.
| |
| | I notice that you can still find Windows 98 for sale from what seems
| | to be legitimate sources.
| |
| | Is this coming from MS? Does MS still sell Windows 98 to anyone who
| | wants it?
| |
| | Following this reasoning...will Windows XP (pro) still be available
| | for sale after Vista comes out into the foreseeable future?
| |
| | Will MS continue to allow people to buy XP well after Vista is
| | available? (for weeks? months? years?)
| |
| | And are there conditions, such as you already have to have XP licenses
| | in order to buy XP?
| |
| | Say you buy a machine that has Vista because the vendor will not sell
| | you one with XP. Will you be able to buy XP to install on that
| | machine instead if you don't want Vista?
| |
| | On Tue, 26 Dec 2006 10:19:10 -0500, "@Goddess"
| | wrote:
| |
| | MS Office -- About to be a nightmare -- AGAIN??!
| |
| |
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| | I have been reading that at least some, if not all, MS Office
| | documents created in the new version 2007 WILL NOT be able to be
| | opened and/or modified in previous versions of Office prior to 2003.
| |
| | ARE YOU KIDDING?!!!! Are we back to this AGAIN???
| |
| | Years ago there were huge compatibility problems every time MS
| | upgraded a version of something. It was an IT nightmare.
| |
| | They finally got rid of that problem. NOW THEY ARE REINTRODUCING
| | IT?!!!
| |
| | I am now in a small company that has mostly Windows 98 machines. We
| | have some custom, mission critical software that cannot run on
| | anything past Windows 98.
| |
| | The version of MS office on these machines is the one before 2003 (is
| | it 2002? ... not sure).
| |
| | Everything works great on these machines. There are no issues. We
| | CAN'T upgrade to XP or Vista because our critical software won't work
| | on it.
| |
| | So now I am going to get a bunch of ticked off users coming to me
| | saying they can't open the documents they get because they were
| | created in the new version of Office?
| |
| | URRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! !!!!!!!!!!!!!
| |
| | I understand that MS wants to FORCE people to abandon Windows 98 since
| | that's the only way they have to hype their new stuff and get enough
| | sales for it. And this is one of the obnoxious ways they have to be
| | sure that those that are satisfied with a previous OS will be forced
| | to scrap it anyway. I'm willing to pay them their extortion if it
| | would get things to work.
| |
| | But what the heck is a company like ours supposed to do.
| |
| | The Office version we need won't run on 98, and our other software
| | won't run on anything else. I am so furious there are no words.
|

In data Tue, 26 Dec 2006 10:19:10 -0500, @Goddess ha scritto:

MS Office
documents created in the new version 2007 WILL NOT be able to be
opened and/or modified in previous versions of Office prior to 2003.

please, this happens with 90% of commercial software. the newest file
formats cannot be read by older releases. or you can save in a "compatible"
file format where the latest features cannot be saved.

if you create a smartart object in excel 2007, how can you think to open it
in excel 2003? and for this reason, should software producer stop to
introduce new features?

d.

--
Sai quelli che dicono: «Uno torna la sera a casa stanco...».
«Che strazio questo che torna sempre a casa stanco. Lo detesto.
Ma non tornare a casa! Sei stanco? Muori!».
### E. Vaime

Yes.

All versions of a file should be backward compatible.

If new features are added in a newer format, those new features would
not be expected to be available when a file is opened in an older
version, but the file should still be able to be viewed (at a minimum)
in an older version.


On Tue, 26 Dec 2006 22:38:19 +0100, Dan Marinø
wrote:

In data Tue, 26 Dec 2006 10:19:10 -0500, @Goddess ha scritto:

MS Office
documents created in the new version 2007 WILL NOT be able to be
opened and/or modified in previous versions of Office prior to 2003.

please, this happens with 90% of commercial software. the newest file
formats cannot be read by older releases. or you can save in a "compatible"
file format where the latest features cannot be saved.

if you create a smartart object in excel 2007, how can you think to open it
in excel 2003? and for this reason, should software producer stop to
introduce new features?

d.

As a stop-gap measure, you might want to take a look at OpenOffice at
http://www.openoffice.org/


"@Goddess" wrote in message
...
MS Office -- About to be a nightmare -- AGAIN??!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have been reading that at least some, if not all, MS Office
documents created in the new version 2007 WILL NOT be able to be
opened and/or modified in previous versions of Office prior to 2003.

ARE YOU KIDDING?!!!! Are we back to this AGAIN???

Years ago there were huge compatibility problems every time MS
upgraded a version of something. It was an IT nightmare.

They finally got rid of that problem. NOW THEY ARE REINTRODUCING
IT?!!!

I am now in a small company that has mostly Windows 98 machines. We
have some custom, mission critical software that cannot run on
anything past Windows 98.

The version of MS office on these machines is the one before 2003 (is
it 2002? ... not sure).

Everything works great on these machines. There are no issues. We
CAN'T upgrade to XP or Vista because our critical software won't work
on it.

So now I am going to get a bunch of ticked off users coming to me
saying they can't open the documents they get because they were
created in the new version of Office?

URRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

I understand that MS wants to FORCE people to abandon Windows 98 since
that's the only way they have to hype their new stuff and get enough
sales for it. And this is one of the obnoxious ways they have to be
sure that those that are satisfied with a previous OS will be forced
to scrap it anyway. I'm willing to pay them their extortion if it
would get things to work.

But what the heck is a company like ours supposed to do.

The Office version we need won't run on 98, and our other software
won't run on anything else. I am so furious there are no words.

In data Wed, 27 Dec 2006 09:35:16 -0500, @Goddess ha scritto:

Yes.

All versions of a file should be backward compatible.

uhm

if you create a .swf with features of flash 8, you'll need player v8.0 to
see it. you'll not see it "truncated".

if you create a excel 2007 file with 1.000 columns and 300.000 rows, what
can excel 2003 do with it? you want to see the first 256 columns and 65.535
rows?

if you create a powerpoint presentation with smartart inside 10 slides, you
really think it'll be useful to see it with some blank slide?

what are the softwares you use that are future-compatible?

i do prefer to have a "non readable" message than to see and use a document
that is different from its actual behavior. and please: i do prefer too to
have applications that, by aging, release after release, acquire some new
feature! don't you?

c ya
d.

--
Sai quelli che dicono: «Uno torna la sera a casa stanco...».
«Che strazio questo che torna sempre a casa stanco. Lo detesto.
Ma non tornare a casa! Sei stanco? Muori!».
### E. Vaime