Post by: krissel on October 03, 2003, 01:43:09 AM
MS sued again
Let's hope this goes somewhere.
Post by: sandbox on October 03, 2003, 01:57:46 AM
Post by: MrsLop on October 03, 2003, 07:42:17 AM
I read the article. If the people of any state have even a remote possibility of making a case stick against Microsoft, the Californians do. I would not expect this case to be concluded within the near future.
I had to chuckle when I saw the word responsibility used in the same sentence as Microsoft.
Another article appeared in informationweek.com, dated September 29th, by Fred Langa, entitled "It's Time For Microsoft To Change Its Ways."
Myrna
Post by: Gregg on October 03, 2003, 07:53:33 AM
didn't read the article
Post by: Epaminondas on October 03, 2003, 09:50:44 PM
http://news.com.com/2100-1009-5072672.html?tag=nl
<< It appears that this or a similar exploit against IE via Outlook (which uses IE to preview HTML mail) was used to gain access to the computer of Valve developer and manager Gabe Newell, and then to steal the entire source code for Halflife 2 via the entry this provided onto their netowork.
(See halflife2.net forums, if you can get in, for discussion of this topic.)
What's the value of that loss going to be? Got to be in the tens of millions US$ at a bare minimum, between lost game sales and lost engine license fees.
Moral: Don't use Microsoft IE, and don't use Outlook either, because it gives you the same level of exposure. >>
<< Oh, and according to heise the security advisory isn't quite correct, disabling activex will only work with IE6, if you have IE5.5 the program will execute no matter what... >>
Source for above:
http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.html?i=20638
Post by: () on October 04, 2003, 01:50:56 AM
I am sooooooooooooo happy thast Gates is getting everything he deserves.
I am at the point to where I just hate all of Windows apps due to the crappy apps such as Explorer and Outlook.
I can't even delete the garbage (IE/OE) from my computer, and I think I should have that option to delete it if I wish to do so.
I suppect that Gates and a lot of these block pop up companies are creating the problems just to get more money out of the connsumers.
I keep getting pop-up after pop-up advertisments to purchase and download their programs to block pop-ups, and they are the pop-ups I keep getting, time after time.
I hope that Gates sinks all the way to the bottom with his cheap upgardes and cheap imitation software trying to mimic Apples Kool and more stable OS's.
I am soooo happe to own an Apple and I am using a PC too, but Apple will always be the Best of the Best and keeps getting better...
Windows, IE/OE & Gates.... SUCKS!
Post by: Russ Kidd on October 04, 2003, 02:21:50 AM
For many years, WordPerfect was the dominant software, not by any fluke, but because it's a good program. People who did word processing for a living were
people.Then Mr. Gates decided he wasn't making enough money, so he started bundling MS Word (a desktop publishing program that he now presented as a word processing program) with Windows. Unfortunately, WordPerfect's strength is its software, not its marketing, and we all know who wins when monopolistic marketing decides to beat up on a small company selling a superior product.
At about the same time, the exchange of files by email became the norm, and so all those folks who had bought the Windows bundle now used their shiny new MS Word instead of WordPerfect to type their documents.
The result is that Word has taken over the word processing world and people who do word processing for a living are
people.It wouldn't be quite so bad if Word were a decent program. But it's not. It's very difficult to work with, it's filled with bugs, it's vastly different from any other word processing software (probably because it's not a word processing program--it's a desktop publishing program), and you have to be nearly an expert to use it (one of the great things about WordPerfect is that all levels of users can use it).
I work at a law firm and spend much of my time each day re-doing MS Word documents that attorneys or secretaries have created because Word is such a difficult and counter-intuitive program. One of the most regularly uttered phrases at my office is "I hate Word." It's just a bad program.
The amount of time wasted trying to fix corrupted Word documents and trying to solve the mysterious surprises that Word foists upon us every day is having a real effect on both the business side of the ledger and the emotional side.
A class action lawsuit sounds good to me--including emotional distress.
Post by: Epaminondas on October 04, 2003, 08:48:24 PM
Something that may or may not be relevant to your work:
I read a review, perhaps a year ago, on the then-latest iteration of Open Office - the free-software office suite.
The review indicated that, in opening Microsoft Word documents, OO was "mostly there" for most things in regards to simple Microsoft Word documents, typically with minor formatting differences, but that OO failed when trying to deal with complex Microsoft Word macros.
The review then noted one curiosity -
Microsoft Word documents opened in OO revealed prior Microsoft Word document revisions and also revealed collaborative information within the Microsoft Word document where more than one person had contributed to producing the Microsoft Word document - with contributed comments intact.
The reviewer expressed surprise and noted that this might place Microsoft Word users at a competitive disadvantage in negotiations - where the evolution of writers' thoughts and positions and words of debate within a company might be revealed more thoroughly than ever intended.
"Deleted" information - names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. - was also there for all the world to see.
The reviewer expressed concern in regard to the the business setting, the legal setting, the internet setting, and any other setting where confidentiality may be considered appropriate and desirable.
I do not doubt that, under your watchful eye, your office has no such vulnerabilities. Of course not. However, the unsophisticated Microsoft Word user - perhaps even the attorney who sends out a document that he has been working on from home or from the road - might find himself showing his hand in ways that he never intended.
Happily - I am certain that no opposing attorney would ever consider taking advantage of such a lapse.
And yet - and yet - the highly competitive receiver of Microsoft Word documents might consider opening received documents in OO, just to see if there might be anything there worthy of careful consideration.
I am, Sir
Confidentially yours,
Epaminondas
(Not written in Microsoft Word)
Post by: Russ Kidd on October 05, 2003, 02:04:27 AM
Hmmm . . . I've never heard of Open Office. I'll have to see what that's all about. Thanks for mentioning it.
I am familiar with the behind-the-scenes revisions trail that MS Word records and is available for users who know how to examine it. That trail can be erased, however, so it's not really a problem for those who know how. Most lawyers don't know anything about this feature, and I've never had anyone ask me to help them uncover the trail.
QUOTE
Happily - I am certain that no opposing attorney would ever consider taking advantage of such a lapse.
You may now extract your tongue from your cheek, although it may be stuck pretty deep.
I'll check to see if Word documents with the revisions trail erased still show the trail when opened in OO. I'm assuming it will be erased, but I'd better be sure.
By the way, I should add a qualifier to my earlier post in this thread:
As much as I dislike MS Word as a word processing program and despise the anticompetitive way it took over the market, I need to give technical credit to another aspect of the program. The drawing tools are excellent. I assume this is because Word was originally developed as a desktop publishing program. However, this doesn't change my opinion of what Bill Gates has done to us.
Thanks, Epster. You told me some things I didn't know.
Post by: Diana on October 05, 2003, 06:55:26 AM
I just have to help Epaminondas plug the OpenOffice. I started with version 1.0 but have since upgraded to 1.1. Many little things were fixed that have to do with opening Word Documents. For the most part, it will also save in Word format with very little problems. (Note, I only create simple documents with simple tables, headers and footers.)
OO introduced a new drawing tool this go around. Version1.0 had rudimentary drawing capabilities, enough for me, but the new version has a whole drawing program. The tools seem pretty good. For my purposes, it complicated things because I'm creating simple drawings to be imported into PC Word documents sometimes, and the Drawing portion of OO saves work as an "image" that can't be edited in Word. But truly, if you're working completely in OO, it's great. I still have to fight the M$ world here at home..
.I would definitely recommmend anyone give it a try, Linux, Windows and Mac.
http://openoffice.org/
see ya,
Post by: Epaminondas on October 05, 2003, 12:02:47 PM
I don't remember if the review was of OO on Wintel or on Linux, so I figured I would try to track down the original review for you. Unfortunately, I canna seem to find it.
A simple Google for << OpenOffice Review >> reveals 69,400 entries . . . I think I will leave it to you. ;-)
I am certain that, should this prove to be a problem in your office, your attorneys would accept full responsibility for their actions and would never seek to place the blame for the matter on IT.
_____________________________________________________
Dianna,
Hear anything about OO for Mac OS X lately?
Last I heard it had gotten really bogged down.
Open Office is cool, but it is a lot more than I usually need - I usually just need word processing rather than a full office suite.
I prefer KWord for basic everyday word processing. Clean and fast and gets the job done.
I have tried AbiWord as well, but AbiWord does not seem to like my zoomin' 800 MHz Cyrix C3 chip. :-(
I'll try AbiWord again if I ever feel the need to upgrade my hardware.
You are probably aware of this, but if not - the information is out there - you can speed up OO 1.0.1 by upping the OO application memory via Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Memory > Graphics cache > Use for OpenOffice.org. If you have the installed RAM available, up this from 9MB to 32 MB and you should be zoomin' (relatively speaking). Leave other settings alone unless you know what you are doing (I do not).
Worked for me.
I dunno whether or not this is works with OO 1.1.
For myself - I have gotten so that I only use OO to open Microsoft Word documents.
Regards,
Epaminondas