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On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:20:49 -0700, while chained to a desk in
the scriptorium, bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com (Bruce Byfield) wrote:
> $John Fleming wrote:
> $
> $|An example that keeps popping up of a feature that is a good
> $|idea, but has questionable value, is the Master Document feature.
> $|
> $Examples like the master document feature make me pound my head against the wall in frustration when someone suggests that the dislike of Microsoft is some sort of trendy pose.
> $
> $The master document feature has been broken in MS Word since at least version 6.0 - in other words, for over eight years. Ditto the autonumbering. Nor has Microsoft managed to implement true text frames, nor decent interaction between the parts of its so-called suite. With problems like this, how can anyone claim that there's not valid reasons for disliking or avoiding a lot of Microsoft products?
As I rely more and more on the VBA macro language in the Office
Suite, I find more and more bumps. Not that the VBA language is
a bad thing--I find lots of things to recommend it. But, like
many other features in MS products, it has its problems.
> $By contrast, you only hear occasional grumbling against Adobe. In its niches, Adobe is every bit as monopolistic as Microsoft, but most people don't mind too much because, for the most part, its products work. Sure, they have occasional bugs, but they don't linger on for years.
Overall, I am very happy with Acrobat. I have to be doing
something really strange before I start running into problems.
> $These days, I prefer to avoid proprietary software whenever possible. All the same, if I have to support a monopoly, at least give me one whose products work as advertised.
I do prefer to steer away from Microsoft products when possible.
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