Microsoft Prepares Office Lock-in

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Microsoft Prepares Office Lock-in

Posted by michael on Tuesday September 2, 2003 @05:27AM from the stupid-business-lining-up-to-lock-themselves-in dept.

An anonymous reader writes "NEWS.COM has an article describing Office 2003's DRM features for documents. This will not only coerce those running older versions of Office to upgrade, which has been a problem for MS in the last few years, but it will also shut out competing software, such as OpenOffice. Now think about this for a second. Even if the developers of a competing office suite could figure out how to get their software to open an Office 2003 document, doing so would be a DMCA violation, since they'd be bypassing an anti-circumvention device. I certainly hope the OpenOffice team will kick development into high gear. If there was a time we need a viable competitor to Office, it's now."

17 of 1,127 comments (clear)

Hmph! by Talia+Starhawke · 2003-09-02 05:29 · Score: 5, Funny

That's it, I'm getting out my typewriter. I'll pound out my reports old school, like Hunter S. Thompson still does.

Who's with me?

Anyone?

--
+5, Female ;)
1. Re:Hmph! by Gr33nNight · 2003-09-02 05:38 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  What are these 'type writers' you speak of? Are they like mini laptops?
Office lock-in? by AtariAmarok · 2003-09-02 05:29 · Score: 5, Funny

As long as there is enough room under the door to shove a thin-crust pizza under it, I'm game.

--
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
1. Re:Office lock-in? by kfg · 2003-09-02 05:50 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  You'll also have to convice Jolt to package in a handy pouch, or cut a three inch hole in the door.
  
  KFG
2. Re:Office lock-in? by Crispy+Critters · 2003-09-02 07:21 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  "You'll also have to convice Jolt to package in a handy pouch, or cut a three inch hole in the door."
  If you're drinking all that Jolt, you might want to make that two three-inch holes.
I swear... by DeathPenguin · 2003-09-02 05:29 · Score: 3, Funny

Next person to say something like "They made very sure that Office has these features that nobody else has" without specifying a single damn feature is getting slapped upside the head with a wet trout.

Whenever I ask people why they choose MSWord over a competing product, I always get the same answer: "It has more features." Feature like what? Ten different versions of "Clippy?" No wonder MS has the word procsessing industry in a kung-fu grip.
1. Re:I swear... by Bingo+Foo · 2003-09-02 05:38 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  All web forms get automatic spell checking under OS X, with no third party app required.
  
  Grammar the other hand is no proper checking way.
  
  --
  taken! (by Davidleeroth) Thanks Bingo Foo!
"Problem?" by schon · 2003-09-02 05:33 · Score: 5, Funny

coerce those running older versions of Office to upgrade, which has been a problem for MS in the last few years

Yeah, it's so damn irritating when your customers pay you for something, and then expect to continue using it.
Re:Very stupid by menasius · 2003-09-02 05:51 · Score: 4, Funny

Ah but you are naturally forgetting that Microsoft puts out tightly secure software, with no holes for a worm or virus to get in. Naturally, the server will be secure as there is a proven track record of Microsoft's superior securi... no, wait that's not right at all.

It would have been satire but I couldn't keep up the facade.

-bort
Re:DRM will be the exception, not the default by zarniwhoop · 2003-09-02 06:10 · Score: 5, Funny

I tried your bloody chmod and this is what i got...

C:\>chmod -R 777 /
'chmod' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

C:\>

be a bit more helpful next time.
Re:Mostly FUD by rifter · 2003-09-02 06:25 · Score: 4, Funny

Yes, dumbass, and this isn't Palladium. Unless you see demons lurking in every conceivable manifestation of client-server computing, there's no problem here.

Well, in the case of unix, daemons are generally lurking in most manifstations of client-server computing, and it is a good thing to kill as many of them as you can and ensure they are not resurrected by init. :)
Re:I don't see the problem here. by Trailer+Trash · 2003-09-02 06:35 · Score: 5, Funny

You'd have to cripple the entire operating system while the document is open.

Now that would be a tough one for Microsoft to pull off...

--
Do you have ESP?
Re:Mostly FUD by GMFTatsujin · 2003-09-02 06:53 · Score: 5, Funny

Employees may not be able to work from home or in the evening for the same reason

You mean my evenings and weekends are ALL MINE AGAIN? Praise be to Microsoft! Where do I sign up?????
Re:OT what does Esquire mean? by hagardtroll · 2003-09-02 07:09 · Score: 4, Funny

Esquire generally just means "Gentleman." That is, I am a gentleman. Versus being a crass slob or something. Attorneys use it because they have such a bad reputation in this world, adding Esq to their name tries to cover that up. Just like when a news channel says "Fair & Balanced." you know that they are trying to cover something up.
Re:They can do this now... by Frogg · 2003-09-02 07:10 · Score: 5, Funny

Today a technically competent corporation can secure documents using certificates, PGP, etc. If they really want to cover their tracks they can do so.

..only now it'll be as easy as clicking a checkbox -- or perhaps:

Clippy: Hi, I can see you're trying to [take over the world] -- would you like me to enable DRM?
Microsoft Needs DRM for... by KaosConMan · 2003-09-02 08:01 · Score: 3, Funny

Their real reason for DRM in Office...

To stop the Halloween Documents from leaking year after year!
And in recent news... by ReNeGaDe75 · 2003-09-02 09:13 · Score: 3, Funny

General Electric has announced that they will begin producing bread. This bread will have special ingrediants so that it only works in GE toasters.

If you use non-GE bread, your toast will come out over-cooked, so it is highly recommended that you buy the new bread from GE, which costs $30 a loaf.

If you attempt to mix a slice of their bread with a slice of Wonder bread (such as you only have 1 slice of GE bread left), you will be in violation of the Gormet Millenium Copyright Act of 2010, and could be fined up to $30,000.

General Electic will also be shipping all new toasters with titanium alloys. This innovative feature ensures safety by preventing people from trying to open their toaster when it stops working. To improve user friendliness, the toasters will lock onto the power cords and secure them, so users will be unable to accidently unplug their toasters and become confused about why it isn't toasting.

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Hypocrisy is the 8th deadly sin.