Microsoft Prepares Office Lock-in

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."

Comments

Hmph!

[Talia Starhawke]

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?

Re:Hmph!

[Gr33nNight]

What are these 'type writers' you speak of? Are they like mini laptops?

Office lock-in?

[AtariAmarok]

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

"Problem?"

[schon]

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:I swear...

[Bingo Foo]

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.

Re:Very stupid

[menasius]

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

[zarniwhoop]

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

[rifter]

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.

[Trailer Trash]

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...

Re:Mostly FUD

[GMFTatsujin]

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?

[hagardtroll]

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...

[Frogg]

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?