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MS Thinks OOo is 10 Years Behind

greengrass writes "In a recent interview with IT Wire, general manager of business strategy for the Information Worker Group at Microsoft, Alan Yates expressed the opinion that Open Office is at the same level that MS office was around 10 years ago. Supposedly only suitable for the single desktop, isolated user. After all, it doesn't even have an e-mail client!"

31 of 736 comments (clear)

  1. Why, I never! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    *monocle pops out*

    1. Re:Why, I never! by onebuttonmouse · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's my third monocle this week, I simply must stop being so horrified.

      --
      MacBook Pro. Worst name since the Bicycle
  2. Quick everyone by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    Better contact OO.org and demand a refund.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  3. Is it bad that by Kasracer · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think 10 years is about right?

    1. Re:Is it bad that by martin-boundary · · Score: 2, Funny

      Depends. Do you throw chairs?

  4. good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    i didn't want my manifesto as a spreadsheet anyway...

  5. They think "Free Software" is "Spyware" too by rebeka+thomas · · Score: 2, Funny

    This from the company who equates "Free Software" with "Spyware". Who would expect them to massacre other definitions, like what an office suite is?

    "Other computer systems without Microsoft AntiSpyware don't provide the safety that you get with Windows," he explains, in a swipe at the Linux OS. "when you download free software - even a free operating system - you double this effect. You are putting your computer and precious data at risk."

    --
    RST
  6. Single, isolated users. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now i understand why slashdot users tend to promote openoffice.org... :-)

    Interesting that he mentions OOo as suitable for single desktop, isolated users.. Isn't that a huge part of the MS office userbase he's talking about? Email client? Outlook express is for free, isn't it? :-)

  7. you do realize by zyte · · Score: 4, Funny

    that this company has around 60,000 employees. no shit some of them are going to say stupid crap, who cares?

  8. No flight simulator either by dotslashdot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nor does it come with an embedded flight simulator like Excel does. Sooo 1990s!

  9. In other news... by SeaFox · · Score: 4, Funny

    Apple Computer thinks Microsoft is five years behind.

  10. Right on the money by Unsus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, OOo is certainly missing all the ground-breaking word processing technologies that emerged within the last 10 years. Honestly, both OOo and MSOffice have nothing on notepad, which sadly starts-up and runs faster than both of them.

  11. Now you've gone and done it.. by erlando · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think we just slashdotted .au ... :-)

    --
    Remember, there are no stupid questions. But there are a lot of inquisitive idiots.
  12. Wrong by Clueless+Nick · · Score: 5, Funny

    With MS Office you have at least evolved to the stage of dinosaurs. OO.o doesn't even consider you to be a lifeform, does it? Show me an advertising campaign that proves otherwise.

    -clueless

    --
    Chat with other atheists http://secularchat.org
  13. Re:What's the wizz-bang features it's missing? by dracocat · · Score: 5, Funny

    The UI in the new versions of Office feels much more modern. Every time I upgrade I feel like I am getting a better piece of software since the UI is updated each time with a new look & feel.

    Feature wise I can't say that I can name a single one, but like I said, it sure feels like the software is getting better. In fact whenever I look at somebody using the old Office 2000 I shake my head at the poor soul stuggling his way through life without the newest version. After all, his software is 3 years older than mine! Some might say that its more about the features and the color scheme or layout isn't all that important; but that wouldn't be true. I know this because I see many other people just like me who have paid hundreds of dollars for an updated version, this lets me know that I made the right decision in the upgrade. Ok I better stop now, this could go on forever.

  14. Re:Which share... by Vo0k · · Score: 2, Funny

    95 % of the users do not need them.
    Another 4% use them to write viruses.

    --
    Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
  15. Re:What's the wizz-bang features it's missing? by Lord+Crc · · Score: 3, Funny

    Honestly, the only thing Office has that I really miss in Open Office is Access. Access is a great program to interact with other databases with via ODBC drivers, and I've yet to see a good open source replacement.

    You don't have to miss it much longer, The Ultimate Address Book will be done shortly and will cover all your Access needs.

  16. Re:Eh by Kjella · · Score: 5, Funny

    Plots and charts, gnuplot, which I think everyone on the planet uses.

    Finally! Proof of extraterrestrial life at last. What's the lag time like to your planet?

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  17. Re:Not up to Word 4 in many ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bill, is that you? OpenOffice.org supports custom tab stops, Bill. You should really give it a more thorough try, I think you'd like it. Maybe someone can arrange a private demo for you and Ballmer. I'm sure you'll see that bullet point sizing is about the only thing it is missing that your last decent MS Word (that's 97, Bill) had.

  18. Re:big deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Don't worry - we all know you used Excel 2003 to calculate the dates...

  19. Ha, MS Office ... by xtracto · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ha! MS Office is in fact 17 years behind my preffered user friendly office suite!

    --
    Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
  20. Just you wait! by FhnuZoag · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess OOo is getting the paperclip next year, then.

  21. I don't know: pt_BR.UTF8 here by hummassa · · Score: 3, Funny

    I use it to write a lot of stuff in Portuguese, and the only complain I have is that the clipboard is a little "schizophrenic" WRT utf8 :-) As I don't use the clipboard a lot, I cope with it.

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
  22. Re:Perhaps it is... by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 2, Funny
    That's great, but when you actually work in a real company, you'll probably have to learn MS Office and Word. You'll wish you learned this before.

    So you're saying that Microsoft's office and word processor are so complicated that you'll be staring at the screen, unable to process words or even officize, ruing the fact you didn't learn how to use them when you had the chance?

  23. No email client? by dbIII · · Score: 2, Funny

    Outlook not so good.

  24. Good! by danwesnor · · Score: 2, Funny

    You mean Open Office is like MS Office was, back before MS Office became a bloated mess of unwanted and unused features?

    That's about the best advertisement for Open Office that anyone could have come up with!

  25. Re:Perhaps it is... by TheGhostOfDerrida · · Score: 2, Funny

    I love the word "officize". It sounds like something you'd be embarrassed about if your wife caught you doing it.

    --
    Paul: If you're reading this, pick your shoes up out of the hallway. I keep tripping over them. Slob.
  26. Re:Perhaps it is... by 1800maxim · · Score: 2, Funny

    Who'd a thought thirty years ago we'd all be sittin' here debating about word processors?

    Well we had it tough! We used to have to get up out of the shoebox at twelve o'clock at night, and write our school papers entirely in binary. We had half a handful of freezing cold coffee beans, worked twenty-four hours a day at the unix print lab for four pages every six years, and when we got home...

  27. Just like Linux is behind Windows ... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 2, Funny

    "After all, it doesn't even have an e-mail client!"

    ... and the Linux kernel is so far behind the Windows Kernel it doesn't even have a web browser!

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  28. Re:Perhaps it is... by Randolpho · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is a bad idea for anyone who doesn't compile from source (And for Ooo, I'm sure that's the majority!), but you do have the right idea.

    If you don't compile from source, how do you compile at all?

    --
    "Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
    -Marilyn Manson
  29. Re:OpenOffice.org by justins · · Score: 2, Funny
    If the devs are canny, they will introduce a really useful new feature which would be very difficult to implement in Microsoft Office.

    Given Office's release schedule, all they need to do would be to introduce a really useful new feature which Office hasn't implemented yet.
    --
    Now before I get modded down, I be to remind whoever might read this that what I am saying is FACT. - bogaboga