Some Journals Rejecting Office 2007 Format

hormiga writes "Some scholarly journals are rejecting submissions made using new Office 2007 formats. Science and Nature are among publishers unwilling to deal with incompatibilities in the new formats, and recommend using older versions of Office or converting to older formats before submission. The new equation editor is cited as a specific problem. Rob Wier recommends that those publishers consider using ODF instead."

Comments

Shocking.

[DarkLegacy]

Personally, I'm suprised that anyone accepts the Office 2007 format.

about my sig

[twitter]

it's good to see that you're open minded

Yes and I know second rate when I see it. Windoze is hopelessly outclassed by any GNU/Linux distribution. It's important for people who know computing to recommend what's best.

When you "help" your friends put Windoze on their computer, you are not really helping them. Send them to the local shop and make them pay for their folly. If it's a work related thing, their boss should pay for it. Windoze is only easy because so many people help M$ out every day. Keeping up with Windoze is a waste of time that only helps people who are screwing you. The less you tax yourself with Windoze, the more expensive it becomes for those who demand it.

None of this really matters because M$ is failing. Vista is a flop. No one wants it. Vendors are losing money and many are in open revolt. As the upgrade train grinds to a halt, the end of M$ is near.

Re:Why use Doc at all?

[twitter]

I know several people with various scientific PhDs (mostly in Physics and Chemistry) who use Word on a regular basis. They know and use TeX, too, but that doesn't mean that they don't use Word when it's the best tool for the job.

RzUpAnmsCwrds, you already have my nickel because you are a paid M$ PR hack. As is par for the course, M$ had dumped the new Office at LSU, so a part of my "tech fee" has purchased it.

No, I'm not elitists to say that Word is only the best tool for the job when someone else demands it. By choice, people used alternatives like Word Perfect which you seem to have forgotten about. Word only gained it's share because M$ dumped it and buttered up some "decision makers" in big dumb companies. PhDs and other people brave enough to look beyond the start menu knows Word's just another way for M$ to make money through format lock in and "network effect."

There are several good alternatives to the new Office but no good reason to buy into it. There's Kword, Open Office, Abiword, Star Office and Word Perfect. With LyX, you can do GUI Tex if you want. If you are really stuck on Office, Open Office is a good fit. The only reason to move to the new Office is that you want M$ at any cost.

Re:Word processors seem unsuited for this

[bdjacobson]

Hell yes they do.

No they do not.

My husband is a mathematician, and he uses the whole alphabet, the whole greek alphabet, and then has to improvise in some of his papers, and it's full of actual equations with all kinds of superscripts and subscripts and various integration symbols and whatnot.

You can do all that in MS Word too. So why does your husband use LaTeX?

I'm in grad school in a social science field, and I rarely to never would even put an equation of any sort in a paper. I'd run all my ANOVAs and regressions and whatever other stats on SPSS and then put in some graphs and tables that show numbers, not variables. I might use N or F or p.

LaTeX won't stop you from writing papers that way. If you don't need things like \frac{1}{\sqrt{1-\frac{a}{b}}}, then don't use those macros.

I could use LaTeX like he does, but I don't really have a need for it.

Neither does he. You don't need LaTeX to write mathematics. The field got along quite well for a rather long time before LaTeX came to be. SHHHHHHhhhh!!! She's a girl! And she's on slashdot! That means, by default, she's right!

Take a deep breath

[Z34107]

...you are a paid M$ PR hack ... M$ had dumped the new Office at LSU ... you want M$ at any cost ... !

7|-|3r3 15 /\/0 r3450/\/ 4 4/\/^/ 54/\/3 |+3r50/\/ 70 7|-|1/\/|< 7|-|3/\/\53|_\/35 (|_3\/3|2 |33(4|_|53 7|-|3^/ /\/\4/\/463|) 70 |=|_|r7|-|3r /\/\4/\/6|_3 7|-|3 3/\/6|_15|-| |_4/\/6|_|463.

we, liek, get taht u, liek, hate M$ n lollerz, but u need hlep

All those dollar signs are clogging the internet's tubes. The little copy editors inside older computers can't handle that degree of brokenness. If you post using that new-fangled Tux-powered OS, I'm sure that constitutes some kind of animal cruelty. "M$" is just as unfunny as "Linsux", "open sores", and "twatter", and makes the grammar-nazi schizoid voice in my head go absolutely bonkers with uncontrollable hell-spawned fury, endangering countless potentially Linux-using children.

Some AC used to troll your posts with a message like this:

twitter, please read this carefully. Following this advice will make Slashdot a better place for everyone, including yourself.

• As a representative of the Linux community, participate in mailing list and newsgroup discussions in a professional manner. Refrain from name-calling and use of vulgar language. Consider yourself a member of a virtual corporation with Mr. Torvalds as your Chief Executive Officer. Your words will either enhance or degrade the image the reader has of the Linux community.
• Avoid hyperbole and unsubstantiated claims at all costs. It's unprofessional and will result in unproductive discussions. A thoughtful, well-reasoned response to a posting will not only provide insight for your readers, but will also increase their respect for your knowledge and abilities.
• Always remember that if you insult or are disrespectful to someone, their negative experience may be shared with many others. If you do offend someone, please try to make amends.
• Focus on what Linux has to offer. There is no need to bash the competition. Linux is a good, solid product that stands on its own.
• Respect the use of other operating systems. While Linux is a wonderful platform, it does not meet everyone's needs.
• Refer to another product by its proper name. There's nothing to be gained by attempting to ridicule a company or its products by using "creative spelling". If we expect respect for Linux, we must respect other products.
• Give credit where credit is due. Linux is just the kernel. Without the efforts of people involved with the GNU project , MIT, Berkeley and others too numerous to mention, the Linux kernel would not be very useful to most people.
• Don't insist that Linux is the only answer for a particular application. Just as the Linux community cherishes the freedom that Linux provides them, Linux only solutions would deprive others of their freedom.
• There will be cases where Linux is not the answer. Be the first to recognize this and offer another solution.

From http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/docs/HOWTO/Advoca cy

There's a lot of wisdom in these lines. Take it or leave it; just for goshsakes don't bite anyone.

Re:It's always a surprise

[pyite]

I pity the university you work at. I find that there is at least somewhat of a correlation between professor competence and whether or not they use a TeX variant. And, to be honest, I always looked down at professors who wrote things up in Word or another word processor. Their documents looked like crap and paled in comparison to things other professors wrote in TeX. When you're staring at documents for hours on end, it's nice when they are formatted well and look nice.