After all, ODF doesn't even support spreadsheet formulas
Ah yes, right on cue. You Microsoft boosters have been parroting the guff from Bill Hilf's lab for quite some time now.
ODF supports, but does not define spreadsheet formulas. By contrast, OOXML's spreadsheet formulas are worse than missing. It has incorrect formulae that, if implemented according to the standard, would result in a spreadsheet that calculates incorrect results.
The ODF team are working on a set of formulas, but unlike Microsoft, they are doing so carefully and ensuring they comply with existing standards. And of course, Microsoft had the opportunity to participate in the development, but declined.
The Gnumeric devs disagree with your assessment, as they've said it was easier to implement OOXML into Gnumeric than ODF.
And more disingenuous misdirection from Microsoft marketing. Shall I quote the actual statement from the Gnumeric devs, sans spin?
ODF's model of 'chartness' didn't fit well with Gnumeric. In contrast XLSX may be ugly, but it''s concepts were very familiar from XLS. We already had much of the code required to handle it. How's the Kool aid tasting now?
It's no problem de-bunking the report, Burton are obviously in the pay of the monopoly.
Burton are Microsoft boosters from way back.
They did a hatchet jobon Google for MS not so long ago, and when they're not slandering Microsoft competitors, they're out flogging Sharepoint Services.
This does raise the prospect that a truly open implementation of the format could be created, which was my biggest worry about a format which calls itself 'open'.
It's not the only problem.
MSOOXML is an order of magnitude harder to write a parser for than ODF. Choosing it as a default format sets the barrier to entry for smaller players much higher.
In 1999 I paid about AU$600 for a midrange Pentium Pro CPU. In 2008, I bought a midrange Xeon Dual-core for the massively increased price of... AU$600.
In 2000, I bought a shiny new Intergraph TDZ2000 with two PII 350s for the bargain cost of just $5,000. Now, Apple is prepared to sell me a Mac Pro with two 2.8GHz, quad core Xeons for the stupefying price of $2,799.00.
Now, explain to me again why it would be in my best economic interest to buy a computer with cores that could be disabled if I don't pay my rent?
But since the OS is Suse, you still pay a Microsoft tax, am I right?
The value of the royalties Novell will pay to MS from OEM installs is likely to be vanishingly small. The main benefit Microsoft got from the deal was the FUD, and that mostly backfired on them.
I have a HP laptop with SLED10 pre-installed, it even has a little green Suse logo where the XP one normally goes. It's one of the better Linux experiences around, especially for corporates and newcomers to Linux. And let's face it, even if you wipe SLED10 and install your own favorite, all the hardware will be supported and manufacturers will see there's demand for Linux compatibles.
I wouldn't worry about tacitly supporting Microsoft via Novell either. Now that innovators like Asus and Nokia have shown the way, I suspect the day of the big generic desktop Linux is over, and manufacturers will shrink-fit versions of Linux onto their own hardware.
So you are saying Windows cannot teach reading, arithmetic, history, geometry, etc.
What exactly does it do to limit it and not allow the kids to learn?
It doesn't include it as part of the base install. If you want learning materials, you have to pay more or have a net connection to download free stuff, if you can find any.
How many times has the exact same kind of stuff been posted on Slashdot?
There's plenty of paid posting happening here.
It shoudn't be a surprise to anyone if Intel has jumped on that particular bandwagon and has employees or contractors "correcting" information on Slashdot.
At some point you have to split things off into separate chips or else your manufacturing output effectively falls to zero.
That's not what history tells us.
The original 8086 had 29,000 transistors. Modern Core 2 processors have about 300,000,000 transistors.
Quad and eight core designs are already in their roadmaps, so if there's competitive advantage to embedding the equivalent of a Cell in an X86, Intel and/or AMD will find a way of doing it.
Either way, it would require some low end, non-x86 CPUs and maybe that's an oxymoron in itself.
I have a nice little Linux palmtop running on a 330 MHz OMAP2420 cpu. It cost about $300 new, including touchscreen, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, FM tuner and built-in camera.
Will this be a stripped / unlicensed version or what?
Yep, interesting. Sugar is a lot more than just an OS.
Microsoft wouldn't want to be seen as the loser in a competition like this, so how will Microsoft provide all the additional functionality? Bundle Works?
They'll also need to address the malware aspect, and do so in the very limited space available on the XO. If they manage to do that, they'll also have to be careful to cripple it so it won't run on ordinary PCs. A stripped down, low cost, lightweight OS that would install on standard X86 hardware and run existing PE apps would eat Vista for breakfast.
In the late '80s I did a lot of gridding with Wild T1A theodolites, which reverse the image both laterally and vertically. We'd spend about 10 hours a day looking through the jigger with brief breaks in between.
For the first day or two, I had to make a conscious mental correction for the reversal and made a lot of transformation mistakes, but on the second day got to the stage where the view through the scope looked upright and moved on its correct axis. The transition between normal and reversed viewing was still hard hard, to the extent that I refused to drive a vehicle after a day's work. In about a week though, transitioning between worlds became effortless.
That was fine until I took a break for two weeks. When I got back, the disorientation happened again and the adaptation cycle restarted. Makes me wonder how stressful it is to the brain to rewire like that. There must be a reason it reverts if the ability isn't used.
Yo don't have to work with computer to know how to use them. You do, however, have to be somewhat interested, and most people are not, not even the tiniest bit.
No, these are normal ordinary people who can recognize that their computer has become harder and less pleasant to use. It's not that complicated. You don't need to be a guru to understand that things that used to work don't anymore.
But the vast majority of the consumer base just isn't well educated enough in the subject to be able to make a choice between XP and Vista.
I know it's nice to feel all elite, but that simply isn't true.
Plenty of my friends don't use computers as part of their employment (concrete workers, fitters etc) but are quite capable of basic computer tasks like email, web, games etc. They are also quite capable of recognising that the Vista interface is more confusing, inconsistent and sluggish that the one which preceded it, and are asking tech-minded friends to help them get rid of it. I'd say at least half of the people I know who've bought a machine with Vista installed have asked for the computer to be upgraded to XP or Linux within a month.
I still can't work out how you're supposed to use the three seashells.
Re:The best tools stay out of the way... (shill)
on
Goodbye Cruel Word
·
· Score: 0, Troll
And considering the vast majority of the Slashdot crowd is in the must-kill-MS crowd, a few voices actually supporting Microsoft hardly constitute a force.
It's long time since Slashdot has been anti-MS.
And MS has a long history of astroturf, whether it'd done internally, farmed out to consultants like DSG or DCI, or by encouraging MVPs and partner companies to "contribute" to Wikipedia and tech discussion sites.
As to whether it's happening here, I'd be surprised if it's not. There's plenty of evidence - Slashdot posters who almost always recite the exact same "talking points", the catchy phrases that come from a template supplied by Bill Hilf's crew, manipulation of the moderation system, red herrings and trolls to sabotage threads that might go counter to MS goals, etc, etc.
I'm interested though - what sort of evidence would it take to convince you that MS was hacking Slashdot? HR documents showing MS is hiring "Blog Readers" and "Commenters"? MVPs admitting they'd been paid to make posts? Contract documents to this year's equivalent to DCI?
The way things are going, you might even get your smoking gun before Halloween this year...
Re:The best tools stay out of the way...
on
Goodbye Cruel Word
·
· Score: 1
If you have used Office before, you're probably expecting something to be in the same place it's always been when it's actually not.
No, I'm comfortable shifting between different Office suites on Linux, Mac and Windows. Office 2007 genuinely makes it harder for an experienced user to work than previous versions do.
As others have said, the purpose of the 2007 interface is to draw new users into the application. Microsoft doesn't care as much about long-term Office veterans because they'll typically have a large document collection in the MS proprietary formats. The format lockin makes the barrier to switching Office Suites much higher.
Slashdot Mirror
Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all.
Only in the US.
Porterhouse. Grilled no more than medium-rare, no marinade.
Ah yes, right on cue. You Microsoft boosters have been parroting the guff from Bill Hilf's lab for quite some time now.
ODF supports, but does not define spreadsheet formulas. By contrast, OOXML's spreadsheet formulas are worse than missing. It has incorrect formulae that, if implemented according to the standard, would result in a spreadsheet that calculates incorrect results.
The ODF team are working on a set of formulas, but unlike Microsoft, they are doing so carefully and ensuring they comply with existing standards. And of course, Microsoft had the opportunity to participate in the development, but declined.
The Gnumeric devs disagree with your assessment, as they've said it was easier to implement OOXML into Gnumeric than ODF.
And more disingenuous misdirection from Microsoft marketing. Shall I quote the actual statement from the Gnumeric devs, sans spin?
ODF's model of 'chartness' didn't fit well with Gnumeric. In contrast XLSX may be ugly, but it''s concepts were very familiar from XLS. We already had much of the code required to handle it. How's the Kool aid tasting now?Burton are Microsoft boosters from way back.
They did a hatchet jobon Google for MS not so long ago, and when they're not slandering Microsoft competitors, they're out flogging Sharepoint Services.
It's not the only problem.
MSOOXML is an order of magnitude harder to write a parser for than ODF. Choosing it as a default format sets the barrier to entry for smaller players much higher.
Microsoft != Life.
Because it's dumb.
In 1999 I paid about AU$600 for a midrange Pentium Pro CPU. In 2008, I bought a midrange Xeon Dual-core for the massively increased price of... AU$600.
In 2000, I bought a shiny new Intergraph TDZ2000 with two PII 350s for the bargain cost of just $5,000. Now, Apple is prepared to sell me a Mac Pro with two 2.8GHz, quad core Xeons for the stupefying price of $2,799.00.
Now, explain to me again why it would be in my best economic interest to buy a computer with cores that could be disabled if I don't pay my rent?
This is the one time a BSOD would be welcome, so it'll probably be the most stable MS app ever...
But seriously, what is it with Microsoft and this sort of repellent in-your-face crapware? Do they WANT to be seen as evil?
Line 'em both up and I'll let you know.
The value of the royalties Novell will pay to MS from OEM installs is likely to be vanishingly small. The main benefit Microsoft got from the deal was the FUD, and that mostly backfired on them.
I have a HP laptop with SLED10 pre-installed, it even has a little green Suse logo where the XP one normally goes. It's one of the better Linux experiences around, especially for corporates and newcomers to Linux. And let's face it, even if you wipe SLED10 and install your own favorite, all the hardware will be supported and manufacturers will see there's demand for Linux compatibles.
I wouldn't worry about tacitly supporting Microsoft via Novell either. Now that innovators like Asus and Nokia have shown the way, I suspect the day of the big generic desktop Linux is over, and manufacturers will shrink-fit versions of Linux onto their own hardware.
It doesn't include it as part of the base install. If you want learning materials, you have to pay more or have a net connection to download free stuff, if you can find any.
Sugar is purpose-built for learning.
How's the Zune going?
There's plenty of paid posting happening here.
It shoudn't be a surprise to anyone if Intel has jumped on that particular bandwagon and has employees or contractors "correcting" information on Slashdot.
The ribbon UI in Office 2007 mimics the one used in Blender, which has been extensively criticised by the OSS community as unintuitive.
That's not what history tells us.
The original 8086 had 29,000 transistors. Modern Core 2 processors have about 300,000,000 transistors.
Quad and eight core designs are already in their roadmaps, so if there's competitive advantage to embedding the equivalent of a Cell in an X86, Intel and/or AMD will find a way of doing it.
I have a nice little Linux palmtop running on a 330 MHz OMAP2420 cpu. It cost about $300 new, including touchscreen, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, FM tuner and built-in camera.
Yep, interesting. Sugar is a lot more than just an OS.
Microsoft wouldn't want to be seen as the loser in a competition like this, so how will Microsoft provide all the additional functionality? Bundle Works?
They'll also need to address the malware aspect, and do so in the very limited space available on the XO. If they manage to do that, they'll also have to be careful to cripple it so it won't run on ordinary PCs. A stripped down, low cost, lightweight OS that would install on standard X86 hardware and run existing PE apps would eat Vista for breakfast.
It's sounds like a related phenomenon.
In the late '80s I did a lot of gridding with Wild T1A theodolites, which reverse the image both laterally and vertically. We'd spend about 10 hours a day looking through the jigger with brief breaks in between.
For the first day or two, I had to make a conscious mental correction for the reversal and made a lot of transformation mistakes, but on the second day got to the stage where the view through the scope looked upright and moved on its correct axis. The transition between normal and reversed viewing was still hard hard, to the extent that I refused to drive a vehicle after a day's work. In about a week though, transitioning between worlds became effortless.
That was fine until I took a break for two weeks. When I got back, the disorientation happened again and the adaptation cycle restarted. Makes me wonder how stressful it is to the brain to rewire like that. There must be a reason it reverts if the ability isn't used.
No, these are normal ordinary people who can recognize that their computer has become harder and less pleasant to use. It's not that complicated. You don't need to be a guru to understand that things that used to work don't anymore.
I know it's nice to feel all elite, but that simply isn't true.
Plenty of my friends don't use computers as part of their employment (concrete workers, fitters etc) but are quite capable of basic computer tasks like email, web, games etc. They are also quite capable of recognising that the Vista interface is more confusing, inconsistent and sluggish that the one which preceded it, and are asking tech-minded friends to help them get rid of it. I'd say at least half of the people I know who've bought a machine with Vista installed have asked for the computer to be upgraded to XP or Linux within a month.
I still can't work out how you're supposed to use the three seashells.
It's long time since Slashdot has been anti-MS.
And MS has a long history of astroturf, whether it'd done internally, farmed out to consultants like DSG or DCI, or by encouraging MVPs and partner companies to "contribute" to Wikipedia and tech discussion sites.
As to whether it's happening here, I'd be surprised if it's not. There's plenty of evidence - Slashdot posters who almost always recite the exact same "talking points", the catchy phrases that come from a template supplied by Bill Hilf's crew, manipulation of the moderation system, red herrings and trolls to sabotage threads that might go counter to MS goals, etc, etc.
I'm interested though - what sort of evidence would it take to convince you that MS was hacking Slashdot? HR documents showing MS is hiring "Blog Readers" and "Commenters"? MVPs admitting they'd been paid to make posts? Contract documents to this year's equivalent to DCI?
The way things are going, you might even get your smoking gun before Halloween this year...
No, I'm comfortable shifting between different Office suites on Linux, Mac and Windows. Office 2007 genuinely makes it harder for an experienced user to work than previous versions do.
As others have said, the purpose of the 2007 interface is to draw new users into the application. Microsoft doesn't care as much about long-term Office veterans because they'll typically have a large document collection in the MS proprietary formats. The format lockin makes the barrier to switching Office Suites much higher.