> Microsoft's file change strategy, especially their Office 97 file
> changes, has been crazy and annoying.
Yup.
> But they do the file changes only when needed to support new
> functionality.
Like macro viruses? Nice line, but I'm not falling for it. Take a
_good_ look at versions of Powerpoint; same functionality (none
whatsoever!) in all of them.
A comparison of 'normal' and 'fast save' documents in Word shows you
two different formats with wild variations; converters have more
trouble with fast save. Fast save is pretty pointless these days, but
it's still on by default last I looked.
> (Note that file formats
> didn't change with Office 95, which included almost no new features
> other than 32-bit compatibility.) And, they always come out with
> converters to let old versions read new files.
...after the user population has complained vociferously and they
realise that not having a converter is delaying mass corporate
upgrades as the deployers realise that reading the data is important.
And this excludes Powerpoint, of course.
Powerpoint transparently rewriting old files in the new format when
you open them is particularly irritating.
L.
> <http://www.microsoft.com/macoffice/prodinfo/office/coexist.htm?prev=111
> 111> If you're using Word 5.1 or 6.0 for the Macintosh and need to work
> with documents created in Word 97, download and install this new free
> converter. With it, you can easily share your works with Windows users.
> Other converters are at
> <http://www.microsoft.com/office/office/viewers.asp?prev=111111>.
<L.Wood@surrey.ac.uk>PGP<http://www.sat-net.com/L.Wood/>+44-1483-300800x3641