What Won't Microsoft Break?

January 4th, 2008 by Justin Ryan

Microsoft — the company that for unknown reasons has the image of being more secure and reliable than Open Source software — has been hard at work breaking things things month, including Windows Home Server and their FolderShare application. Now it's hit the news that Office 2003 Service Pack 3 has broken access to a number of file formats, including several of their own.

While Office 2003 SP3 was released in September, news outlets are just now beginning to pick up on the issue, spurred on by numerous complaints from users. The formats, including Word formats like 6.0 and 97, older Excel and PowerPoint formats, and Corel formats including Corel Draw, can no longer be opened in any of the Office 2003 applications. Perhaps most surprising is the blocking of the Word 2004 for Mac format, as Word 2004 is the most-recent and currently in use version of Word for Mac!

Microsoft claims the decision was necessitated by the insecurity of the formats, but one can only wonder at the decision to break the ability of users to share files between even the most recent versions of a product. It's a bit amusing, too, because maintaining user's access to older files — like the ones they decided to block — has been one of Microsoft's arguments for the adoption of OOXML.

Read more.

Note: Microsoft has released instructions for reinstating the blocked file formats. It involves hacking registry keys, so all the usual caveats apply.
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Ford Motor Company and "SYNC"

On January 4th, 2008 Anonymous (not verified) says:

So, just how many people would like to have Microsoft in control of your new 2008 Ford vehicle ?

Today Ford hit a 22 year low.

With the migration to Apple, the notorious "blue screen of death", and consumers avoiding Vista, does Ford Motor Company have any idea what it is doing with a partnership with Microsoft?

A car with Microsoft inside would be enough to make many run for the door.

See:

Ford Slips to 22-Year Low After Falling Behind Toyota (Update3)

By Bill Koenig

Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. fell to the lowest price since 1986 in New York trading after losing its status as the No. 2 seller of autos in the U.S. for the first time in three-quarters of a century. Read More.

Ford, Microsoft Introduce Sync for Tech-Savvy Consumers

A fix

On January 4th, 2008 Justin Ryan says:

I didn't want to include a link in the original post, lest it seem like I was endorsing particular sites, but while doing my research for the post, I ran across a post on Digital Inspiration with an implementation of the Microsoft-released fix for the issue. I've not tried it personally (as I don't run MS products) but if anyone's been bitten by this issue, they may try the registry fix suggested there.

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Justin Ryan is News Editor for LinuxJournal.com.
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The solution: OpenOffice.org or StarOffice

On January 4th, 2008 Sum Yung Gai (not verified) says:

OpenOffice.org will gladly open those MS Office 95 files for you. And if you need something that does some of the more esoteric older file formats, then go w/ StarOffice (it's pretty low-cost). Either one will serve your office productivity needs splendidly. I've been using OpenOffice.org since 2002, and StarOffice before then.

--SYG

Thanks

On January 4th, 2008 Justin Ryan says:

Thanks SYG; as a dedicated Ubuntu user, I'm personally quite attached to OpenOffice, but that's good advice for any readers who don't already use it.

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Justin Ryan is News Editor for LinuxJournal.com.
Submit a tip: Email IRC

keep ms happy

On January 4th, 2008 Anonymous (not verified) says:

lets all just keep running scared of the biggest crooks this planet has ever seen.

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From the Magazine

August 2008, #172

There's nuttin like a Cool Project to give you some relief from the summer heat, so get out your parka cuz we got a bunch of em. First up is the BUG, not a bug, The BUG. It's got a GPS, camera and more, in a hand-sized package that's user programmable. The BUG does everything. It's both a floor wax and a dessert topping. Get one now. Need a software version of a Swiss Army knife? Take a look at Billix, and don't leave home without it. Then, chew on this one, an X server on a Gumstix device driving an E-Ink display. Need more storage? How about 16 Terabytes? Can do.

And, of course, we have the usual cast of characters: Marcel, Reuven, Dave, Kyle, Doc, plus the new kid on the block Shawn Powers. But it doesn't stop there: build a MythTV box on a budget, build your own GIS system, set up the tools to monitor your enterprise and more. Finally, remember The War of the Worlds? Now you can play too.

Read this issue