[Hidden-tech] Microsoft Office suite vs. other options

Don Lesser dlesser at ptraining.com
Sun Dec 13 11:52:25 EST 2009


The latest versions of Word have the ability to remove personal information 
(Document Inspector). if you are worried, you can save it as an RTF file 
which will contain the massive Word formatting (shown in TeX-like backslash 
commands) but will remove versions, hidden text, etc. RTFs can be read by 
Word and most word processors. Earlier versions of Word had a "quick save" 
option that kept all previous versions. The current version is supposed to 
strip that on save. I have not confirmed it personally. Or use a PDF, as 
has been suggested. I have several clients who do that when they send out 
files specifically for security purposes. Word now has Save As PDF readily 
available.

When the Starr report was converted from WordPerfect to HTML to be placed 
on line, a number of deleted footnotes reappeared since WordPerfect also 
stored versions. Can't blame Bill Gates for that.

Attaching a Word document to an inhouse email is a process issue, not a 
Word problem. People need to be taught to save the document on a common 
drive and access it there. 

I teach PowerPoint and the point is continually stress is that "PowerPoint 
is the organizer of your thoughts. You are the presenter and the reason 
people are there. You need to provide the "value added" information, 
analysis, comments, etc. that make the presentation worthwhile." 

In the "good old days" most computer users had a good idea of hardware and 
software. Should I blame the Mac for hiding the complexity of a computer 
operating system from the user? I mean, if users keep losing files, don't 
know what is happening when they use a piece of software, don't know what a 
file format is and why it is important, etc. isn't that an indictment of 
the computer? I mean, if a user figures out that with enough carriage 
returns and tabs, they can make an indented list instead of using a hanging 
indent, is that wrong? It isn't until someone tries to edit the document 
and the carefully placed tabs and spaces turn the formatting into a 
god-awful mess. I blame the user for that, not the software. How many of 
you use styles to format your text? How many simply go through a document 
to change the heading from 14pt to 16pt? When I teach styles, 90% of my 
students have never used them, yet when they learn how, many see the 
value.

I would be the first to complain about much of what is wrong in Word. A 
full version and a simple version might very well be the best solution all 
around, if the file formats were transparent and the "full" features hidden 
and not stripped away. 

When you compare the Mac to the PC, remember that Apple controls the 
hardware and the system software while Microsoft has to virtualize the 
hardware interface to fit multiple unknown hardware components. A lot of 
Windows and Office bugs are from buggy drivers that are provided by a third 
party. In CP/M days, there was a contest to write a complete game in one 64 
character line of BASIC. Hardware was expensive. Now that processors are 
fast and memory cheap, there is less incentive to tighten code like that. 
Especially when release dates are market driven and not technology driven. 


I have been a professional tech writer since 1981. I do not want to take 
the time to write my text, then go over it again just to add formatting. It 
is a waste of billable time for me. I format as I go, writing in bursts and 
then adding the images and styles. When I go over the document, I am 
editing content and formatting, not doing unpaid grunt work. 

I am very much in favor of education, both in the traditional liberal arts 
sense of teaching how to think, how to learn, how to analyze, how to 
research, how to present as well as technical education--how to use 
software and hardware. Nothing is perfect in this world. Almost by 
definition, the common standard sinks to a level below what is excellent. 
Marketing and commercial considerations overshadow innovation, the better 
marketed often beats out the technically superior, and power (economic and 
political) stifles the general good in favor of the privileges of the few. 
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