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List:       koffice-devel
Subject:    Re: Microsoft Office 12: new user interface
From:       Alan Horkan <horkana () maths ! tcd ! ie>
Date:       2005-09-24 12:07:02
Message-ID: Pine.BSF.4.58L0.0509241258400.19967 () salmon ! maths ! tcd ! ie
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On Fri, 23 Sep 2005, Tim Beaulen wrote:

> Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 11:48:15 +0200
> From: Tim Beaulen <tbscope@gmail.com>
> To: For developer's discussion about KOffice <koffice-devel@kde.org>
> Subject: Re: Microsoft Office 12: new user interface
>
> Any sudden change to the user experience is bad.

Actually it is essential if Microsoft are going to convince people to
upgrade.

Microsoft are their own biggest competition and will continue to be
fighting their own installed base because they need to get new customers
and have not found a way to transition to a subscription based model of
software developement.

It is also great news for OpenOffice.org which with version 2.0 will be
more like Microsoft Office than Microsoft Office 12.

>  It's very much possible that the new user experience is ten times better,
> that doesn't matter.

Well I must admit infrequent users (using software only once or twice a
year) are forced to relearn things almost every time they use the sofware
(not just beginners, it goes for me too when it comes to software
like Blender and Emacs which i rarely use).
Microsoft will bundle Office with new computers and at least gain some
market and probably do their old trick of using incompatibilities
to push other users to upgrade.  They will be able to get some users for
Office 12 but it will be a hard sell.

This is a big opportunity for Open Source alternatives.

>  The first time I saw the screenshots the first thing I thought was:
> "This looks very messy and difficult to use". It may very well be that
> it's actually a lot easier to use.

And if it is Open Source is better suited to adapt quickly and provide
users with something simlar.

- Alan

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