TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
There are valid reasons for upgrading software. For example, now that
64-bit systems are available, software can be optimized for this new
situation.
Unfortunately, the more these companies force people to upgrade, the less
willing they are to go along with it, especially when the upgrades seem
nothing more than tweaks to the interface. To be honest, I still don't see
all that much difference between Office 95, Office 97, and Office 2000
(haven't used OXP yet). The same bugs (numbering, security) are present,
and most of the same commands are available in pretty much the same place,
at least in Word and Excel. I don't use Powerpoint or Access enough to know.
Outlook, perhaps, got the most from the upgrade, but still not much of a
change.
WinXP? Well, people say it's more stable, but you can't prove that by me.
Granted, I've only dealt with 3 installs, and while the OS itself didn't
crash, applications routinely would - and crazy things would happen, such as
the compatibility wizard suddenly getting corrupted. Part of my response to
XP is because of the default interface: I find it too cartoonish. Yes, I
know you can change the look, and I almost immediately do. Techwr-l tie-in:
which is better, a utilitarian interface or a "fun" interface?
The only other "new" stuff is extraneous stuff - Do I really care if Word
can be used as an HTML editor (why is FrontPage available, then)? Or become
place to compose email (why have outlook)? Not really, I prefer a tool that
does what it's supposed to do. Instead of fixing the issues, MS prefers to
bloat the product with unusable, or unneeded, features.
In almost every way, WinXP is just a prettied up version of Win2000. Do I
want to pay for that upgrade? Eventually, I will have to, just to keep up
with the Joneses.
>
> I don't know how anyone else feels about SW updates, but I have to say
> that offhand I can't think of a single instance where I updated a SW
program
> that I was happily and productively using for any other reason than to
maintain
> compatibility with other users as the file formats changed or with
OS/platform
> updates as I got new computers. In most cases, were it not for these
> requirements,
> I'd still be crusing along using whatever release I first installed of
every
> program
> I've ever liked, and that includes a few that I originally began using as
DOS
> apps.
> In fact, there are a few I'm using now where I'd happily downrev back to
older
> versions if only they would work on my current systems.
>
> Otherwise, my response to activation is the same as my response to dongles
has
> always been: assure me that you have free 24/7 live support available to
> instantly
> help me correct any problems that arise from it and it'll be a non-issue,
> otherwise
> I won't be installing your apps that use it unless I'm forced kicking and
> screaming
> to do so.
>
> Gene Kim-Eng
RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
