Microsoft Doublespeak on Word 97 Numbering Bug

["Jacobson, Avi (PBD)" <Avi -dot- Jacobson -at- PBDIR -dot- COM>]

Several posters, in separate but related threads in this list, have
expressed their opinions on some of the bugs which plague Word 97.  I
personally agree with the poster who said that they had never
encountered a piece of beta software which was anywhere as near as buggy
as the released version of Word 97.  Among the three most frustrating
bugs are the "Save as Word 6.0/95" bug (actually a whole series of
version compatibility problems), the Red X bug, and the List Number
Style bug.

As some of you will recall, Microsoft made an ass of itself by releasing
a patch to fix the Red X bug and some of the compatibility issues, then
discovering a bug in the patch, and then releasing a patch patch to
patch the patch.  Confused?  Wait:  To make matters even more hilarious,
they then released a piece of licensed Microsoft software known as "Word
Patch Version Checker", the purpose of which was to enable bewildered
users to check whether their version of Word is unpatched, patched but
requiring a patch patch, or patched and patch patched.

Now we have a new chapter in the saga: the List Number Styles bug.  This
infuriating new "feature" of Word 97 makes it impossible to modify a
list number or list bullet style, or any style based on any of those
styles, even in a custom template.  This means, incidentally, that
templates which included such altered styles and which worked fine in
Word 6 and Word 7, will no longer work correctly.

The most logical way to research the issue, it would seem, would be to
address the Microsoft Knowledge Base.  For those of you who remember
when you could actually do this, you have probably noticed that the old
URL (www.microsoft.com/kb) now redirects to which is known as "Microsoft
Technical Support - Search Support Online"
(http://support.microsoft.com/support/c.asp?M=F).  But any search you
perform from that interface (even a search for the words "Microsoft" or
"the") produces a friendly message from Bill, explaining that "No
articles were found. Important: Due to a recent surge in demand for our
site, you may have difficulty searching. Your search may not yield any
results or you may receive an error page. We are adding capacity to meet
the increased demand. Until this is resolved, we recommend using
alternative support options."  The alternative options include searching
a VERY limited FAQ list (about a dozen problems or so per product,
compared to the tens of thousands of articles in the Knowledge Base), or
paying between $15 and $45 per incident to speak to a support person on
a 1-800 or 1-900 line.

What does all of this mean?

In my own experience, "you may have difficulty searching" means that for
quite a while it has been TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE to get any response from
this search engine at all.  Pounding F5 and Refresh dozens of times does
no good.  The search engine is not functioning.  I don't believe this is
a traffic problem.  Even if it is, a "recent surge in demand for our
site" is tantamount to saying "our products have been causing a lot more
problems than usual since the most recent ones were released".  The
problem is compounded by the fact that many product articles on the
Microsoft website routinely direct the reader to further assistance via
a link to this very search page!

Unable to search the Knowledge Base for a solution to the List Number
Styles bug, I sought out an archived TECHWR-L posting directed me to the
ID number of the Microsoft Knowledge Base article which is supposed to
deal with the issue - it is Q172764.  Although the disabled Search
Support Online search engine is supposed to be the only gateway to the
Knowledge Base articles, I discovered via the scientific method known as
EHA (Extensive Horsing Around), that you can still get to the Knowledge
Base articles if you know their ID numbers, by entering the article as a
URL in the following format: For article no. Q123456 access
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q123/4/56.asp.

Thus, I came to read the article on the List Number Styles bug by
accessing
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q172/7/64.asp.  It is a
prime example of Microsoft Doublespeak.  The Numbering Styles issue is
referred to in the article, twice, as a "problem", and is assigned a
"workaround".  However, the article has apparently been edited since it
was originally written, and although the editor neglected to remove the
words "problem" and "workaround", Bill's position is now that "This
functionality is by design."  We actually MEANT for it to screw up like
that.

Where does that leave us?  With an expensive, buggy, piece of software
which works a lot worse than its previous version; with some bugs that
have been patched and repatched but have not totally been resolved; with
Microsoft admitting its support site is ringing off the wall and
referring frustrated users who seek assistance to a "support" facility
that appears to have been deliberately disabled; and with an admission
that there is a "problem" and a suggested "workaround", along with the
silly assurance that this problem is by design.

Where do you want to go today?

--
Avi Jacobson, email: Avi -dot- Jacobson -at- pbdir -dot- com    | When an idea is
                 or: AviJ -at- amdocs -dot- com           | wanting, a word
                                               | can always be found
Opinions are those of the poster, =NOT= of     | to take its place.
Amdocs, Inc. or Pacific Bell Directory.        |          -- Goethe