(no subject)

[tinyjo]

I've just got emails from Microsoft confirming that I am now an MCSE and an MSDBA. It looks like you get a bit better stuff from this that just MCP - possibly free MSDN subscription for a year. It's not quite clear from the mail but they promise they've sent me a welcome pack which has the full details (and my badge :) ) so we'll soon see.

Comments

Re:

[andypop.livejournal.com]

It's not the Bill-Gates-is-evil argument I was referring to - simply that the Microsoft programs I use (Word, Outlook Express, etc) don't work as well as their (generally more basic) equivalents I used on the Mac. I used to use Clarisworks, for instance, and the word-processing bit of that is straightforward, easy to use, and doesn't continually do things to your formatting without telling you. Word will revert to its default font and point size in mid document - or to a font and point size you were using earlier - and add weird bits of formatting which make it impossible to get your document the way you want it, unless you spend ages learning how to stop it. Some of this may be useful at times (anticipating what you want to do), but generally I find it infuriating, especially when it makes changes which appear to be completely random. It's just bad design. Ditto for Outlook Express - the new version actually has fewer useful features than the previous one! You can't change the font colour any more, and more seriously, you can't send blind copies any more.

I would begrudge MS's unpleasant and illegal business practices a bit less if their software actually was the best available, but it's just not. It just happens to be, too often, all that's available.

Sorry to rant... but sitting at the computer right now only serves to remind me how much I miss using a Mac!

Re:

[soulsong.livejournal.com]

I wish I could agree with you, but to be honest MS Word was the first product that tempted me away from my Amiga and onto PC's back in 1993 and I haven't seen anything better since. I've experienced the same bizarre weirdness as you regarding the strange formatting and reversion to the default font, but I always figured it's because I have never really read the instructions. I suppose it can be argued that if we need a manual for a word processor, then it's not easy enough to use, but the problem still remains that I havent seen any other word processor I've preferred for almost a decade now. :(

As for Outlook Express, yes it lacks several useful features that have been standard in Outlook for several versions now, which is annoying. I'm still not entirely convinced it's superior to Pegasus Mail, which is what I always used to use. On the other hand, I dunno which version you're using, but in version 6 on the PC, I can still change the font colour and send blind copies. I dont remember those features ever being missing.

Re:

[andypop.livejournal.com]

Well, we're using whatever version Outlook Express insisted on downloading, so I assume it must be the latest...