Hi all,Take a look at this interesting take on Microsoft Office:http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1306674,00.aspAnd also:http://www.eweek.com/default/0,4148,,00.aspand, what do you know, they are running a poll!This could well be to our advantage as Microsoft may soon be forced to revise the way they handle customer relations in the wider sense in order to survive.Mike

If only your last comment was true....but this is Microsoft we are talking about, after all.Me and Microsoft are at odds, in case you couldn't tell ;)

Hi Fred,I think there seems little doubt that Microsoft are starting to feel the pressure. I read today that, quote "A Japanese news report has revealed that China, Japan and Korea are close to signing a deal that will effectively freeze-out Microsoft's Windows Platform".My understanding is that more than half of Asia's servers use Windows and "the deal is expected to involve the co-development of an open-source o/s (such as Linux) which will replace Windows."These quotes came from the November 2003 Edition of Windows XP Answers magazine.Now, if this is true, then it could well signal the urgent requirement for Microsoft to face certain realities and review their policies regarding existing relationships with their huge customer base, and that includes us. I think we can now feel fairly optimistic that any approaches made by our community could receive a favourable reception. I do hope so as it has to be in the interests of everyone.Best,Mike

>and that includes us.>What makes you think they would even care? Microsoft has already dumped their hardware line for PC gaming. I think we get Flight Simulator only because Microsoft can afford to waste money on PC gaming. When faced with lower revenues I would expect the PC gaming to be one of the first to go. Why make PC games if you have a much bigger more easily supported market with the Xbox. Jon

"Why make PC games if you have a much bigger more easily supported market with the Xbox."THAT'S the real writing on the wall there. :-) Well said!

OOPS, Double Post.

Hi Jon,"What makes you think they would even care?".... quite simply because if they don't the consequences could prove very serious indeed, and I'm not just talking about the gaming industry. In the end the gaming side could prove to be their lifeline towards continued profitability if there is a significant slowdown with the end user software upgrade cycle. Who needs Office 2003? Fostering and nurturing good relations with their customer base is more likely to encourage brand loyalty than will any fancy modifications to existing software.How many of us use more than the basic facilities offered, for example, by Microsoft Word? If you already have a recent version of Office installed how could you justify the expense of an upgrade? Now, if we are talking MSFS then, for us at least, the incentives are far far greater. It is cheaper and, arguably, offers much more in terms of end user satisfaction and enjoyment. That's the future!Mike

If MS ditches their gaming division,Hopefuly, the flight sim developer pool will go elseware, and continue to produce,But unfortunaly with out MS's great money resources.

Well said Mike. :)I would hope, and think, that MS makes a lot of money on MSFS. Dropping it in favor of a console only version would mean a big loss for them I would think. I have a very hard time seeing how they could get MSFS to work on the XBox too. FS2004 seems to like a lot of RAM. How much ram does the XBox come with? Even if you consider the next version of XBox I think there'd be a hard time getting the venerable MSFS to run on it. How about all the addons that make it that much more attractive? What on earth would happen to all our glorious tweaking ability?!?!Sincerely,Jim

Hi all,When I had problems installing my LEGAL version of office97, I refused to upgrade to office xp for $300+ Dollars.Since that time, I have been happily using OpenOffice.It is 100% FREEWARE for commercial, or personal use. (Great for small businesses, or college students) It is what StarOffice is based on but without any phone tech support.There are however very established forums on OpenOffice to help with support, the same as when you seek support for your flightsim. Ask yourself this. Have you ever called MS for support on your sim. Not many that come here do, IMHO.There also also many templates that you can use as well. SOmetimes I load up my msoffice97 on the laptop, go to MS site, download the template I need, then import it into OpenOffice. Works like a charm, since in order to download MS templates the site requires an offcie install.Here is the link:http://openoffice.orgI use spreadsheets daily in their Calc Program, and use Writer all the time as well. This is a very powerful suite which will also make PDF's, import or export into most extensions including all the MS Extensions.I have imported excel and word files, Quite large ones, with no problems at all. And it does a lot better with PDF's than office ever did, IMHO.I have also used their Presentation program to do slideshow presentations.Folks, save your hard earned money and try this FREEWARE office suite. You may never go back to that overpriced, hardly updated, security problem ridden other suite again.I'll be happy to answer any questions you have on installing or running it as well.You do need to have JavaRuntime installed for full functionality.Regards,Joehttp://aboutpolitics.net/images/banner.gif.About Politics.net - FORUMShttp://pub207.ezboard.com/bpoliticsgivemel...tyorgivemedeath.Contribute to the Richard Harvey Scholarship Fund.http://www.avsim.com/pages/scholarship.shtml

Does anyone other than me find it ironic that this group is here for people who are enthusiasts of Flight Simulator, a Microsoft product, to share experiences with that product, and yet it has of late become a Microsoft-bashing forum instead?Where would flight simulator enthusiasts be were it not for Microsoft Flight Simulator? In my opinion, it is one amazing and fascintating product of the highest quality. I'm happy to have the opportunity to fly it.Jim

Lets just say for example that there were 2 or more companies that created their own version of OS for PC computers. Imagine how many software developers would have to reformat their products to work with the many different versions of OS out there. I don't think having more than one version for a PC would be in the best intrest of computer users out there. I don't see why what Microsoft is doing is so bad. Just think of the guy that patent the drinking straw. Look at how much money they made over the years. I only wish I had such a wonderful idea that the world would have to look to me to use it.You have two platforms as it is one for Mac and one for PC. I think that is enough.

>Does anyone other than me find it ironic that this group is>here for people who are enthusiasts of Flight Simulator, a>Microsoft product, to share experiences with that product, and>yet it has of late become a Microsoft-bashing forum instead?>Jim>ROTFLMAO........I've been reading and lurking the flight simulator forums for years and I can't remmember a time when Microsoft wasn't bashed and it's the same in most other non-flight simulator related forums.Microsoft, the company we all love to hate. Jon

Worse than lawyers, huh? :)Jim