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BobbyDouglas
Posts: 5456
Joined: 5/15/2003
From: Arizona
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U.S. Government Bans Vista, Office07, IE7 - 3/5/2007 13:48:03
This is great press for Microsoft!
Quote from aritcle: U.S. Government Bans Vista, Office 2007
quote:
Microsoft (MSFT) has run into trouble with a major customer over Vista: The U.S. Department of Transportation has banned Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer 2007, InformationWeek reports. The newly revealed policy forbidding installation of Microsoft's latest software has been in place since mid-January.
Finally, someone's taking my advice from last fall: Punish Microsoft for delivering a buggy, bloated operating system by simply not buying it. In the DOT's case, the ban was imposed because certain applications essential to the agency's function won't run on Vista. For these Microsoft customers, Vista doesn't just fail to deliver more value; it actively detracts from their jobs.
As a consequence, the DOT isn't just holding back on upgrading to Vista. It's actively considering Apple (AAPL) Macintosh computers, as well as PCs running Novell's (NOVL) SuSe Linux. I think it's unlikely that the DOT will switch, since moving to those platforms will require even more reprogramming work than making its apps Vista-compatible. The threat, however, should be a wakeup call to Microsoft: Less "wow," more "works."
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nrhatigan
Posts: 76
Joined: 6/20/2005
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RE: U.S. Government Bans Vista, Office07, IE7 - 3/7/2007 0:20:14
I did consider an early move to Vista but everthing you read sounds like bad news - much more than I anticipated. IT did make me think about a move to Linux and Suse10.2 seems to be theleast daunting for windows converts.
Any views - is it really as easy to install as following the instructions on the install DVD or do you need to have some knowledge of Linux?
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womble
Posts: 5528
Joined: 3/14/2005
From: Living on the edge
Status: offline
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RE: U.S. Government Bans Vista, Office07, IE7 - 3/7/2007 6:30:50
Well after announcing the other week that I wasn't going to touch Vista, or anything else M$ related, with a very long barge pole, I've discovered a number of problems to my plan:
a) Parents sometimes come and decide to borrow my PC. They've only just (barely) got the hang of Windoze, and even using Firefox (I deleted their IE icons) still causes great confusion
b) When I work from home through the VPN I have to use M$ WinXP and IE - it's the only thing my employers support and the VPN client won't connect through FF. We've only just finished the switch-over to XP, so on the bright side it's gonna be some time (like maybe the next millenium) before they'll even consider Vista. If I upgrade my PC as planned this year though, it's still gonna have to have WinXP if I want to work from home.
/is today feeling very virtuous as although it's my day off from the other job, I decided to put a few extra hours in so got up at some ridiculously early hour so I could put a few hours in and get it out of the way and then get back to "proper" stuff (oh, and a quick wander round various fora) 
c) I really do need to find where I hid my Knoppix CD....
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Reflect
Posts: 4769
From: USA
Status: offline
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RE: U.S. Government Bans Vista, Office07, IE7 - 3/7/2007 11:04:12
Womble,
Does Linux have an equivalant of VM Ware (Virtual machine)? I do this on Windows all the time when unsure about an aplication. Keeps a different enviorment for "testing" or VPNing.
Take care,
Brian
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womble
Posts: 5528
Joined: 3/14/2005
From: Living on the edge
Status: offline
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RE: U.S. Government Bans Vista, Office07, IE7 - 3/7/2007 12:13:28
Don't worry Jaybee, I shall be checking out the small-print very carefully. I've spent half this afternoon actually looking to see if I can find anything suitable for a non-geeky friend (poor thing, she can't help it ), who doesn't want anything fancy (apart from she wants to be able to burn DVDs). She now doesn't want anything with Vista on on since I told her that trying Vista at the moment is probably a really baaaaad idea. Only thing I can find so far pre-built that's within her price range that doesn't come shipped with Vista is at Staples, though I've not looked that far so for on the grounds I should be working.
There is apparently a Windows API that runs on *Nix OSs called Wine, which might be worth looking into. From what I've read about it though some Windoze apps are a tad tempramental on it.
Since getting portable Firefox though so I can at least use FF in the office without installing it along with a whole host of other goodies on the flash drive including OpenOffice, which I use on my laptop anyway, I've discovered that OOo does run on Wine.
Hmmmm, I'll have to see, and have a think about it all while I get on with squirelling away my pennies.
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~~ "A cruel god ain't no god at all" ~~
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Charles W Davis
Posts: 1725
Joined: 3/7/2002
From: Henderson Nevada USA
Status: offline
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RE: U.S. Government Bans Vista, Office07, IE7 - 3/16/2007 15:05:04
I have been using Office 2007 since January 30 (got it free at a Microsoft Launch presentation). I have yet to come across a single function that I had not used before. To the contrary, when using Office Outlook, some of my favorite keyboard shortcuts have been discontinued. The print icon does not appear on an appointment, and luckily, the good ol' Ctrl+P will open the Print dialog box.
This morning I spent two hours tutoring a club member in the use of Word 97. He had just installed Office 97 on his computer. He had asked me to come over due to his inability to use the products. He made the comment that maybe Office 2007 would have been the way to go. I suggested that when the time comes that he has mastered Office 97, to call me. If he ever calls, I'll probably tell him to install OpenOffice! Many European Governments are making this change.
I realize that both individuals and corporations need something to brag about... But this is silly.
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