RE: [libreoffice-users] Libre Office being recommended on Microsoft Answers Forums!

Oops.  It is Most Valued Professional.  

Microsoft seems to be re-arranging the deck chairs on microsoft.com.  Here's a different view into 
the program: < http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mvpawardprogram/>.  There's a Facebook page too [;<).

-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis E. Hamilton [mailto:dennis.hamilton@acm.org] 
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 10:59
To: 'users@global.libreoffice.org'
Subject: RE: [libreoffice-users] Libre Office being recommended on Microsoft Answers Forums!

[The MVP page seems to have moved, so here's a text explanation]

MVP = Most Valued Player

It is an award (made annually) from Microsoft to non-Microsoft people who make significant 
contributions to the community of Microsoft product adopters.  The awards tend to be identified 
with a particular product group (e.g., Developer products, Office, Sharepoint, etc.)

The MVP receives free access to tools and products and early previews.  MVPs are also invited to 
periodic Microsoft MVP Summits where early releases are disclosed, advice is solicited from 
Microsoft, etc.

While MVPs tend to be expert in a Microsoft technology, that does not mean they are constrained in 
their breadth of knowledge or contribution in forums, etc.  It is not unusual to see a 
recommendation about the use of non-Microsoft technology, or how to inter-op with non-Microsoft 
technology.  It is not commonplace either, mostly because of the focus of the forums and what forum 
users tend to have their attention on.

In the case at hand, two different MVPs responded and there were a variety of solutions offered, 
one of which was use of LibreOffice.

What I find odd is that an OEM Windows 7 computer, if recent, is more likely to come with Microsoft 
Office Starter edition.  It may well be that the user simply failed to register it, in that case.  
I see, however, that some OEMs preload a trial edition (sometimes both), and this seems to confuse 
matters.

Most folks are probably unaware that the built-in Windows 7 WordPad application will open and 
produce ODF Text documents, and also rtf and docx, but not .doc.  The functionality is rather 
limited though (more on the lines of the old Windows Write application).

Another way of handling the situation also mentioned on that forum is to use the free Web 
applications for Microsoft Office.  There are features that don't work there, but it can be handy 
in a pinch.

Some folks just want to help users without co-opting them into some sort of ideological warfare.

 - Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Gordon Burgess-Parker [mailto:gbplinux@gmail.com] 
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 10:14
To: users@global.libreoffice.org
Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] Libre Office being recommended on Microsoft Answers Forums!

On 12/08/2011 18:09, Tom Davies wrote:
> Hi :)
> What is an MVP??
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/aboutmvp

:P

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