Re: [libreoffice-users] MS Office woes

Hello,
I thought I should add to the rant:
    If you think Microsoft Excel not being able to import formats it 
exports is bad, consider Microsoft's disastrous "OpenXML" standards.  
Notice I said standards, not standard.  .docx, .pptx, and other files 
with x at the end are stored in the Microsoft OpenXML format.  There are 
three different standards--for the same file type!  Depending on the 
operating system and Microsoft Office version, a different XML standard 
is used.  This can cause a .docx file, for example, not to render 
correctly in Microsoft Word 2013 if it were saved using 2010; even the 
operating system is a factor in which XML standard is used.  So, 
sometimes, Microsoft Office can't open Microsoft Office files.  Not to 
mention the extra features that don't work, no one uses, and takes up 
valuable disk space, such as PDF Reflow.  When will Microsoft realize 
that you can't "reflow" a PDF?  The implementation for each OpenXML 
standard is nearly 6,000 pages long!  So, it really doesn't do what 
Microsoft said it would do; they made the system so complex to try to 
force more people to using Microsoft Office, and now their products 
can't read files.

Regards,
xmlhttprequest.open@gmail.com

On 2/7/2014 9:10 PM, Carl Paulsen wrote:
> On 2/7/14 4:24 PM, anne-ology wrote:
> >        Can you go into the properties to turn off the auto-fills? -
> >            that's always been my solution.
>
> True enough.  But my point is it's set up to work oddly.
>
> > 1. The auto-fill and other "aides" in MSO make it much HARDER to 
> > construct formula fields in Excel.
> >        [if you're able to turn off those 'auto's then you should be 
> > able to work as you desire]
>
> Actually, it's more than the auto-fill.  The biggest problem is that 
> if the formula doesn't meet MSO's standards, you can't leave it in 
> place to work on later.  I've had formulas which took me days to work 
> out, and if I can't leave them in place even when faulty, then I have 
> to re-create them each time.  When they are so terribly long, with 
> many layers of nested functions, losing them is a disaster. Yet Excel 
> prevents you from saving them unless they "work."  BAH!
>
> > 2.  The "smart" text select system,
> >
> >        [I'm not sure I understand but if you're attempting to copy, 
> > or move, then paste elsewhere, then there must be a 'bug' in the 
> > system  ;-) ]
>
> It's a bit specific, and not a bug (it has behaved this way for many 
> releases and is, I think, intended as a function, though it acts more 
> like a bug to me).  Yes, it's copy and move.  Take this paragraph text 
> and copy to MSO.  Then highlight one sentence from before the first 
> letter to the last.  It will highlight not just the sentence intended, 
> but also the proceeding period.  At least that's how it works with my 
> two-spaces between sentence style (which is the original standard for 
> all typing, which MSO has chosen to dictate is no longer necessary, 
> but which really does help to define sentence and paragraph structure 
> IMHO).
>
> > 3.  Biggest frustration (and I've heard talk of this but not 
> > experienced it until last few days) - I've been saving a ton of small 
> > spreadsheets as CSV to move into a database that requires CSV file 
> > types.  But if I have to open them to re-edit, about half of them say 
> > they are the "wrong" file type (extension is .csv, but Excel thinks 
> > they are SYLK).  They open fine, but Excel, which moments before had 
> > saved the file as CSV, now thinks it's SYLK.  HTF does excel NOT know 
> > its own file type?
> >
> >        [haven't a clue here]
> Yes, and that's the point.  Excel apparently hasn't a clue either. 
> Take a spreadsheet file, save as CSV (the Excel version, not the plain 
> text or Mac version), then open again with Excel.  Roughly 50% of the 
> times Excel fails to open these.  I don't have a clue what's going on, 
> but it seems like Excel should understand the format that it just 
> saved the file to, so that it can re-open it. Especially for something 
> as simple as a CSV file.  Note too that I tried to open another CSV 
> file today, slightly different situation, and Excel chose to ignore 
> the CSV format and open it as if it were one column/field of data, 
> ignoring the commas and quotes delineating the different fields.
> > Rant done.  Just thought I'd share specific frustrations with LO 
> > users.  To be fair, there are a few minor things I've appreciated in 
> > MSO, but the frustrations are legion.
> >
> >
> > Dover, NH 03820
> >
> >        [very pretty area - especially in the colourful fall]
> Indeed!  SNOWY and cold now though (which is good if you're willing to 
> get out in it as I am).


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