It feels odd to write about Microsoft Office. I am not an expert – because I don’t use it.
I use editors, they just don’t cost $200 or whatever MS Office costs. Science 2.0 has a great editor, thankyouverymuch. This site has a WordPress editor. An XP desktop machine I use for programming has OpenOffice, for when someone sends me a Word document. I use Google Documents and also an editor on my Kindle Fire, but I have plodded along nicely without Office.
I do have a copy of Office installed now, but that took a really compelling reason. I co-authored a book (Science Left Behind – it comes out in September so by all means, buy it) and my co-author uses Word and the published uses Word. After having flaky, strange things happen with both OpenOffice and Google Documents, my wife handed me her copy of Office. It is one of those home license 3-install deals and had one license still available.
That has to be trouble for Microsoft, right? If technologically literate people don’t want you, it certainly can’t be good.
I’m not the only one to notice. Juan Carlos Perez writing at PC World/IDG.net says that while Microsoft is set to unveil a new version of its wildly profitable suite, it may be end of life. People are tired of complicated setups and interminable delays, they are tired of random menu and interface changes – and what’s up with that .docx extension anyway? Nothing but a way to bully people into spending money, to a casual outsider.
People don’t need obscure new features, they want the core ones easy to find and fast. Office 2000 finally runs fast – on machines made 13 years after it came out.
Microsoft also won’t port to a tablet soon because they keep insisting they can be number one or number two in that market – but Microsoft has been number two (scatologically speaking) in lots of markets. They should drink the Apple Kool-Aid and embrace iOS with their stuff. No one wants to use Safari, for example, so Apple has a lot of weaknesses that Microsoft could exploit if they’d actually learn how iOS works.
That goes for Android too. But there are only so many cultural bumps Microsoft will be willing to endure.