The first hard part about switching is relearning what program to use when you need to write a document. By instinct, my mouse goes straight to Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft Office -> Word 2003. I never thought relearning such a stupid mouse pattern would be so hard!

The second hardest part of switching is learning how to use an easy program. Microsoft Word is so full of crap, but people are not only taught MS Word in school, but they think that it is normal to use such a bloated piece of terrible software. In reality, life should be much simpler. I don't need 49,142 features to write an English paper. I need about 5. Even though OpenOffice does have a lot of the advanced features, I am not bombarded with any of them.

The third hardest part of switching is explaining to your teachers that you don't save your documents in the terrible .doc format. Instead, I use the .odt format; yes, XML based. I know MS did something different on their format for Office 07, I think it is XML now, but I'm not going to buy it or look into it.

There are some other things that I have had trouble with, like finding certain features that I use (Header and Footer, that's about it), but besides that switching hasn't been too hard. I hope others will make the switch soon too.

Oh yeah, and the Number One thing about OpenOffice: a BUILT IN feature to convert all your documents to PDFs. Thank you Sun, thank you.

Brian,

As we have stated before we did not get to generated content in this release. It is something we want to get to in a future release. In IE7 we prioritised our work to fix issues with teh IE6 implementation of CSS adn added support for selectors and fixed positioning. We know we have more work to do in this area and are looking forward to it. Generated content is a major work item but definitely something we want to get to.

Thanks

-Dave

Dave/Microsoft: DON'T RELEASE IE7 UNTIL YOU GET THINGS RIGHT. News flash -- when releasing DESKTOP PRODUCTS, you can't be Microsoft and release a "beta" version for three reasons:

1. You're Microsoft
   Old people download your crap whenever you tell them to. Tell them to when you're DONE and all the BUGS ARE FIXED
2. IE7 isn't a WEB APPLICATION
   You're not Google! You don't have the luxury of releasing Beta 1.0.1, Beta 1.4.65, Beta 1.6.2, and 5 years later, Beta 1.7.7. This is a ONE TIME downloaded APPLICATION that users run off of their computers. I know you guys go to bed every night and cry on your pillows wishing you could have half the brain that Sergey or Larry have, but the fact is YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T. You're so out of touch with reality that your headquarters are in WASHINGTON, which is actually 14 hours north of the place where innovation is actually instantiated; Silicon Valley.
3. Do you want developer friends?
   Or have you guys just given up on all the talented developers? Generalized statement, but hey, it's pretty much true -- they've all switched to Linux by now.

I am going to install Linux on my IBM T60. Microsoft: you just lost another customer; but this one's not switching to Apple OS.

This post is due to the fact that I am doing some web dev work, and I just can't stand how Microsoft forces Internet Explorer onto everyone, especially the latest version of IE7. Have you guys [MS] ever heard of WEB STANDARDS? Or do you still think it's 1990 and you can make up your own rules? I hope Google comes out with an OS soon; 100% free and 100% supported by AdWords... That'll be the day :)

Ok, done blogging for the next few days/weeks... This time I'm serious.

This one stuck out to me, too bad the writer was anonymous

Microsoft doesn’t only copy Apple. Microsoft copies Netscape, and Palm, and Sony, and Google and Symantec. And I’m forgetting so many, many more. The problem is that while the others innovate, Microsoft copies poorly. Then it leverages Windows to bundle and uses exclusionary licensing with OEMs to stop competitors from bundling or, in Netscape’s case, from even having a chance at the OEM channel.

Can't be stated much better... And then to top it off, this comment!!!

It’s true. Microsoft don’t always copy Apple. Look at the Zune. Looks like crap. Looks like a kid’s plastic toy. I guess style comes from the top. And in this case that’d be Steve Ballmer. Enough said.

“If anyone ever tells me again that Microsoft only copies Apple I’m gonna puke.”

That is true. They don’t only copy Apple. They also copy Google, Yahoo!… oh way too many others to mention. Just look at how many times you see news stories about Microsoft releasing their version of something someone else has done. Microsoft is the new Xerox.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

There have been quite a few companies that have tried to go with the subscription model; Napster being one of the most noteable. According to this article, "Apple's iTunes has maintained more than 70 percent of the PC-based digital music download market throughout 2005." As far as MP3 players, the iPod has an 83% market share.

This is starting to sound similar to something else... Um... Oh yeah! Microsoft Live vs Google. By the time MS realized that you could actually make a lot of money in the internet search business, it was way too late for them.

And the same is true with the Zune. When it comes out, if anyone at my school or church buys it, I'm going to personally make a point to clown them. No, the Zune is NOT cool. It's NOT hip. It's NOT sexy. It's not an iPod. People walking around with the Zune will feel inferior to iPod carriers. That's my prediction.

:)