Remember Microsoft Works? That low-end, incompatible-with-MS-Office, piece-of-$#^! software that came pre-installed on your PC along with all the adware? Well, Microsoft is finally planning to cut it loose and turn it into freeware. (Sort of. Speculation is that Microsoft may retool it into an online app, to compete with Google Docs.)
If it were just me, I really wouldn't pay attention to this at all. I use OpenOffice whenever I can, and MS Office when I must. I haven't touched MS Works in years.
But for many of my not-as-computer-savvy extended family members, MS Works is practically the only program they know how to use (well, that, and Internet Explorer ) -- and they've got a whole lot of personally important documents written in the MS Works word processor, and irreplaceable family kitchen recipes stored in MS Works databases. If MS Works changes radically, I can foresee a whole lot of family tech support and file conversion drudgery in my future.
If it were just me, I really wouldn't pay attention to this at all. I use OpenOffice whenever I can, and MS Office when I must. I haven't touched MS Works in years.
But for many of my not-as-computer-savvy extended family members, MS Works is practically the only program they know how to use (well, that, and Internet Explorer ) -- and they've got a whole lot of personally important documents written in the MS Works word processor, and irreplaceable family kitchen recipes stored in MS Works databases. If MS Works changes radically, I can foresee a whole lot of family tech support and file conversion drudgery in my future.
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