Looks like you no longer have a word processor for the next generations of Micro$oft Window$ operating systems. Better make do with Wordpad or Notepad.
Posted on 12/24/2009 1:17:25 AM PST by myknowledge
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Microsoft lost its appeal Tuesday against a lower court ruling that it had infringed the patent of small Canadian software company i4i, proving that the fight is not always to the strong.
A three-judge federal appellate panel ordered the software giant to stop sales of its popular Word word processing program in its current form on Jan. 11 and to pay i4i $290 million.
"In this case, a small company was practicing its patent, only to suffer a loss of market share, brand recognition, and customer goodwill as the result of the defendant's infringing acts," the ruling said.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
Looks like you no longer have a word processor for the next generations of Micro$oft Window$ operating systems. Better make do with Wordpad or Notepad.
Word.
Thankfully, my processor has always been Word Perfect, though by many to be a step ahead of Word.
fyi
OpenOffice.org rules.
According to more than a few big corporates, their employees don’t have the skills necessary to use a word processor other than Word. Will they be deleted, too, or will we have to wait until the big default occurs? And what of the millions of terribly unskilled workers (and unemployable, according to our free traitor overlords) who are able to switch from one package or operating system to another on the fly? ;-)
Good God...no bias here, eh?
Microsoft already had contingency plans in place should it lose the case. Versions of Word 2007 with the offending feature removed will be ready for sale by the time the injunction starts.
Microsoft said the ruling will not delay the rollout of Word 2010.
The way I read this, they can no longer sell it, but what does it mean to all the people who have bought and installed it already?
Does it cover the Mac versions of the program?
Nope.
Given Microsoft’s previous actions in such lawsuits, they will most likely buy out the plaintiff.
The classic "Word Perfect Technical Support Call (TM)"
End User: Hi. I seem to be having some problems with my Word Perfect 5.1.
Word Perfect Tech: It seems to be working just fine here...
Mark
A patent case of robbery.
Will it open Word 2007 documents?
Nope.
Why not? Does the Mac version not have the offending code?
Microsoft Word (stolen by MS from another company) Price? $700
OpenOffice (developed by the public) Price? Free
Thank you for your informative answer.
Damn near all of MS’s early “innovations” were the theft of some other companies work, Gates didn’t have a contract with the actual owner of DOS when he signed the contract with IBM ,, DR-DOS is the most recognizable theft however at around the time .. MS-EXCEL was a direct clone of “visiCALC” ,, of course at the time it was such a simple program and an obvious concept the IBMer that invented it didn’t patent it. I don’t remember whose defrag program MS stole and then paid off the owner after they broke him.
I have no problem ignoring MS’s claims to ownership.
FYI, Word 2007 is $229 on the Microsoft website.
Mixed feelings here. As someone who works in the software industry my take is that the overly loose US patent laws where software is concerned are stifling creativity. OTOH, as a Canadian, having watched RIM get hosed in US courts based on a rather marginal patent claim, I enjoy seeing one of ours hosing down Microsoft in a similar way.
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