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To: babyface00
Additionally, Microsoft drives the forced upgrade spiral by changing file formats between versions. As a result, users of (for example) Office 97 may be unable to read docs written in Office 2000.

The best solution is for governments to write into their purchasing specs that: 1)All software must save to a fully open (i.e. fully documented and unencumbered by licensing requirements) file format by default and 2)Saving to any closed (i.e. not meeting either of the above requirements) format requires going through an "Are You Sure?" mommy popup -- if it's supported at all. This insures access to government data by citizens (no matter what OS or software they use) and by the government in the future (even if they tell their current vendors to get lost).

20 posted on 01/22/2003 12:53:36 PM PST by steve-b
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To: steve-b
Office 2000 and later provide the ability to save documents as HTML with full-fidelity.
22 posted on 01/22/2003 1:44:25 PM PST by Bush2000
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