Re: [LINK] [NZ] AA dumps Open Office, buys Microsoft for ‘compatibility’

[Marghanita da Cruz]

Kim Holburn wrote:
> 
> On 2007/Jul/18, at 3:44 AM, Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
>> AA dumps Open Office, buys Microsoft for ?compatibility?
>> Microsoft Office is not cheaper, but it is almost impossible to work 
>> out the actual cost of open-source, says CIO
>> By Randal Jackson
>> Computerworld
>> Auckland
>> Monday, 16 July, 2007
>> http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/A6AB17B34B1BA81ECC2573160079BFBC
<snip>
>> but that it was almost impossible to work out what open-source was 
>> actually costing because of issues such as incompatibility and training.
> 
> Well wouldn't that be his job?  To work out costing?  It's not that 
> hard.  You certainly can work out what the licensing costs of MS Office 
> are.  The costs of incompatibility and training are the same for MSOff 
> upgrades as for Oo.
<snip>
The incompatibility problem is most likely that if AA people send OO 
documents/spreadsheets, in (ODS/ODT) formats, to MS users outside the 
organisation, the recipients can't read them.

As an OO user, I assume the rest of the world is using MSWord and email MSWord
format documents - though I am contemplating using PDF or maybe HTML.
Unfortunately text only emails don't handle tables very well.

Marghanita
-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
http://www.ramin.com.au
Phone: 0414 869202