"The new [Office 2003] rights management tools splinter to some extent the long-standing interoperability of Office formats. Until now, PC users have been able to count on opening and manipulating any document saved in Microsoft Word's ".doc" format or Excel's ".xls" in any compatible program, including older versions of Office and competing packages [...]. But rights-protected documents created in Office 2003 can be manipulated only in Office 2003."
On the heels of locking down MSN Messenger, Office 2003 becomes a little less usefull. Just as with the .zip debacle this can only lead to frustration. Yes, it will probably force more people to upgrade to Office 2003. But is this really how MS wants to increase its Office revenue and expand the softwares reach? Finding new users for the productivity suite is a huge priority for Microsoft and a fascinating challenge that I look forward to following. Especially as the push is headed by Jeff Raikes, the person who created Word, Excel etc back in the day. I just hope there are more inventive strategies in the pipeline. This is just to much of a barrier that won't do the company any good in the long run. And it will most likely harm its customers in the short term.
<< Home