DAMN NON-MS APPLICATIONS!!

[spinningheel4242]

Ok, I have to say that I just love this whole fuck microsoft movement.  It is about time.  The only problem I have in converting to the "good" side is the incompatability of certain applications.  More specifically, with Mozilla.  Now, I just love the browser but I find that a lot of sites are not displayed correctly when using Mozilla.  But, most importantly, I like to play on the zone and you need Internet Explorer to log-on and play...Mozilla simply will not work.
Also, I have used Open Office and I like what it has to offer.  But, again it is not totally compatible with MS and it doesn't display the same data/format as MS does.  
Now, until these open source projects can truly rival MS, I don't think there will be a great migration from MS to open source.
I would appreciate anyone responding to these comments and maybe suggest some remedies.  I will be one of the first to dump MS (as an operating system, browser, office suite) if the alternative can at least match MS functionality...

Thanks

[xyle_one]

first of all, i believe any website that doesn't display right in mozilla was not created right in the first place. When developing a website, it is best to use W3 standards, and not microsoft standards. I havent used open office, but i am currently using star office, and it opens and saves in MSoffice formats. it also takes up less space, and does everything an office app should do. I have actualy converted a few people to star office, and they have taken it up to their superiors, talking about an entire office switch. I use mozilla on windows, redhat & suse linux, and mac osX jaguar, it can not be beat.
sucks that you have to use internet explorer to play on the 'zone'. i guess you could use opera and change the identification to internet explorer.
ecsyle_one

[pkd_lives]

Various misconceptions to clear up first.

   

quote: More specifically, with Mozilla.  Now, I just love the browser but I find that a lot of sites are not displayed correctly when using Mozilla.  But, most importantly, I like to play on the zone and you need Internet Explorer to log-on and play...Mozilla simply will not work.

You point is that the site you play does not accept anything but IE. This is not Mozillas fault. Get proactive and inform the site that you want other browser compatability. Tell them that by designing their site for IE they are losing 25% of their potential business. Most sites that display incorrectly are due to incompetent web site builders.

   

quote:Also, I have used Open Office and I like what it has to offer.  But, again it is not totally compatible with MS and it doesn't display the same data/format as MS does.  
Now, until these open source projects can truly rival MS, I don't think there will be a great migration from MS to open source.  

Again this is an inaccurate statement. Open office is BETTER than M$ office. Just because it is not 100% compatable with M$ does not mean it is no good. And to be fair you can save documents as .doc and I have yet to find a document that will not work.

   

quote:  I will be one of the first to dump MS (as an operating system, browser, office suite) if the alternative can at least match MS functionality...

Then it's time to change. M$ functionality can not only be matched but actually gets left for dust by other OS capabilities. It's not the fault of the operating systems or the writers of code. Change now, because I can already do more in Linux that you can in M$ products.

[ October 02, 2002: Message edited by: pkd ]

[psyjax]

Or you could get a Mac and run OSX Jaguare on it.

It will kick the shit out of anything MS can do, and guarantees compatability with M$ file format's etc. It is as powerfull as Linux/*NIX, but easier to use.

Best OS around right now IMHO.

[Refalm]

quote:spinningheel4242: But, most importantly, I like to play on the zone and you need Internet Explorer to log-on and play...Mozilla simply will not work.

The zone is a Microsoft website. They occasionly block anything not Internet Explorer on purpose.

[ October 02, 2002: Message edited by: Refalm ]

[xyle_one]

quote: The zone is a Microsoft website. They occasionly block anything not Internet Explorer on purpose.

goddamn i hate microsoft

[Crunchy(Cracked)Butter]

Who doesn't?  :rolleyes:

[foobar]

You 'll have to make some sacrifices to get rid of m$ ... but it's worth it, it think ...

welcome to the forums !

[Pantso]

Just listen to psyjax's advice and get a Mac!  

[Master of Reality]

get a powerbook 180 like me! With OS 7.1    At least i can play lemmings and star trek on it.

[zooloo]

I installed OpenOffice to "see what it's like" and I've not used MS Word since.

No probs with any Word doc - so far anyway.

Excel doc seem to be fine too.

MS's own software has compatibility problems with itself, not that MS are as honest about that as the open source folks are.

[Doctor V]

Microsoft will always make their applications and other services as difficult as possible to run on non-M$ software.  You can use staroffice to read M$ office documants, and you probably could get that zone website to work in Opera.  But M$ has a long history of trying to keep competeing software from working either with M$ format documents or on wondoze at all.  They have even been know to sabotoge competeing software.  In fact, they are on trial for it in the EU.  Its important that we do not reward M$ for this behavior.  If they don't want us to see their web pages in competeing browsers, fine, lets not go to their pages at all.  Lets not use their formats when possible.  I know this may not always be possible for everyone, but every little bit helps.  I suggest going to Linux today and taking it from there, you can always dual boot.

V

[Centurian]

Well to test it I just went to the zone in opera 6.03. I set it to identify itself as IE 5 before I did. It seems to work fine. I did not play any of the games there but the main page loads fine.

[xyle_one]

for shits and giggles i went to the zone with mozilla, and got this message

quote: Browser Not Supported
If you are seeing this page, we have detected that the browser that you are using will not render zone.msn.com correctly. To play on the Zone you need a computer running Windows95 or greater and we recommend either Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater or Netscape 6.0 or greater.The Zone is best viewed with Internet Explorer. To get the latest version, please select the free download link below.


Get Microsoft Internet Explorer

Note that our Netscape 6 support is still under construction. Some games may not function properly while that support is being completed.If you do not want to upgrade your browser, you can still use the Zone, however some pages may not render properly and some games may not function properly. To continue using the Zone without upgrading your browser, click here

bullshit. it rendered fine. at least they let me inside (though, i didnt really want to go in). but, i bet if they had their way,and the DOJ stayed off their backs, you couldnt get in without IE.
goddamn, i really hate them.  :mad:  
ecsyle_one  

[spinningheel4242]

Hey guys, I really appreciate all of the feedback on this one.  Ok, I tried to get to MS zone and my bank CIBC, and guess what, no go.  I wrote CIBC about this problem and they say they are working on it....ya...I'll believe it when I see it!!

As for getting to the zone using Opera, I haven't tried that yet.  I'll have to install it and try.  It is too bad that Mozilla won't work...or is there a way to change its identification??

Okay, now with the non-browser replies...

I have used Open Office on occation and it works great (until I copy and paste text from the web and then it is really hard to fix formatting).  I have WordPerfect 2000 as well but the stupid thing crashes more than Windoze!!  I have used Star Office...slow and crashed as well!!  So, what I am saying is that there are alternative products out there, that work, but they either don't have the functionality or the stability of MS products (at least on my machine!!)

But, I will try to get past my short comings and really attempt to solely use Open Office instead of MS.

I am wondering though, how does Open Office stack up to MS in relation to Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Frontpage?

Also, are there good WYSIWYG web design programs that run on Linux?  And, what are some good Linux Distro's?

Thanks Again