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Subject:Re: Word '97 vs. Frame 5.1.1 From:"Wing, Michael J" <mjwing -at- INGR -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 31 Mar 1997 13:07:07 -0600
>>6. By this time I decided to call Adobe. Adobe said that sometimes Frame
>>will take some Word 95 files as doc, sometimes only rtf. It varies, and
>>there's no real bet that it will take anything over Word 6.0 at this point.
>>Adobe emphasized, however, that Frame does not support Word 97. And it has
>>no plans to do so at this time.
>
>Sounds like Adobe is starting to realize how hard it is to hit a moving
>target (MS's Word save-format-du-jour). Kinda like other browsers
>tryingto keep up with NS's and MS's competing, made-up HTML tags. Or
>like IBM trying to keep up with Win32s support in OS/2: make it work,
>and MS will "update" it within a few days so it doesn't.
And it sounds to me like good old American competition. My guess is
that MS does these things to create or maintain an advantage. Last I
knew, most companies aim to do this. If I was the leader and everyone
was aiming at me, shouldn't I become a moving target? Can a company be
blamed for trying to keep it's advantage? If MS was chasing Adobe, are
there any indications that Adobe would not create a moving target?
Why should MS release their file format to others? Aren't the others
competitors? Isn't that like asking for the other team's playbook?
Maybe Frame and MSWord should end any semblance of compatibility right
here and right now. Let the stronger survive. If MS has indeed made
the split, then they will either benefit from it or be hurt by it.
Maybe it's time for Adobe to decide that they are not going to be
MS-compatible. Let the market decide the leader. It worked wonders for
Apple ;^)
The question is, if MSWord and Frame become and remain completely
incompatible, what are the effects on each product's business?
>Mike
INTERGRAPH
| Michael Wing
| & Principal Technical Writer
| Infrastructure Technical Information Development
| Intergraph Corporation; Huntsville, Alabama
| : http://www.ingr.com/iss/products/mapping/
| ( (205) 730-7250
| . mjwing -at- ingr -dot- com
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