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Subject:Re: Software Piracy (WAS: Good/bad docs) From:Marilynne Smith <marilyns -at- QUALCOMM -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 11 Aug 1998 10:30:42 -0700
I believe Microsoft is going through a "minimal documentation" phase. You
are expected to use the Help system to get the information you need. This
is not a popular solution with a lot of people, therefore the third-party
book authors are getting rich (in a manner of speaking).
Marilynne
At 11:29 AM -0700 8/10/98, Barbara Karst-Sabin wrote:
>George Mena wrote:
>>
>
>> Remember, folks owning legal copies of the software usually get the
>> books with the disks and CD-ROMs, even if you buy your software at some
>> recycled software store. On the other hand, if you buy *just* the
>> Microsoft Office 97 CD from such a place and buy a 3rd party manual from
>> Fry's, you could be made a suspect.
>>
>It's been my experience for many, many years and with a wide variety of
>employers that this is not the case. I know, personally, from a company
>I contracted with last year, their contract with Microsoft did not
>include the documentation for each package of Office '97 they
>purchased. They got one copy for the sys admin, the worker bees were
>forced to go out and buy their own references.
>
>Also, when I bought my laptop, it came with Windows loaded on it, but no
>documentation. I called the manufacturer said that that was the deal
>that Microsoft offered, CDs to load the software but no manuals.
>
>If Billie Boy thinks he's going to start going after people because
>they've bought documentation for his products, his face is going to be
>red when they point out the above types of practices by Microsoft, and
>the fact that their documentation, when provided, is so poor that the
>user is forced to augment it with purchased books.
>
>BJ
~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~ ~!~
Marilynne Smith marilyns -at- qualcomm -dot- com
Sr. Technical Writer (619) 651-6664
QUALCOMM, San Diego, CA AE-203B
"We'll have the whole world talking"
