For some inexplicable reason, software giant Microsoft decided to release a lengthy, online attack ad-style video against Sun Microsystems’ OpenOffice suite, an open source competitor to Office.
The nearly three minute long video, posted on YouTube in the company’s Office Videos channel, is nothing but quotes and examples of why people should consider paying to use Office rather than using free OpenOffice software.
Complaints by “users” in the video complain about OpenOffice increasing support costs, requiring additional training for employees, not having enough support for spreadsheet macros, and being generally unreliable. One person featured recalls he and his co-workers breathing a "collective sigh of relief" when his employer switched from OpenOffice.
In addition to profiling workplace issues, the video also documents problems that students might have by not using Office. "I've had students that have turned in files that they've converted from OpenOffice with formatting problems that affect their grade negatively," Tisome Nugent, a public school teacher comments.
Why is Microsoft so threatened by this open source software that they feel the need to pay to make a three minute production against it? Are they really losing that much revenue because of it?
Sure, for big corporations, Office is the smarter choice for compatibility and support reasons. But those corporations aren’t the entire intended audience for this short film. The problem is that small businesses and students can’t always afford to shell out the money for Office Suite, so OpenOffice provides a limited-but-functional alternative for these groups to use. What’s so bad about that?
And what kind of formatting are teachers requiring that isn’t converting properly and is causing lower grades? In this case, the teacher should switch to the program that is attainable by all of the students, or just not penalize the ones who can’t. It’s a public school, not some pricey private establishment where you can require students to purchase special software.
Hey Microsoft: If you want everyone to use Office, why don’t you use money to provide copies of the software for small businesses and students instead of producing three minute attack ads? Just a thought.
