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by Andrew_nenakhov 2243 days ago
Don't you even get me started on xls from 2002. That pathetic standard was poorly supported even my MS itself, files were opening with great difficulties and differences even on same version of Excel on different PCs, and sometimes newer versions could not open them properly at all. Once I have discovered that one .XLS file could internally have different types of encoding within one same document.

Anyway. It is clear that MS Office will not leave the field, like FORTRAN, but the key principle is the same: if you want to get out of the pit, you should stop digging. DO NOT create new spreadsheets in XLSX format. DO NOT ever send out MS Office documents. That's it, simple rules. Follow them for 5 years and you'll wonder, how little you depend on MSOffice.
3 comments
kortex 2243 days ago
Recently got some UX whiplash after being in engineer world for years and long ago migrated to .md/.rst over rich text editors. To quote the Matrix, "I don't even see the markdown anymore, I just see bold, italic, header..."

Then I started working with some folks on a Covid mask project and they are massively struggling with MS office docs, dropbox, file versioning, web deployment, wordpress, for something that needs both high uptime and fast updates. I'm like why not just use git, github, and jekyll static sites? Add better looking pages in time.

...

Lets just say they weren't thrilled with that idea.

Sticking to open formats (flat text, odf) is a great start for the individual but it's still a workflow shift for everyone else, which is painful. It was a start reminder for me of the frustration I experienced when shifting my workflow to more open standards. Add to that some serious Hyrum's law when it comes to excel usage.

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coinerone 2243 days ago
Yes! Im with you on that. But it is not the tech or IT "Poeple" that we are talking about here. This Discussion is going on for many years now and there will be another 10 Years of "simple" solutions. I will be honest here. As a Programmer and Application Supporter (for 17 Years now) i earn Money with that kind of Problems. I dont like MS and it would be a joy to switch to GNU/Linux. But i think i will see someone standing on Mars before MS Office will be replaced.
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mixmastamyk 2243 days ago
Just have to move to an adjacent/another field. I have not seen Office in ten years, and haven't used it in twenty.
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mixmastamyk 2243 days ago
> if you want to get out of the pit, you should stop digging.

Great quote, I'll try to remember that.

Also, folks forget how times change. Ten years ago most were still trapped on Windows. Today a lot fewer are.

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