Originally Posted by
sllevin
It doesn't sound like you've done work with complex spreadsheets, which often use embedded data from other spreadsheets or documents. I've seen lots of documents, for example, lose the formatting and/or presentation of embedded data from other sources that work fine in Office.
Again, for basic things, you are correct that math is math -- but don't fool yourself into thinking that complex documents will work all the time -- because they won't.
Steve
I really dont want to draw this out...but the insinuation that I've made "laughable comments" and that "I'm fooling myself" warrants justifying my comments.
I work with some extremely complex documents, I know what I'm talking about. Like I said, with the exception of VB script, you can accomplish the same things with solutions other than Microsoft Office (often, if not always with free opensource solutions). The suggestion that MS Office is the only capable solution is frankly demonstrative of a lack of experience or familiarity with anything outside of MS Office.
I'll admit to being somewhat fanatical about opensource software, but I also admit to being an MCSE and working (though in a capacity very different from an MCSE-like role) on a major software development for a fortune 15 company that is deeply in bed with Microsoft. I also have friends and family that are not geeks. In other words, I have a high level exposure to both sides of the fence and I know when an OS solution is a valid replacement for a typical end user and when its not. I'm not sitting here suggesting that anyone downloads opendarwin, but I am saying that (again with the exception of VB Script) there are plenty open solutions that even advanced users would find compelling in comparison to MS Office.