{"id":357,"date":"2006-05-29T10:47:11","date_gmt":"2006-05-29T15:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blackgate.net\/blog\/index.php\/another-reason-to-switch-to-openoffice"},"modified":"2006-05-29T10:47:11","modified_gmt":"2006-05-29T15:47:11","slug":"another-reason-to-switch-to-openoffice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackgate.net\/blog\/another-reason-to-switch-to-openoffice\/","title":{"rendered":"Another reason to switch to OpenOffice"},"content":{"rendered":"

As if we needed another reason to switch to OpenOffice…<\/p>\n

In the wake of at least one targeted attack that exploits a new flaw in Word, Microsoft is advising users to run the application in “safe mode.”<\/p>\n

Running Word in the restricted mode will not fix the vulnerability, but it will help block known modes of attack, Microsoft said in a security advisory<\/a> published late Monday. The software maker is also developing a security update for Word, which should be available on June 13 or sooner, as warranted, the company said.<\/p>\n

(from ZDNet<\/a>, Microsoft advises ‘safe mode’ for Word<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Someone in my family alerted me to this before I read it about it in the trade news, actually. Here is what I told her:<\/p>\n

Get your company to switch to OpenOffice, and this sort of thing will cease to be a problem (OpenOffice can create, open, and edit MS Word files, but it is immune to the many, many security vulnerabilities of MS Office).<\/p>\n

You would also save your company hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of dollars (depending on how many employees they have).<\/p>\n

And if they switch their standard internal document format to OpenDocument, you will no longer be subject to Microsoft’s version extortion — you can be sure that you will be able to open those documents in any OpenDocument-compliant program for many years to come (OpenOffice is the most well-known, but there are several others, and it is a standard format that will be around for a long, long time — Microsoft changes its formats periodically so that people will have<\/strong> to buy upgrades in order to open old documents).<\/p>\n

You would be a hero!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I sent a similar email to the “Workplace Productivity” department where I work:<\/p>\n

Circuit City currently uses Microsoft Office for its office productivity software. I suggest migrating the entire enterprise to OpenOffice.org. The advantages of OpenOffice.org are:<\/p>\n