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Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
True, there is a lack of knowledge about Windows alternatives with most IT staffs. In fairness to them, however, they are often not in a position to pick and choose what hardware or software their company uses. Previous contracts and business arrangements with other partners (which are usually not written by IT staff) often demand Windows compatibility with specific OS and SW requirements..
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Much of the time the IT staff is merely implementing, not planning. Lack of planning is sometimes amazing; it takes real commitment to move away from M$, even though the rewards can be great. Over the years, I have seen that cost concerns are one of the big factors in convincing a company to switch away from M$- that and concerns over stability.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
It is often only the isolated (little or no file swapping outside of their office) or forward-thinking company that manages to buck the MS trend.
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File swapping is less of an issue, at least with file types used by MS Office. Last year I dealt with a company that used MS Office, and wanted to upgrade from Office 97 for just these file sharing concerns (they could not read files created by newer versions of Office). they balked at licensing costs for MS Office.
So, I had them start using PDF files for many communications, and upgraded most of their machines running Office 97 to the latest OpenOffice. Problems solved, and people were commenting on how much better everything worked with openOffice <G>. Spreadsheets were running much faster than under Excel, etc.