Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!nosc!ucsd!sdcc6!calmasd!jnp From: jnp@calmasd.GE.COM (John Pantone) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: Microsoft cuts corners, actually Message-ID: <14@calmasd.GE.COM> Date: 19 Aug 88 15:44:43 GMT References: <7988@cup.portal.com> <5832@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> <9713@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> <1289@thumper.bellcore.com> Organization: GE/Calma, 9805 Scranton Rd., San Diego, CA 92121 Lines: 37 In-reply-to: pff@thumper.bellcore.com's message of 17 Aug 88 14:45:41 GMT (Peter Ferris) writes: >It's my understanding that Excel has been fixed so it no longer >requires "the first MB of RAM". I think you're really throwing the >baby out with the bathwater on this one. To say Microsoft is writes >"crappy" software is a pretty hard statement. On what do you base >such a statement? I want to see something other than... >...omissions... >... just can't let you squeak by on that blanket statement about >Microsoft! Later... Peter, I can only guess that you haven't had to deal with Microsoft's MSDOS/OS-2 stuff. There have been - for many years - outrageous bugs in the MSDOS assembler (MASM) with regard to arithmetic, masking and logical operations. There are enough things which are frustrating about MSDOS and OS/2 to make me wish I had never even entered the field. An early version (1 or 2) of MS-C used to hang up, from time to time, for no apparent reason, and issue the error message: "Sucking Mud". I swear to GOD, this is true! I will grant that MS's Macintosh stuff is CURRENTLY rather nice - except we can't forget MSWORD's abortive introduction (should have been called MSBUG - NO SMILEY's HERE :-( and how about the bizarre implementation of the interface - no menu resources, etc.? I agree that blanket statements such as XXX's stuff stinks, aren't particularly useful, nor productive; but you have to cut people a little slack - some of the software vendors in MICRO-LAND are so frustrating that it can drive you bats... Microsoft is on my list of "crazy makers". -- These opinions are solely mine and in no way reflect those of my employer. John M. Pantone @ GE/Calma R&D, 9805 Scranton Rd., San Diego, CA 92121 ...{ucbvax|decvax}!sdcsvax!calmasd!jnp jnp@calmasd.GE.COM GEnie: J.PANTONE