Path: utzoo!censor!geac!jtsv16!uunet!ncrlnk!ncrwic!mlawless From: mlawless@ncrwic.Wichita.NCR.COM (Mike Lawless) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Word For Windows Keywords: Microsoft Windows Vaporware Word Message-ID: <5480@ncrwic.Wichita.NCR.COM> Date: 7 Aug 89 14:12:42 GMT References: <2106@csuna.csun.edu> <1228@rlgvax.UUCP> <2646@PEDEV.Columbia.NCR. Reply-To: mlawless@ncrwic.UUCP (Mike Lawless) Distribution: usa Organization: NCR Corporation, Wichita, KS Lines: 30 In article <2646@PEDEV.Columbia.NCR.COM> rogerson@PEDEV.Columbia.NCR.COM (Dale > >The moral of this story is: > Magazines will print as much information as they can about new > products. They do not care if they exist or will ever be released. > > Bill Gates lies and/or at least streches the truth. There is a very good explanation for this phenomenon. People have a tendency to bitch when the read about the features of an impressive new product, and then have to wait what seem like a very long time for it to actually be released. They get impatient and use epithets like "vaporware." Thus, it is the official policy of outfits like Microsoft to not announce new or improved products until they are absolutely ready for release. That way, they can honestly say that they did not make a premature announcement when the project is inevitably delayed for months due to bug fixes or other delays. It is probably a good thing in the long run, since it reduces the pressure to release a product before all the bugs are exterminated. BTW, it doesn't always work that way. I just read, in PC-Week, about a nasty bug in DOS Word 5.0, which can trash a Word 4.0 file imported into 5.0, if it had been modified by the 4.0 spell checker. They say it is actually the fault of the 4.0 speller, but they are working on a 5.0 fix to get around the problem. No word yet on how to get a copy of the fix. Stay tuned. -- Mike Lawless, NCR E&M Wichita, Box 20 (316) 636-8666 (NCR: 654-8666) 3718 N. Rock Road, Wichita, KS 67226 Mike.Lawless@Wichita.NCR.COM {ece-csc,hubcap,gould,rtech}!ncrcae!ncrwic!Mike.Lawless {sdcsvax,cbatt,dcdwest,nosc.ARPA}!ncr-sd!ncrwic!Mike.Lawless