[mso] Re: exe files

>That means "they" can do whatever they feel is appropriate and it isn't
always in the best interest of those of us at the lower end of the user
spectrum.

Let me just clarify the above statement so you can get a little perspective.
Have you ever been in the middle of an argument...when all sides are friends
of yours and you're trying to make them all happy, and they all want
something else? Now times that by a few million and you'll have a little
idea of what MS faces when making decisions about what to do. Believe
me...they don't just do "whatever they feel is appropriate", they do what
the majority of their users DEMAND. I've sat in user meetings when the top
brass, including Bill, are up on stage and everyone in the room comes up to
the mic and is demanding something different be done. Geez...talk about
pressure to make folks happy!

I hear people say "why don't they fix that"...but what those people don't
realize is that...because so many users have now created ways around old
issues, if they did fix some of the problems, they'd trash all those fixes
that all the other users have been using. So who do they make happy...the
50% who are screaming that they want something changed...or the 50% who are
screaming that they don't want it changed?

>Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Microsoft fan (please no spam) but they
often don't realize or seem to care that a large segment of their consumer
base would rather have more control.

And you get that fact from...where? Do you KNOW that the "large segment of
their consumer base would rather have more control" or is that just
something you ASSUME? The fact are that the biggest percent of their
customers DON'T want more control! Huge corporations want (and have) the
ability to lock out many features to keep down help desk calls from the
staff who try to use all those features and then end up calling for help
when they mess up. And the other large group are newbies who have no idea
what they are doing and yes, need to have that control to get their work
done. And then there are all those execs who don't want to be bothered with
tech problems and "just want to get their work done." And then there are
those power users who understand that newbies need training wheels
(stabilizers<g>), so we just sign and build ourselves a work around. The
small percentage that's left are those folks who don't know how to work
around the issues and complain that they want more freedom.

I've been answering MS user support Qs for over 9 years. Trust me...the
majority of Qs are not "let me do more without blockades" but rather "how do
I fix what I just screwed up because I'm too lazy to read the manual so I
was messing around and now I have no idea what's wrong! (Or as I love to
say..."or they say they don't have time to read the manual...yeah, but they
have hours to waste fixing the problems they just caused by not reading the
manual"<eg> But I digress...

>Part of the reason though that there is so much restriction on their part
is that they program largely to the lowest common denominator...the casual
user who doesn't know what choices to make.  Those of us who are more
informed continually stumble over the safeguards of those who aren't.

And isn't that ALWAYS the way it is in life! I know how to pack for air
travel. But I have to wait forever in line because the idiots in front of me
were living under a rock and didn't hear the fact that they can't bring a
pocket knife on a plane, so I'm waiting while this guy does a striptease for
airport security!<sigh> OR...folks don't know the proper way to use forms,
so MS changed the way forms work to cover those who don't bother to learn
the proper way...so now I have to click many more times because of the added
safeguards for THEM. Same with styles.

That's life...the strong need to help out the weak! ;-)

Dian Chapman
Technical Consultant,
Microsoft MVP & Instructor

Free Tutorials: www.mousetrax.com/techtrax
Free Word Tips & Tricks eBook: www.mousetrax.com/books.html
Learn VBA the easy way, thru video! www.mousetrax.com/techcourses.html




-----Original Message-----
From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Glenda Wells
Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 7:48 AM
To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [mso] Re: exe files

Quite the vitriolic spiel Dian!

I basically agree that we should be cautious and concerned about others when
using the Internet but I also feel a certain resentment toward large
companies, such as Microsoft, because there is too much "Big Brotherism" in
the world.  Suggesting that someone buy another product isn't really
helpful.  Effectively, there really isn't another product.
What I mean is, were one to go with a different OS, LINUX, for example, one
is restricted as well.  It's rather like being left out of the community
sandbox on the playground.  Microsoft, for all intents and purposes, still
has the best toys.  That means "they" can do whatever they feel is
appropriate and it isn't always in the best interest of those of us at the
lower end of the user spectrum.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Microsoft
fan (please no spam) but they often don't realize or seem to care that a
large segment of their consumer base would rather have more control.  Part
of the reason though that there is so much restriction on their part is that
they program largely to the lowest common denominator...the casual user who
doesn't know what choices to make.  Those of us who are more informed
continually stumble over the safeguards of those who aren't.

/g

-----Original Message-----
From: Dian Chapman [mailto:dian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]=20
Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2003 7:05 PM
To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [mso] Re: exe files


>that one can or can't do with one's software seems a pretty=20
>"big-brotherly"
way of doing things.=20

Pssst...it's NOT your software! You're only renting a license to use what
they have produced. If you don't like what they produce, buy another brand.

And what YOU do on your own computer doesn't JUST affect YOU. If that were
the case, I would not have had to spend over an hour wasting my time because
stupid/uninformed people "did what they wanted" on their own
computers...opened viruses, got infected and cause ME to waste my Sat
morning because they "did what they wanted."=20

If a virus only blew up your own computer, then I'd say "sure, open whatever
the hell you want!" But the reality is that, the more people who "do what
they want" and don't pay attention to what they SHOULD do, causes a ton of
work for others. Admins and companies in the workplace and the rest of use
poor slobs out her on the net when THEIR computers turn into spam/virus
agents and start spewing out thousands of emails to those people in their
addressbook!

You have to realize...what you do does NOT just hurt you...it hurts many,
many others out here and also clogs up the net! Sure, the Internet is free
to all...just as the highways are. But, just as you should not act
recklessly on the highway, cos' your actions could cause serious damage to
innocents...so goes with the Internet. And the sooner others understand
that...the sooner the rest of us can get on with it.=20

My computer is protected, my network is protected, I've spent hours guarding
myself and my computer against viruses, security issues, et al.
I add every damn patch necessary to ensure I'm safe. Yet I still have to
waste my time because so many out there "did what they wanted!"

Dian Chapman
Technical Consultant,=20
Microsoft MVP & Instructor

Free Tutorials: www.mousetrax.com/techtrax Free Word Tips & Tricks eBook:
www.mousetrax.com/books.html Learn VBA the easy way, thru video!
www.mousetrax.com/techcourses.html

 =20


-----Original Message-----
From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Errol Sapir
Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2003 5:39 PM
To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [mso] Re: exe files

Dian & Neil
I see that Dian is peeved at being spammed with viruses just as I was with
having to find a third party way of allowing me to do what I want with my
computer. I still feel that if Microsoft want to "protect us"
they should give us the credit and allow us to decide for ourselves our
needs and wants. I agree with you Neil about the user being the greatest
security threat, but controlling what one can or can't do with one's
software seems a pretty "big-brotherly" way of doing things. Education not
being a policeman should be the answer!

Errol

-----Original Message-----
From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Neil Atwood
Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2003 10:21 PM
To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [mso] Re: exe files

You're welcome Errol.

I'm not a defender of MS, but it seems to me that they have been doing a
pretty good job of plugging the holes as soon as they are known. There
hasn't been a major security issue with OL for quite a long time. The
attachment policy is simply plugging the biggest security hole there is
- the one sitting in the chair!  ;-)

____________________________________
Neil Atwood - Sydney, Australia=20

"If you want to improve your understanding, drink coffee; it is the
intelligent beverage." Sydney Smith

=20

=20

     :-----Original Message-----
     :From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx=20
     :[mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Errol Sapir
     :Sent: Sunday, 31 August 2003 2:27 AM
     :To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
     :Subject: [mso] Re: exe files
     :
     : Neil
     :Thanks
     :I used one of the addin programs and now I am in control.=20
     :Dian had I known there was that limitation I would have=20
     :done something like
     :you suggested. It still doesn't make Microsoft right in=20
     :my eyes. They should
     :be blocking up other "holes" rather than restricting users.
     :Errol
     :
     :-----Original Message-----
     :From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx=20
     :[mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
     :Of Neil Atwood
     :Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2003 8:45 AM
     :To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
     :Subject: [mso] Re: exe files
     :
     :Well Errol, this is not exactly a new issue with Outlook,=20
     :but are a number
     :of ways around it.
     :This page details them all:
     :http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/esecup/getexe.htm
     :
     :It's really very simple to work around this.
     :
     :FWIW, remember the day when OL and OE let all attachments=20
     :through? For
     :Outlook that was pre OL2000 SP2.
     :People screamed blue murder that MS should do something=20
     :to stop idiots
     :opening virus-laden emails, and that OL was an admin=20
     :nightmare (and
     :remember, OL is primarily a business tool rather than for=20
     :home users)!
     :Well, MS did do something about it, and now people=20
     :(probably different
     :people) scream about how MS treats them as dummies...
     :You can't please all of the people all of the time...
     :
     :Regards
     :____________________________________
     :Neil Atwood - Sydney, Australia=20
     :
     :
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