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Word for Mac to be patched to meet court order

updated 09:25 am EST, Mon January 11, 2010

Follows patch for Windows systems


Word for the Mac will soon be patched in order to comply with a recent court ruling, says Microsoft. In an unusual turn the update will actually remove functionality, specifically some custom XML support. "While Office for Mac products were not accused of infringement, we are changing the product to allay any potential concerns about compliance with the [court] injunction," explains Microsoft spokesman Kevin Kutz.

A Saturday patch removed offending technology from Word 2003 for Windows, and last month the company updated its OEM distributions. Earlier in December the company lost an appeal on a $290 million lawsuit brought by Canadian company i4i, accusing Microsoft of infringing on XML patents through Word 2003 and 2007. Non-Microsoft products that use similar technology, such as iWork and OpenOffice, are expected to be unaffected.


by MacNN Staff

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TAGS :

 software, Microsoft, Office, lawsuits, Word, i4i

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  1. facebook_Mike

    Via Facebook

    Joined: Jan 2010

    +1
    01/11, 11:19am | report spam | Reply |

    I remember back in the 90's....

    There was a macro virus, and variations, and we had to patch Office to fix. This sounds similar, yet different. Removing functionality in this day and age probably isn't the way to go....

  1. ff11

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Apr 2004

    +5
    01/11, 11:39am | report spam | Reply |

    re: I remember ...

    "Removing functionality in this day and age probably isn't the way to go". Maybe, but it IS the way to make sure that Word for Mac does not have better functionality than Word for Windows.

  1. Feathers

    Grizzled Veteran

    Joined: Oct 1999

    +4
    01/11, 12:12pm | report spam | Reply |

    Opportunistic

    Yup, I agree with ff11 that it would be unlike Microsoft to ignore an opportunity to b*gger MacUsers at the moment.

  1. testudo

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

    -2
    01/11, 01:08pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: Oppotunistic

    Yes, that's right. They're doing this just to irritate Mac users. It has nothing to do with the court order, or them removing the same functionality from the Windows version. They're just to irritate you by removing a 'feature' few people probably ever used, or would ever use.

    However, I thought a previous article stated they weren't going to have to patch existing released versions of the software...

  1. bradpdx

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2007

    +4
    01/11, 01:21pm | report spam | (1 reply) Reply |

    One more reason to ditch MS Office

    Like everyone else, I've used MS Office for years on both Mac and Windows machines. The 2007 update for Windows introduced a new variation on tabs they called a "ribbon", which deteriorated an already mediocre UI. The 2008 Mac version followed some of this inanity, and so I have pretty much stopped using MS Office for anything but legacy support and moved all my real work to iWork. Faster, better, easier to organize.

    MS Office will never, ever, get any better - that doesn't fit the MS business model, which is unconnected to actual end users. I expect to see it go on for years in cubicle land, but as a compelling product I expect absolutely nothing from MS and would bet money on that.

  1. Indian-Art

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jan 2010

    +1
    01/11, 03:37pm | report spam | Reply |

    Use OpenOffice, set yourself free!

    Tear down the walls, break free from 'Window's. Use the doors. ;) Use OpenOffice.

  1. testudo

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

    -3
    01/11, 06:41pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: One more reason

    The ribbons are easier to access than the Office menus ever were. And just like any program, you just have to get used to it. We should be used to that now, since Apple loves to spring new interfaces on us every couple of years, to make things "easier".

    And Mac people laugh at MS for being so backward-compatible dependent. And then you complain because the UI wasn't, basically, backward compatible.

    And I've yet to find a version of Open Office that I don't find clunky. It's proibably because all they try to do is mimic MS Office.

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