A World of Hurt

After years of bitching, usually on a daily basis, about the pain MS Word causes me, I've decided to go public. Why? I live in Word. More than any desk, cubicle or office, Word is my work environment and it has been since I was a college student back in the late '80s. 

If Word were an actual, physical workplace, it would be a FEMA trailer with rotting drywall and hundreds of yards of duct tape holding together dangerously unpredictable plumbing and wiring. Yes, that's where I go to work every day.

Every few years, the landlord, MS, shows up and makes a big deal out of sweeping a couple of dead rats out from behind the toilet. They spray-paint the roaches so they match the soiled carpet and then release a bunch of PR hooey about how very wonderful they are for having fixed up the trailer so beautifully.

Usually, the media signs up enthusiastically for this mangy dog and pony show. The reviews of Word 2008 by Macworld and the other members of the mainstream computer press are always puff pieces that put the "sick" in "sycophant." The truth is, like virtually every release before it, Word 2008 is a bad whitewash of a bad app, but no one seems willing to say it in print. 

Well, I am. Having spent the better part of two decades trying to live in the rat-shit palace that is MS Word, I know the place intimately. It's time the world knows where MS is forcing us to work.  Stop by here for a guided tour you won't get in Macworld or anywhere else the long arm of MS PR can reach. If you have an issue with Word, feel free to add a comment or send it to me and I'll document it.

Please leave the light on when you're done visiting. Every time it gets turned off all the roaches come out again.