Mac Word 2008 is just an awful program

There was a debate not so long ago about some kind of software distribution license scheme. Of course, this would never work - it would hinder good but unfunded programs from getting onto the market, and it would only serve to increase the power of the people with money on their hands. But, there is also something to be said about the positive aspects of this idea. Many problems we face in our every day computer using is caused by ill defined and poorly implemented programs that consumes too many resources. Lets face it: controling for memory leaks takes time and is not as exciting as creating an application which fixes a problem.

I would think that a majority of the problems we see everyday, and think is a bug in the underlying OS, is caused by programs not behaving nicelly. That's why I think that the Apple Store policy of a review process before accepting an application into the iPhones is a very good idea. A program which misbehaves will make the iPhone appear to be a poor device, and that damages the brand name Apple now spent lots of money to create. And they have been successful. So, provided that the policy is aimed at ensuring quality, and not the diversity of content or services, then this policy is something I applaud.

I just wish the same policy could be applied to the OS X platform. In the spirit of making sure that we realise that money is no guarantee of ability to provide quality,  I now officially declare Word 2008 for Mac to be a program which should really be pulled from the market. Let's face it, it is FAR from stable. It's been out now for two years, so this is not the initial unpatched version, and you can still easilly crash it doing one of the following (apparently) high-risk maneuvers:

• Insert a note into a document.
• Erase a comma in a note.
• Try to save the document while editing a note.

and many more. How come we accept a program that crashes from simple editing actions? And, we pay lots of money for this priviledge. Add this to the general view that the Office suite  is a bunch of Windows products in put in a Mac costume. Excel does not output UTF-8 as the default encoding in text files (the way Mac programs do by default), and also does not care about the fact that ^M is not a proper way to end a line in a Mac world whend doing CSV export, e.t.c... The list can be made a mile long.

In my view, Microsoft should really spend less money on advertisement and just get a product that strengthens their credability. It is not sufficient to say that the developing in a cross-platform way is too difficult. OpenOffice does it, and even though I have to say that is a bit "heavier", it is much, much more stable. So often now, I switch back to OpenOffice to do the editing of a document, and then re-save in the final step in Word in order to ensure complete compatibility with word (usually the Mendeley codes), before sending it to collegues. I'm basically using OpenOffice to fix Word's bugs. This, when I am not busy sending bug reports to Microsoft... I just think someone over there should try to use their products before they ship them. Just changing something in the visual representation of a program does not mean that you have created something that should be made into a new release, fixing real problems in the product is!

iPhone and Getting Things Done™

I cannot pretend that work was the main reason for getting an iPhone, but I have to say that there are some quite good tools for increasing productivity out there. I mean REALLY increasing productivity, not just allowing you to open a Word/Power Point /Excel file on your device (with the often TINY screen) and "work on it while you are travelling". Come on! First of all, who does not have a laptop with you anyway when on a business trip? So, what is the use of timy office applications? I can't see it. Second of all, the quality of the apps are usually quite bad, so I would not use them anyway. Why replace something you already have, but now on a small screen?

There are, however, areas where I see a definite advantage of having a portable device which fits in your poctet for doing work related stuff. One is planning meetings, where complete access to your full calendar is extremely nice. Second is contacting people, and there the big and powerful adressbook is a definite plus. Both of these are obvious benefits, and included by default in the phone. I have, however, discovered a third use where a truely portable device is a definite advantage - Todo  lists. Coming into the Getting Things Done thinking strategy of organizing my life, I found that this is well supported in the way of iPhone apps. There are really simple applications which basically lets you set up todo lists, more advanced one that lets you do more GTD type of task structuring (EasyTask Manager for instance), and then (almost) complete GTD systems with online backends and a wealth of support tools.

I have been playing with two more complete systems - Toodledo and Nozbe. Both have a web interface (Nozbe a bit more pleasing to the eye) and external clients, like on the iPhone, which then syncs seamlessly to the main server. Now nice is this? I decided to stay in Toodledo because it is cheaper and offers more for me even at reasonable cost levels. Properly used, I can open the small app on my iPhone and quickly check whether there is something I could do "while I am here not being terribly busy". A quick tick in the box and achieved tasks are archived and later dismissed everywhere (but kept in a log of course) and with the ease you can enter small tasks in the system, you easilly get control over the small and big tasks in your day. Less stress, more sense of achiement, and all this in a portable format. It's all just a Great Idea.