Even if one day MS-Office becomes free, should people use it forward to compose and store their business documents and electronic writings?
May be yes, may be not.
Ensuring the format (and the content) of the file would readable forever across any device and across any tool that people had is more important than having the tool itself. This fact is very similar to the fact that the content of our harddisk, or the address book of our handphone is more important than the computer, laptop, nor the handphone itself.
These crucial areas are exactly where Microsoft Office tools up to this far seems so weak and screwed up big time. Until today, MS-Office has not shown any real intention of storing their office files and office document in content format that is open, comply to global standard (so called ODF -- Open Document Format), hence would enable people to read, own and see their files from whatever device, computer, working tool, and operating system they had. As such: unless you use things on Windows, your files won't be readable as perfect as it should had.
In such retrospect, the 91% discount attraction that Microsoft offer to students feel more like a 'dope' for a wrong cause, rather than something that is magnificently excellent. This looks like something that 'feels free' for those students today .. yet only that it will cost them later ... at the end, when their files 'get trapped' into a tool and format that only belong to a closed, proprietary standard.
It is exactly in this area where MS-Office need to be improved. Without such, the 91% discount is simply feels like a 'dope', to a wrong cause.
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