ms word vs html ?

dugan at passwall.com dugan at passwall.com
Tue Oct 1 01:00:50 PDT 2002


(Comments below)

On Mon, Sep 30, 2002 at 08:17:59PM -0700, augie wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> i am trying to convice one of my profesors that we should not use both
> ms word and html to document a project, and in fact we should not use
> ms word at all.

Iprefer html to .doc. :-)

> below is what i sent to my prof. the response was agreeable but
> somewhat hesitant. so i'd like to collect some more evidence in my
> favor.
> 
> so i am looking for evidence, examples, proof, of why an open standard
> like HTML is better than a proprietary one like ms word. and more
> specifically why html is a better fit than ms word.
> 
>  -augie
> 
> >it seems like an unnecessary duplication of effort to document
> >something in both word, and html. chapter committees will have to
> >produce their work in both formats instead of just one, and the two
> >seperate editors will have to coordinate their work so that they are
> >in sync with eachother.
> >
> >all this seems unnecessary since an html format can do everything
> >(and
> >more) that the word format can do. an html document can be printed
> >from a browser just like a word document is from word.

I disagree. HTML is more of a markup language, while many doc format
files with MS word are closer to a layout system with more accurate
control on where things will appear for everyone when they look at it.

Also, MS Word does better with multi-language support *especially* when
printing within Windows and having access to canji or symbolic chars.
I see MS word "doc" format with layout is a "solution" to a different
question than HTML looks to solve.

> >plus an html document is more advantageous than a word document
> >because it is accessible to everyone from anywhere on the network. a
> >word document is not.

People can, however, code HTML with browser-centric/unique code and
effectively make a document that is not portable too. :-(

> >furthermore, and this is where i go off on my opensource tangent,
> >because HTML is an open standard its contents will always be able to
> >be viewed and changed at any time in the future. the same cannot be
> >said for MS word format. the word format changes with each new
> >release
> >of word, so that in the future your new version of word may not be
> >able to understand your old document, and you could possibly lose all
> >your data entirely.

Adding for this: When a user does not have MS Word installed, wordpad
will try to show you what is in the word doc. I experienced a rather
amusing side effect of looking at a MS Word generated cos in wordpad
since I did not have MS Word, and found that data was missing!

Other plusses for HTML over MS Word:
MS word costs money and students often dont have much.
There are more viruses build against MS products than any other product
 on the market. If the web server offers windows shares, a worm could
 infect ms word files with a macro virus (assuming worm has a viral
 payload) and then virus infected files are now on the web.
Expecting students to anti-virus software is yet another cost.

With SSU shifting to Linux as a core course, more CS  students will use
it. MS does not make Word for Linux. (Ignore cross readers.)

Plusses for MS Word (other than those mentioned):
a number of businesses force applicants to only submit MS Word document
format resume.

Since MS Word is so common, it would be professionally prudent to know
how to use and use MS Word. (Obvious feedback loop here and not sound
logic as a primary reason, but mentioned anyway.)

There is strength in being resiliant when you know how to use more than
one tool. :-)

Again, I prefer HTML over .doc.

-ME

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GCS/CM$/IT$/LS$/S/O$ !d--(++) !s !a+++(-----) C++$(++++) U++++$(+$) P+$>+++ 
L+++$(++) E W+++$(+) N+ o K w+$>++>+++ O-@ M+$ V-$>- !PS !PE Y+ PGP++
t at -(++) 5+@ X@ R- tv- b++ DI+++ D+ G--@ e+>++>++++ h(++)>+ r*>? z?
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
decode: http://www.ebb.org/ungeek/ about: http://www.geekcode.com/geek.html



More information about the talk mailing list