dana shared this with us in microsoft.public.word.newusers:
Because MicroSoft only makes proprietary closed-source software, there
is no free MicroSoft software. It just does not exist. Until new facts
will show me wrong, MicroSoft and Free Software are a "contradictio in
terminis".
In fact, MicroSoft sees Free Software as a treath to its existence, and
attacks it with FUD-tactics (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt), as you can
read yourself in the Halloween documents.
If you are looking for a Free text editor and spreadsheet, try
OpenOffice (
http://www.openoffice.org). This is Free Software, is
compatible with MS Office, has more components than MicroSoft Office
(Standard Edition), and is by definition worth infinitely more than you
will ever have to pay for it, which is nothing.
PS: Did I mention I always parse "Free" as "Freedom of Speech", not as
"gratis"?
