I’m still having my discussion with Benjamin. And as his blog currently does not allow comments (I get a Server Error in ‘/’ Application.), I’m just posting the response here.

In the original posting, Benjamin advised against using LaTeX in favor of Microsoft Word.

Now we’re talking about one of the points I made about the past of Microsoft Word. I got burned severly by that software, so I see no need to try it out again (it’s a comment to the original posting if you want to read it).

Hi Benjamin,

Thanks for your response. You write:

Microsoft has committed terrible mistakes when Windows 9x and many of the earlier Office versions have been released to the public. These mistakes created a quality perception which is haloing into current product generations. Even highly educated people are subject to such halo effects, that’s exactly why, if positive, they are a powerful tool in, say, brand management (Just look at Apple).

Every customer is subject to that effet, and I'm glad they are. Even when it plays against Software I favor such as Linux. There this "problem" also happens ("oh yes, I installed Linux 6.2 a while ago - it sucked"). The problem is I expect everybody to release his products in a polished and working form unless it has explicitly been marked as RC, Beta, Alpha, or things like that (but I know that the bug-free software is not going to happen anytime soon). So when I have been burned a few times I just stay away for a while. And the problem with Microsoft Software is, I can't just try it out to test if it has improved. It's too expensive for such experiments.

And btw, this is not about Microsoft for me. For example I had the change to check out Windows 2000 and was thrilled by it. It was only later that I switch to Linux. My main reasons were learning and cost. As an apprentice I simply did not have the money to buy their software. And now I have it even less so, because I'm no longer eligible for student licenses. I mean I just paid CHF 500 for a Windows XP Home edition.

And as we are drifting too far away from the original topic, and both of us still believe the other to have to wrong opinion in the matter Word vs. LaTeX ;-), let's rather stop the discussion here.

PS: This posting is in English because the discussion is.