Problem reading Word 2003 document

users
#21

Same with me in LO 3.6.3.2 and Ubuntu 12.10.

Don

#22

Hi :slight_smile:
Yes, the 3.6.4 is due to be released sometime between 3rd Dec - 9th December.  I'm not on the devs list so i have no idea whether this one is likely to be earlier or later within that time-frame.   Here's the schedule
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Release_Plan

Note that the 3.7.x branch is being renamed 4.0.x branch.  Apache are releasing a branch of AOO numbered 4.0.x but for most things it wont be as advanced as LibreOffice yet.  The one things they might have is better Accessibility for screen-readers and such but everything else is more developed in LO.

@ Chris
We normally have 2 branches going at the same time.  One stable branch and one with shiny new features.  'Obviously' adding shiny new features and improving things dramatically runs a risk of introducing unexpected problems.  So the 'older' branch which doesn't have all the newly added features focuses on just solving bug-reports and streamlining things a bit.  Most of those fixes will be "ported" to the newer branch.

It's about the same with most software.  MicroSoft have "Bug-fix Tuesday" or "Patch Tuesday" (or something like that) but they eventually wrap those up into "Service Packs".  Many corporate users avoid their newer releases until MS have released Service Pack 1.  With LibreOffice the equivalent of "service pack number" is the 3rd digit.  So 3.6.3 shows it's the 3.6.x branch and has reached the equivalent of Service Pack 3.  So whereas with MS Office you install the program and then hunt around for service packs with LibreOffice you get the service pack wrapped up in the initial install.  So, the older branch has generally got as far as "Service Pack 4" when the new branch is released.

It's always good to try out the newest release of the newest branch just to see how well it works, what new features are there, see if MS compatibility has improved and generally play around and ask the list questions to flag upo issues that might only be happening on your particular unique hardware.  Chances are that other people may also suffer the same problem later and if we find out what the new problems are early on then we can try to find fixes.

However, many of us have machines that need to be dependable with minimal IT support so for those it's best to stick with the older branch once it's reached at least "Service Pack 4".  It is possible to have 2 versions of LO on one machine but it takes a bit of figuring out so some of us constantly race to install the newest branches newest release as soon as it comes out, then play around with it, post bug-reports and if it's usable stick with it.  If not then just go back to the older branch again.

It's free to install on as many machines as you like as many times as you like and you can keep the installer as long as you like so it's fairly easy to reinstall.

With older software reinstalling gets the program "back to factory defaults" but with OpenSource software, all the settings are stored in a "User Profile" so that a reinstall or upgrade picks up on all your previous settings.  Which is brilliant and saves a LOT of time when you upgrade often but confuses people that are only used to older software.  It does also make it easier to "get back to factory defaults" by just renaming the User Profile so that LO can't find it and creates a new one.  It's a much faster way of decluttering and clearing out all the odd Extensions and settings that might be causing weird things to happen.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#23

Hi :) 
The people saying it worked on their machine, running a particular OS and a fairly specific version of LO were trying to help pinpoint exactly where the problem was.  Unfortunately it sometimes confuses noobs because it sounds like we are being unhelpful and rejecting the idea that LO doesn't work.  However it is quite the contrary.  We all appreciate that weird things happen in any software and if we can quickly find out exactly when things go wrong in LO (and when they don't) then we can usually fix the problem or find a work-around more quickly.

We are all noobs at something and have all been noobs with LO at some point and all use LO in different ways so being a noob is not a bad thing.  Far from it.  It means you are pushing yourself into new areas and may well find new things about it that longer-term users haven't really noticed but that could be fixed now given all the improvements oif the last couple of years.  A definite plus for LO.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#24

Hi :slight_smile:
Here is a link to help with that
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/UserProfile
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#25

Hi all,

According to my own experience, it is truly some regression problem in
the version 3.5.7.2 to open the document "
http://beachware.org/Dec12.doc ". It cannot be improved by using a new
profile.

Thanks and Regards

Michael

Tom Davies 提到:

#26

Hi :slight_smile:
Thanks for chasing this one down.  It might be worh posting a bug-report about it if you have the time.

Now that it is so specific the triagers will have an easier time of it deciding how to process it.  I suspect that if a subsequent release does not suffer from the problem then they will just close it but if the problem then re-emerges again in another future release then the devs have a history of the problem making it easier for them to fix. 
Thanks and regards from
Tom :slight_smile: