News

Office Users in a Fix Due to Update Issues

February 7, 2006

Big corporate houses using the latest Office versions of Microsoft are in a dilemma over the installation of new updates. A patent infringement judgment against the company last year has made it obligatory for the users to install a new software patch or a service pack update.

Last year a District Court jury in California found out that the primary code used in Access 2002 and 2003 breach on the patent of a Guatemalan inventor. Though Microsoft has appealed against the court ruling, there is no guarantee that the company would be able to revoke the judgment. Microsoft has thus appealed to users of Office 2003 with Access to install the Service Pack 2 update that it has developed immediately following the ruling. While installing a patch is required for the new users of Office XP and Access.

The move of Microsoft has been rebuffed from many quarters. For small time users, installing a patch or an update is not a big issue. But this can be a major headache for large corporate houses that use Microsoft Office big time. The extensive testing of the software and the lengthy deployment process would be a major stumbling block in the installation of the patch for the companies.

Kevin McGrew, CEO of TechTrack Solutions Inc., an asset management consultancy in Vancouver , British Columbia said that most of the companies that use these versions of Microsoft office wouldn't heed to Microsoft's instruction. Unless there are security reasons involved, the companies may not install a software patch or an update.

Source: computerworld.com