Much has happened with regards
to the Office 97 Service Release 2b (SR-2b). When we last
wrote, the latest Service Release had been withdrawn,
mainly because of a hugely misleading and hastily created
web site.
The original Web site for the new patch "SR-2b" was the
same as for the earlier SR-2a - the company had merely
changed all references from "a" to "b" with apparently no
effort to ensure that the pages where still relevant in the
new circumstances. And a cursory reading by anyone
familiar with the Service Releases would have revealed many
problems.
Microsoft has acknowledged that the way SR-2b was made
available and the Web site where "unfortunate" - which is
the closest you'll see Microsoft come to an apology.
Indeed "unfortunate" is Microsoft's word of the week - it
was regularly repeated to us as the troubles of SR-2b
unfolded.
SR-2b is a misguided and poorly managed attempt to combine
the existing SR-2 patch with some Y2K patches. Microsoft
wanted to release a Y2K update CD that had a "one click"
update to Office 97. ("One click" is PR speak for a single
patch) What they produced instead was a continuation of
the Office 97 Service Release debacle that, despite claims
to the contrary, does not meet the 'one click' criteria for
real world customers. Only in the idealistic fantasies of
Microsoft managers is it a simple and easy solution. Far
from a single click - the Sr-2b patch makes things more
difficult for Office 97 customers - not easier.
In case anyone is left at Microsoft who thinks this is an
isolated case, in the same week that SR-2b reappeared the
company released another Excel 97 patch which had to be
fixed when the installation process proved to be faulty.
The SR-2b patch has been released with a proper
accompanying Web site
here
with the file called sr2bof97.exe (23MB) - this is the same
patch as was available last week but now it's called SR-2b
at least on the download page. Alas Microsoft has chosen
not to make it easy for customers to tell what is installed
on their computer.
The Version Checker utility that is supposed to help
customers identify which version of Office 97 they have
will not be updated to allow for SR-2b, the Help | About
screens remain the same and the VBA properties that are
designed to identify the software version are also
unchanged.
This issue of WOW is mainly devoted to explaining the
tangled web that Microsoft has weaved for Office 97 users.
If you think it's confusing - join the club. It's bad
enough for individuals, spare a thought for managers in
large companies who are trying to keep a track of hundreds
or thousands of computers.
Many regular WOW readers will get a horrible sense of deja
vu reading this issue - that's because many of the SR-2b
problems are continuations or repeats of earlier Office 97
update problems.
Office 2000 users may think they've escaped this nightmare
by upgrading - think again. The same people responsible
for this mess are responsible for Office 2000 updates. Be
afraid, be very afraid.
Copyright 1999 Pinecliffe International and Peter
Deegan. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in
part in any form or medium without their express written
permission is prohibited.
