110 Free Microsoft Tools

Bjorn Simonsen

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Mar 29, 2005, 11:15:10 AM3/29/05

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From Personal Computer World (a UK pc mag ):

<http://labs.pcw.co.uk/2005/03/110_free_micros.html>

quote:
110 Free Microsoft Tools
In our May 2005 issue, we've reviewed 110 of the best free tools
available from Microsoft. Click on the link below to download a
Zip file containing spreadsheets with clickable hotlinks to all
the utilities. These files are also included on the cover CD/DVD.
<http://labs.pcw.co.uk/files/110_microsoft_tools.zip>
/quote

All the best,
Bjorn Simonsen

Wald

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Mar 29, 2005, 11:32:26 AM3/29/05

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Bjorn Simonsen <bsus...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> http://labs.pcw.co.uk/files/110_microsoft_tools.zip

It is *so* damn unbelievable that they provide this in Excel format XLS
files. Open standards, anyone?

Regards,
Wald

Message has been deleted

Gabriele Neukam

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Mar 29, 2005, 11:48:58 AM3/29/05

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On that special day, Wald, (arnout.standaert@n-o_s-p-a-
m.cit.kuleuven.ac.be) said...

> It is *so* damn unbelievable that they provide this in Excel format XLS
> files. Open standards, anyone?

This may help:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?
displaylang=de&FamilyID=c8378bf4-996c-4569-b547-75edbd03aaf0 (one line)

or

http://www.openoffice.org/product/calc.html

if you don't mind to install a complete office suite.

Gabriele Neukam

Gabriele.Spam...@t-online.de

--
Ah, Information. A property, too valuable these days, to give it away,
just so, at no cost.

Bjorn Simonsen

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Mar 29, 2005, 12:02:01 PM3/29/05

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Wald wrote in <Xns9628BD06F957Bar...@134.58.127.12>:

>> http://labs.pcw.co.uk/files/110_microsoft_tools.zip
>
>It is *so* damn unbelievable that they provide this in Excel format XLS
>files. Open standards, anyone?

Agree of course.

(Fwiw: For those without Excel (me included): Open Office, and I am
sure many other spreadsheet apps, can read XLS...and there is also a
free Excel 2003 viewer by MS at:
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C8378BF4-996C-4569-B547-75EDBD03AAF0&displaylang=en>

if the above long url wraps, try:
<http://makeashorterlink.com/?U29D63B4A>...

warning, the Excel 2003 viwer download is aprox 10mb. The former
viewer for Excel 97/2000 is smaller (but not small) 4mb, but MS no
longer host it AFAIK. Googling for it provides several 3.party d/l
links though, among them
<http://www.cmacademy.org/db/faculty/ExcelViewerStudents> )

Wald

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Mar 29, 2005, 12:15:14 PM3/29/05

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Mel <M...@nospam.com> wrote:

>>On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 16:32:26 +0000 (UTC), Wald
>><arnout.standaert@n-o_s-p-a-m.cit.kuleuven.ac.be> wrote:
>
>>Open standards, anyone?
>
> Right Click/Quick View?

That's not the point. Read more at:

http://perens.com/OpenStandards/Definition.html
http://openstandards.org/

If you can read Dutch:
http://www.openstandaarden.be/

Regards,
Wald

Fran

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Mar 29, 2005, 12:43:55 PM3/29/05

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What exactly is the open standard for spreadsheets?

"Wald" <arnout.standaert@n-o_s-p-a-m.cit.kuleuven.ac.be> wrote in message
news:Xns9628BD06F957Bar...@134.58.127.12...

Rob Kelk

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Mar 29, 2005, 12:58:20 PM3/29/05

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On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 19:43:55 +0200, "Fran" <fran....@public.srce.hr>
wrote:

>What exactly is the open standard for spreadsheets?

XML (which is what OpenOffice uses).
--
Rob Kelk
Personal address, in ROT-13: eboxryx -ng- wxfei -qbg- pbz

omz...@gmail.com

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Mar 29, 2005, 3:36:07 PM3/29/05

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Or even download Spread32 to view spreadsheet files:
http://www.byedesign.freeserve.co.uk/

Bjorn Simonsen

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Mar 29, 2005, 3:46:41 PM3/29/05

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omz...@gmail.com wrote in
<1112128567....@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>:

>Or even download Spread32 to view spreadsheet files:
>http://www.byedesign.freeserve.co.uk/

Yes, but Spread32 is Sharware/Nagware.

Wald

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Mar 30, 2005, 1:28:59 AM3/30/05

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omz...@gmail.com wrote:

> Or even download Spread32 to view spreadsheet files:
> http://www.byedesign.freeserve.co.uk/

That's really really besides the point. XLS is a proprietary, closed
format that is only fully viewable with the proprietary commercial
product that Excel is.

Information in these file formats is inherently inaccessible, and we can
only view them because the developers of free tools (like OpenOffice,
...) have invested a lot of time *guessing* part of the file format
structure. Even if we currently have a reasonable way of viewing these
files, in principle they are to be avoided if we want the information to
be universally accessible, which after all it should be.

In this specific case, providing XLS files is even more bizarre since the
information can just as well, and even better, be presented in a simple
HTML file. HTML is an open standard and can be viewed by anyone with a
browser.

Some of you might think I'm making too big of a deal out of this, but
IMHO this is quite important (and I'm not alone). It's the same situation
that has made website development a real pain in the ass, simply because
of Internet Explorer's non-compliance to web standards.

Anyway, I hope I made some point :-)

Regards,
Wald

Wald

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Mar 30, 2005, 1:34:24 AM3/30/05

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"Fran" <fran....@public.srce.hr> wrote:

> What exactly is the open standard for spreadsheets?

*The* open standard is a bit of a strong word, but currently that would be
the OpenDocument format. OpenOffice will use this format by default in the
future, and it is already available in the current version 2 betas.

However, in this case, the information presented does not need a
spreadsheet format, it's just text and clickable links. These people should
have used simple HTML documents to store the information, resulting in
smaller file sizes and better accessibility.

Regards,
Wald

Message has been deleted

wald

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Mar 30, 2005, 2:37:52 AM3/30/05

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Mel <M...@nospam.com> wrote:

>>On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 06:28:59 +0000 (UTC), Wald
>><arnout.standaert@n-o_s-p-a-m.cit.kuleuven.ac.be> wrote:
>
>>Anyway, I hope I made some point :-)
>

> Whining here does not good,

I was hoping to make some people aware of the issues involved. But
OK, I'll stop whining for now.

> if you really want to do some good
> complain to the author of the documents.

That's obviously true, and I did send feedback to the PCW people.
Now let's wait and see if it actually does any good.

Regards,
Wald

NoWhereMan

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Mar 30, 2005, 6:11:32 AM3/30/05

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*Wald* :

They're MS's free tools... so the list is in MS's format :)

bambam

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Mar 30, 2005, 6:31:53 AM3/30/05

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wald <arnout.standaert@n*o_s-p%a|m.cit.kuleuven.ac.be> wrote in
news:Xns962961FCCB0A4ar...@134.58.127.12:

>> Whining here does not good,

> I was hoping to make some people aware of the issues involved. But
> OK, I'll stop whining for now.

You are allowed a little whine every now and then Wald. :)
It is potentially a very important subject. Keep up the good work.

Bjorn Simonsen

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Mar 30, 2005, 8:02:05 AM3/30/05

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bambam wrote in <Xns9629EF2C3444997...@127.0.0.1>:

Agree, important subject. Thanks to Wald for taking the time. May seem
like fighting windmills, but if at least one person learned something
new in this thread. And for we all we know that person may turn out
the next "open standards advocate" to make a big difference, or more
likely but no less important; will make more informed/better choices
in the future.

Egwig the Fit

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Mar 30, 2005, 8:23:04 AM3/30/05

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"bambam" <97hk...@sneakemail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9629EF2C3444997...@127.0.0.1...

Well said, Bam.

Egwig

Zo

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Mar 30, 2005, 9:58:45 AM3/30/05

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Wald wrote:

Wald,
here's a free app that you can view the xls files with. It's small, just
781.6 kb, no installation required and is a standalone. I just tried and
it works.

XLS Read Write

XLS Read Write is two native Delphi components, TXLSRead and TXLSWrite
designed for accessing microsoft Excel XLS files. There is no need for any
other files to be installed, including Excel.

With XLS Read Write can you:

* Read Excel XLS 2.1, 3.0, 4.0 worksheet files and Excel XLS 5.0, 95,
97, 2000 workbook files.
* Access all sheets in workbook files.
* Receive all text, numbers, etc. you can write in a cell, including
formulas!
* Read cell formatting information (font, cell color, border, etc.).
* Seek function for fast access to single cells.
* Write Excel XLS 4.0 worksheet files and Excel XLS 5.0/ 95/ 97/ 2000
workbook files (with any number of sheets in it).
* Easy to write formulas, just as strings: "SUM(A1:A10) / B2 +
SIN(0.25)"
* Write cell formatting (font, cell color, border, etc.).
* FAST! Write more than 100,000 cells in less than two seconds!

Name of the files is axxlsrw.zip

http://delphi.icm.edu.pl/newl/d60/f003_001.htm

The following is from the "manual file":

XLSReadWrite is free to use for non-commercial use.
For commercial usage, XLSReadWrite costs US $30, including full source
code.

Zo

--
Democracy is three wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper

John Corliss

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Mar 30, 2005, 10:22:14 AM3/30/05

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Wald wrote:

> Bjorn Simonsen wrote:
>
>> http://labs.pcw.co.uk/files/110_microsoft_tools.zip
>
> It is *so* damn unbelievable that they provide this in Excel format XLS
> files. Open standards, anyone?

Probably a stupid question, but won't the free Microsoft Excel Viewer
2003 (I dont' have it installed, so I don't know) open it?

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c8378bf4-996c-4569-b547-75edbd03aaf0&DisplayLang=en

(link may wrap)

--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls.
No adware, cdware, commercial software, crippleware, demoware, nagware,
shareware, spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez
please.

Jeff Needle

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Mar 30, 2005, 11:29:01 AM3/30/05

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"Wald" <arnout.standaert@n-o_s-p-a-m.cit.kuleuven.ac.be> wrote in message

news:Xns962956B7D25B4ar...@134.58.127.12...

I, for one, think you make a lot of sense. Given Microsoft's propensity to
co-opt market share and accessibility, it makes good sense to provide
information in a format easily accessed by all users.

This, however, likely doesn't fit Microsoft's grand plan <grin>.

Jeff Needle

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Mar 30, 2005, 11:30:37 AM3/30/05

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"John Corliss" <jcor...@fake.invalid> wrote in message
news:114lh2j...@corp.supernews.com...

> Wald wrote:
>> Bjorn Simonsen wrote:
>>
>>> http://labs.pcw.co.uk/files/110_microsoft_tools.zip
>>
>> It is *so* damn unbelievable that they provide this in Excel format XLS
>> files. Open standards, anyone?
>
> Probably a stupid question, but won't the free Microsoft Excel Viewer 2003
> (I dont' have it installed, so I don't know) open it?
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c8378bf4-996c-4569-b547-75edbd03aaf0&DisplayLang=en
>
> (link may wrap)
>
> --

I looked at it, but it's a HUGE download. Those of us on dial-up kinda
rebel against huge, resource-hogging things.

John Rampling

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Mar 30, 2005, 12:10:13 PM3/30/05

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SUMMARY for those without Excel or spreadsheet application:

Vic Dura

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Mar 30, 2005, 1:15:07 PM3/30/05

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On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 17:10:13 GMT, in alt.comp.freeware RE: Re: 110
Free Microsoft Tools "John Rampling" <Jo...@NOSPAM.com> wrote:

>SUMMARY for those without Excel or spreadsheet application:

Thank you VERY much!

--
See the A.C.F alternative FAQ at http://stalkingsheep.co.uk/antifaq.htm
In an unmoderated NG you can control what you read and what you write.
That's all you can control.

Vic Dura

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Mar 30, 2005, 1:15:06 PM3/30/05

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On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:30:37 -0800, in alt.comp.freeware RE: Re: 110
Free Microsoft Tools "Jeff Needle" <jeff....@general-net.com>
wrote:

>I looked at it, but it's a HUGE download. Those of us on dial-up kinda
>rebel against huge, resource-hogging things.

Well put.

John Corliss

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Mar 30, 2005, 5:19:51 PM3/30/05

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Jeff Needle wrote:

Well, that makes sense to me. And by the way, I agree with you that
using a proprietary format is not a good idea. However, at the bottom of
this thread, John Rampling has been nice enough to post everything that
was contained in the .xls files.

Toad

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Mar 30, 2005, 9:48:07 PM3/30/05

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Download PC 602 Suite from http://www.software602.com/products/

Free for personal use Word Processor (Word compatible), Spreadsheet
(Excel compatible), etc.

It is pretty nice if you don't have or want office.

Toad