Office 2003 beta gift

[FlishFun Veteran]

I have to admit, because of the hurt caused to other beta testers I really don't want to have my Nickname as Redmondian anymore. Got to change it. Something that is more "me" and not what I "do". :|

Wow... you seriously thinkin' about changin' your nick?? Didn't realize how much you felt about this.

Here's my take, I would have loved (and was looking foward to) a copy of Office 2003. I don't have a company to order for, and I don't have that much money. But you know, I don't mind them sending me a radio. I like knowing that it's something that only us Beta-Testers will have. Maybe that's just me, though.

[Winston]

Well they should of emphasised on the word "mini"

you kids will be recieving a mini gift

[i3iz]

i dont care about the $5 dollar crap radio...

but i beta tested server 2k3 and didnt get a gift, adn you are saying that i should have got the full version.

this is a good reason to be ****ed.

come on a carabeaner/radio? lame...unlike everyone else in this thread, i am a poor college student, and i did do it for the free software, what now? told me so? sucks!!!

[FlishFun Veteran]

Hey, stop flaming! Yeah, i'm annoyed with this 5$ radio too, and I agree cannhawk's posts. I tested Office 11 and 2003 too, and now I will got a crap radio. DON'T THINK THAT I'M TESTING FOR GIFTS! I'M NOT, BUT! I said, i tested Office 11 and 2k3 a lot, and it's unfair from MicroSux.

Hmmm... you know, you'd think a Beta Tester woild know that Office 11 was Office 2003. :rofl: :whistle:

[i3iz]

All ya who got the crappy radio... were you beta 1 or 2 testers... usually only the beta 1 guys get the full version for free

beta 1 tester, beta 2 tester and beta 2 tech refresh tester, as well as windows server 2k3. and i all i got was a beaner w/ a built in radio...

[tajddin]

I don't know if anyone's posted a picture of the gift yet, but I have one here that was taken with my, might I add, very poor quality web cam. I was in both the first and second beta.

[scumdogmillionaire]

whine whine whine...

grow up people. i beta tested and don't care.

i bought office 2003 anyways!

no where does MS say "if you test this, you'll get a full version when it's done." so to the kid saying "this is a good reason to be ****ed..." no it's not.

as for the poor college student... you can't go work at mc donalds for a week and buy the student edition? come on... grow up. mommy and daddy aren't going to pay for everything after college, get used to it now!

as for everyone else... don't waste the slots on betaplace. if you're expecting something in return... just don't. you're lucky to get the radio. i don't give beta testers of my software 'gifts.' just a nice "thank you."

[tajddin]

Hmmm... you know, you'd think a Beta Tester woild know that Office 11 was Office 2003.  :rofl:  :whistle:

He/she may've been referring to Windows Server '03.

[FlishFun Veteran]

He/she may've been referring to Windows Server '03.

True, just the way he said it sounded like he meant Office 11 and Office 2003. That's all. lol

[berz]

I've been in various Microsoft betas since the Chicago days and if memory serves me correctly, I have always seen a statement in every program (whether on the newsgroups or in the printed literature) that says, in essence, "Microsoft may choose to send out gifts to beta testers, including but not limited to, full copies of the final finished product. Under no circumstance should this be expected, and is totally at Microsoft's discretion." Sounds very fair to me - the way I see it, anybody who participates in a beta has advance knowledge of a product - an upper hand, if you will, in the current market. With competition in this field being what it is, being familiar with a product some 6 months to a year before its official launch can make the difference as to whether or not you get that contract/job or that promotion. Quite frankly, I think it's a win-win situation. I also find that Microsoft takes its betas far more seriously (in terms of releases and communication) than many other companies out there. But, then again, Microsoft owes us the world and can do no right.

[bryce_56]

Well I guess alot of us are dissapointed (me included) but posting bad things won't get us a full version. I guess those who are all about gifts will be mad and stop beta testing. As for myself even though I am disappointed I will move forward and continue to beta test because the main reason I got into it was to test software before anyone else and report bugs. Cheer up life goes on :D

[cannhawk]

Sorry if I upset those of you on King Billy Gates payroll :devil:

MicrOsuck will make millions off of Office 2003

$ 5.00 crap radios costing M$ maybe .75c

[werejag]

as for everyone else... don't waste the slots on betaplace. if you're expecting something in return... just don't. you're lucky to get the radio. i don't give beta testers of my software 'gifts.' just a nice "thank you."

it called being fair, something microsoft has shown that it cant be.

the only fair thing is a copy of the product we help beta test. i for one sent some time to get bugs and problems documented to get fixed, my time, not to be given freely to a company that doesn't care about customers like microsoft did.

this is a small price to pay. for quality testers.

[tomwarren Veteran]

Microsoft doesn't value beta testers purely cause it selects the wrong people. Look at everyone on Office, it was a shambles and I doubt they'll be selecting the same people that tested Office 2003 over the people that tested Office XP. I remember reading utter crap in the newsgroups and wondering why people were selected to be on such a beta.

As for the gift, as I've said 1000s of times in various threads about the damn gift - it was rubbish as I think anyone not caring about it would have guessed anyway.

[Redmondian]

it called being fair, something microsoft has shown that it cant be.

the only fair thing is a copy of the product we help beta test. i for one sent some time to get bugs and problems documented to get fixed, my time, not to be given freely to a company that doesn't care about customers like microsoft did.

this is a small price to pay. for quality testers.

I thought your comments were quite fair. And yes, it's all about being fair, something I think Microsoft wasn't at the concusion of this beta.

[Eggitha23]

i'd like a count of how many people who are bitching and moaning about not getting the free version are running a warez copy anyway...

sh*t... throw the radio in the trash and shut the f*ck up you spoiled little rats...

stop with your "i am ENTITLED... ME ME ME... its all about more for me..." attitudes.

no one will shed a tear for you. there are people getting blown up right now... farmers in asia who make a hundred bucks a year.... i don't feel for any of you in the least...

[werejag]

Eggitha23

your comments make me ask. why are you in a computer forum when you could be serving your country and putting you mouth to good use.

simple respect for beta testing is all we ask. the " use us and throw us away attitude" we are getting shows why people are leaving for open source today.

[Redmondian]

Actually I've just had a thought, the quality of the gifts at the conclusion of the beta can be directly proportional to the end product. I mean, except for Outlook 2003, there is nothing in Office 2003 that would make me spend the money to upgrade to the newest version.

The launch of Office 2003 Microsoft Australia did was very poor, the Australian Office 2003 Product Manager really didn't sell the product very well. I'm starting to think that Office 2003 is a little like the Windows Me that the Windows Product Team came up with.. Pretty poor.

As for beta testers running a shambles in the ng's. I can't comment, I never posted in the Office 2003 ng's. But there was a distinct lack of innovation / features / improvements - whatever, it's a pretty poor product and definately not the product I was hoping it would be. Also, the product lead and the general microsoft code monkeys behind Office 2003 just didn't care about customer suggestions and views. This beta / product is definately a case of "we are the microsoft office team", "we know better what you want".. "We're too lazy to really innovate, even though our management makes a big song and dance about how innovation is important to us..."

Microsoft is a monopoly in the Office software market and Office 2003 is the result.. Same old with no support for older MS Operating Systems and a few superficial changes.

Overall I am not proud of the product I've worked on. It's a poor effort.

[mikey1001]

i'd like a count of how many people who are bitching and moaning about not getting the free version are running a warez copy anyway...

sh*t... throw the radio in the trash and shut the f*ck up you spoiled little rats...

stop with your "i am ENTITLED... ME ME ME... its all about more for me..." attitudes.

no one will shed a tear for you. there are people getting blown up right now... farmers in asia who make a hundred bucks a year.... i don't feel for any of you in the least...

That's nice to see your deep concern for the "people getting blown up right now and farmers in asia who make a hundred bucks a year". What exactly are doing to help them? I doubt you're a hypocrite, but just in case you are, I'll be happy to give you the addresses of reputable organizations that help those people in dire straits where you can volunteer your time and donate your money. Just ask and I'll be glad to help you out.

Seriously people, calm down about this. Yes, it was an insult from MS to the testers, even though they did not promise anything, I like to show gratitude towards people that give of their time to help me out, so most people thought the same would come from MS to the people that gave of their time, but it didn't. Oh well, we can all take that into consideration in the next round of testing if we want to give months of our installing, formatting and reporting, and the occasional long distance calls to the beta team, all for a cheap trinket. Some will say f*ck that, while others will give it another shot just because they like to play around with new works in progress. Too much arguing is taking place about a cheap piece of plastic made in Taiwan.

[tomwarren Veteran]

Lol you've cleared missed the point. Exchange 2003 is greatly improved, OneNote is a whole new product, InfoPath is a whole new product, Live Communications Server is a whole new product. How can you say that it's the Win ME of Office? As for the suite itself there are a whole range of improvements to not only Outlook but Word (research task pane, IRM, XML). Although they're not major improvements I wouldn't expect any until Office 12 anyway. Office System 2003 is MUCH better than XP. If anything i'd say Office XP was the ME of Office's since it was ugly, buggy and didn't intergrate well into new applications that interacted with it.

[Redmondian]

@ mikey1001

(Y) Well said.. I'm going to shut up now.. I've vented enough.... :|

[Redmondian]

Lol you've cleared missed the point. Exchange 2003 is greatly improved, OneNote is a whole new product, InfoPath is a whole new product, Live Communications Server is a whole new product. How can you say that it's the Win ME of Office? As for the suite itself there are a whole range of improvements to not only Outlook but Word (research task pane, IRM, XML). Although they're not major improvements I wouldn't expect any until Office 12 anyway. Office System 2003 is MUCH better than XP. If anything i'd say Office XP was the ME of Office's since it was ugly, buggy and didn't intergrate well into new applications that interacted with it.

@ creamhackered

I don't use Exchange 2003 - I work in a Novell / Groupwise environment.

OneNote seems to be directed towards tablet pc's. I don't have one, can't afford one.

InfoPath is just too bulky for what is does for me.

So being someone who concentrates on the core Office Apps like Access, Word and Excel I can say that (excepting XML support) there is nothing new for me or the corporation I work for.

Office XP has been very successful in our environment and yes, we are deploying Office 2003 next year (in 2004! - I hate how Microsoft puts year xxxx on their products as they seem to age too quickly) and I hope that is proves to be as reliable and stable as Office XP has been for us.

As for prettiness.. Office 2003 is fricken ugly.. All the toolbars "bulging" out like it were a pr0n star release of office and not a serious productivity suite.

That's it..

[robsleezy]

no one else got office 2003 Boxed i got all this, sadly i dont have a digital cam but a scanner does the job... LOL :D :D my **** came with Fed Ex

[i3iz]

as for the poor college student... you can't go work at mc donalds for a week and buy the student edition? come on... grow up. mommy and daddy aren't going to pay for everything after college, get used to it now!

first off i pay for college myself. it is 27K a year, plus my rent in LA, my car payment, insurance etc... and since it is a private college it does not get funding from the government (some private colleges do, ours doesnt). Also i am a design major, and my PC is my gaming computer. I have no need to upgrade my office components on it, i am going to give the copy to my dad so he doesnt have to buy it, so it is not like it was going to me. at any rate, i think you missed the mark, by a lot. Just cause your mom and dad buy you crap while you attend Jr High doesnt mean everyones parents pay for everything. grow up!

we are free to say/type/or write whatever we want generally speaking.

[hunter1234]

I got my gift today. it's a pocket radio/ compass.

EDIT: A gift is a gift... i don't care. it was fun to have the privilage of using it before it was out [legally!].