Jim,
RE: MICROSOFT VALUE
If a full version of Office 97 at retail cost, say, $ 300 back in 1997 (that's probably high), and if there's been no good reason to leave this platform for something newer, that's $ 300 to use the suite continuously from 1997 - 2003 inclusive, 6 years of Office use at $ 300, or a paltry $ 50 per year.
Use it until 2006, and that figure drops to $25. And so on, ad infinitum, until -- like the Incredible Shrinking Man, the software eventually ends up costing NIL per year to use, like a Gravely Tractor or Maytag Washer or something.
And you say Microsoft does not offer value???
Remember too that most people did not acquire Office by purchasing full versions at retail; rather, it came preloaded on countless Dell, Gateway, IBM, HP, and other desktop/notebook systems. It therefore cost the vendor, and the end-user, far less than the bargain-priced numbers I quoted above!
By the way, Outlook 97 is cumbersome as you say, but Outlook Express 6.0 is nifty and free. Most folks can do quite well without using a "full version" of Outlook, any version. The fact that "old" versions of MS Office do not employ copy protection/activation measures is, of course, another subject entirely....
Thanks and Regards,
Steven Salemi
The Computer Guru
Santa Fe, New Mexico USA
TEL: (505) 992-8462
WEBSITE: www.computer-guru.com
WEBLOG: http://blogs.salon.com/0002438/
11:24:37 AM 
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