Solved Are any updates issued to encourage us to buy new programs?

[TheDog]

Hi, I Would like to inquire about Microsoft update policies. I know there are security updates, as well as general updates to programs and the operating system. The security updates I have no problem with. I wonder about some of the other updates though.
Is it possible that some of these updates are issued to make your older versions of, for instance, Office (Office 2010) seem to loose luster so that you will replace them with something newer, or should such questions be relegated to realm of conspiracy theories, bigfoot, and the aboginable snowperson?
It is easy to see the value to a company if they can make your old stuff less usable so that they can sell you something new. Question is, would they be so unscrupulous as to do that?
If they were to do such a thing, would simply not downloading the updates to a system that is working just fine be an acceptable way to approach the problem, so long as you installed the security updates?
I do of course recognize that I could just be picking up glitches with time. Thanks for your attention to this concern.
The Dog

 

[andrew129260]

Trust me, if that happened more than a few users would notice.

A lot of us would.

I personally doubt it.

 

[Layback Bear]

If that was the case we all would be hearing screams and hollower from all over the would.

Now one could say when Microsoft stops updates on a old operating system or Office programs they are trying to get you to buy a newer operating system or Office product.

When a car manufacture extended warranty has reached it's end and the Sales Person recommends buying a new car; it's still your choice what to do.

 

[TheDog]

Thanks for the response to both of you. It eases the worry a lot, and it makes sense. Thanks again. The Dog.

 

[jadinolf]

I'm still using Office 2000 and MS Picture-It! 99 and Microsoft has never pestered me.

On Windows 7? Yep

 

[TheDog]

Hey jadinolf, I hear what you say about Windows 2000. My little used desktop is running Windows XP and it still works as well. I guess I really must have been imagining abominable snowpersons lying in wait behind every chip and hard drive. The Dog

 

[jadinolf]

Hey jadinolf, I hear what you say about Windows 2000. My little used desktop is running Windows XP and it still works as well. I guess I really must have been imagining abominable snowpersons lying in wait behind every chip and hard drive. The Dog

Yep, but in this case it's Office 2000. Works fine on Windows 7.

I was also told that Picture-It would not work on 7. I darned near cried because that program is just like me---Simple.

 

[TheDog]

Hi again, I should assume that you have searched and tried things to get picture-it to work. In case you have not though, this link to a thread at answers.microsoft.com details some ideas, though some of them are somewhat tedious perhaps.
Microsoft Picture It incompatability with Windows 7 and alternatives - Microsoft Community
The Dog

 

[jadinolf]

Hi again, I should assume that you have searched and tried things to get picture-it to work. In case you have not though, this link to a thread at answers.microsoft.com details some ideas, though some of them are somewhat tedious perhaps.
Microsoft Picture It incompatability with Windows 7 and alternatives - Microsoft Community
The Dog

It does work fine for me with the exception of one thing which I learned to live without.

That is the placing of type on the picture. When I try that, the program crashes. I had the same problem with XP.

I now go here if I need to do it: roflbot - add text and captions to your pictures

I will, however read what your link has to say. Thanks.

 

[jadinolf]

Forgot to mention that I also have installed Quicken Basic 99.

Only thing is I cannot register it. I guess the procedure has changed over the years.

No big deal.

 

[TheDog]

Quicken, as I understand, is a finance program? Having recently finished classes in all of Excel, PP, and others, I did a years worth of finances on a spreadsheet, and noticed a most alarming problem. I spent more time installing bells and whistles, with complex formulae to process data in various ways then I did keeping the basics straight. The end result was that at the end of the year my simplest of data appeared hidden behind a vast forest of nebulous datasets, all wonderously presented almost as if they had been designed to obscure the truth. Perhaps, short of using a database one would gain many benefits from a personal finance program.
Will hope that I don't go over the line in drifting off thread, though I see you are a senior member so I shall suppose that you are following the proper guidelines.
I looked at your site, roflbot, it looked really cool. I have always used PowerPoint to do such things, though it has limitations.
Anyway, thanks for the inputs.
The Dog
I notice, looking through this post that Microsoft's spell checker leaves a little to be desired!

 

[jadinolf]

Yes, Quicken is a finance program and I have several more modern versions of it. Much more than I really need. I just keep track of my checkbook - nothing else. Suits my needs perfectly.

I have very few needs.

 

[matts6887]

I tend to agree with a lot of the others here. You probably would hear hollering from all over the world if Microsoft stopped doing updates etc for a program just to get ya to buy the newer version. i mean yea its ones own choice as to whether or not to spend the dough to upgrade; so if someone chooses not to do it; then so be it.