Don't offer French grammar proofing tools to English-only users

[Ray]

I have a US English only version of Microsoft Office 2000 (my daughter has
Office 2003 Professional, also US English). At the Office Update web site,
both of us are offered a "critical update" for a French proofing tool, even
though neither of us has the multi-lingual Office option installed. I checked
my system for the files contained in the update and, as expected, neither is
present on my English-only system. In short, there is nothing to update.

I believe offering this as a critical update to non-French users is an error
that will result in some installing an unnecessary component on their
systems. But if this is indeed a "critical update" I would be curious to
understand why.

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Ray,

The French proofing tools are included in
the English language editions of Office XP
(2002 apps) and Office 2003.

It apparently has a security issue that the
update corrects. It will likely also be
rolled into the next Office 2003 Service Pack.

As you have the CD that includes the option to
install that feature, the update is offered to
provide the 'change' to correct the flaw should
you decide to install it at some point. Installing
first (with a problem) and later finding out about
an error condition would likely be less desirable

============
I have a US English only version of Microsoft Office 2000 (my daughter has
Office 2003 Professional, also US English). At the Office Update web site,
both of us are offered a "critical update" for a French proofing tool, even
though neither of us has the multi-lingual Office option installed. I checked
my system for the files contained in the update and, as expected, neither is
present on my English-only system. In short, there is nothing to update.

I believe offering this as a critical update to non-French users is an error
that will result in some installing an unnecessary component on their
systems. But if this is indeed a "critical update" I would be curious to
understand why. >>
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

Office 2003 Editions explained
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/editions.mspx

 

[Ray]

Thank you for the prompt reply.

I think I understand your point, but it seems contrary to the idea of live
updates. The expected behavior (for me, at least) is to offer updates for
components I actually have installed, not ones that I may install in the
future (that could be a very long list). To take the logic further, if I do
install the French proofing tools later, I would expect to be offered this
update at that time, and not before it is installed.

But I may be in the minority here, and I can always choose not to install
any particular update. In this case, I see no need for French proofing tools
on my system and will probably pass on this "update."

Thanks again for sharing your insights.