I believe MS attributed the problem with the Toolbox to how they used "grouped
windows" and that they didn't play well with Spaces. MS claimed it was an
Apple bug, and (finger pointing aside), it appears to have been fixed.
Well, they didn't/couldn't claim that it was ONLY an Apple Bug
You are correct, it was a bug in the way Word handled grouped sheets (I
think it was sheets, not windows, but I could be wrong). The Toolbox is not
a "single" widget, it's a stacked group of separate parts. This one
clobbered Word because the other applications did not use that mechanism.
Microsoft certainly had some issues with their code, which they fixed ‹ I
believe they issued the fixes in update 12.1.0. However, Apple also had
some work to do: OS X was not doing exactly what it said on the tin when
Spaces was active.
Microsoft therefore had its fixes out quite early, but we have since been
waiting for Apple to do their bit. It would appear they have now done so.
And to answer CyberTaz's comment about "sneaking in through the back door."
There's an old saying (which, ironically, I use for MS frequently) that goes:
"Do not attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by
stupidity." In other words, don't think that Apple is trying to pull a fast
one; it could be that a fix in a totally different area may have inadvertently
fixed the problem with Office's Toolbox window design. Who knows? Personally,
I'm not worried about it.
Mmmmm.... I began in the Mainframe era of computing, where a company was
expected to publish exacting detail about precisely WHAT was different about
any patch, update, or new version they released.
These days, I suspect that the "Security" that is being discussed in a
"Security Patch" is largely the job security of the corporate lawyers at the
software vendor.
I agree that fixes in an unrelated area of a complex product often have
side-effects. These are carefully tested for in a professional development
company (e.g. Apple or Microsoft...). So I find it impossible to believe
that they did not realise that they were making this change.
And being a Grumpy Old Curmudgeon, I also believe that a "Security Fix"
should not change ANY functionality AT ALL. Otherwise, you trigger the need
for every user corporation to fully test and re-qualify their entire desktop
build, including all of their line of business applications, each time you
put one out.
In most corporations, such testing requires a staff of five or ten people
and can take six months. Which is one reason viruses carve such a swathe
through corporate PCs every time a new one comes out: many corporations are
up to three years behind in their testing, so the patches don't get rolled
out!
Software developers who hope to sell into the corporate space rapidly learn
not to do this, because their valued customers are likely to ring up and say
very rude things...
But we can all applaud Apple for finally providing the fix
Cheers
--
Don't wait for your answer, click here:
http://www.word.mvps.org/
Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.
John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:
[email protected]