Office 2010 ballot screen for default file format, OOXML or ODF
February 22nd, 2010 admin
[From Neowin.net - Revealed: Office 2010 ballot screen for default file format, OOXML or ODF]
Similar to the browser ballot, Microsoft is now considering a ballot to select the default file format. Microsoft has been accused of using its control of Microsoft Office to push its OOXML file formats. This appears to be an effort to provide a more balanced choice for users.
Microsoft announced the ballot screen prompt plans for Office 2010 in August 2009. The software giant issued a “Public Undertaking” which documented the changes Microsoft agreed to make to Office 2010. “Beginning with the release of Office 14 (Office 2010), end users that purchase Microsoft’s Primary PC Productivity Applications in the EEA in both the OEM and retail channel will be prompted in an unbiased way to select default file format (from options that include ODF) for those applications upon the first boot of any one of them,” read part of the statement in August 2009. The beta versions of Office 2010 did not include the ballot screen but recent Release Candidate builds have introduced the prompt.
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In an email to Neowin, Marino Marcich, executive director of the ODF Alliance said he believed the ballot screen falls short in several areas. Comparing it to the browser ballot screen for Windows 7, Marcich said: “Microsoft offered the EU a ballot screen that gave the browser choices in randomized order, with an unbiased message, including a link for further information provided by the vendor. But the file format ballot screen gives OOXML the first position. It gives a biased description of ODF, listing the liabilities of Microsoft’s ODF implementation while failing to state any of ODF’s advantages.”
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Another default setting sets the program to automatically connect to the network when the application starts up. This ensures that file sharing starts immediately.
A third default setting treats users with fast computers and Internet connections as an “ultrapeer.” An “ultrapeer” helps other users download faster, but demands a greater load on the user’s computer.
All three of these default settings are used to promote file sharing. However, these are not the only defaults in Limewire. Limewire uses default settings for filtering search results by specific words, adult content, or file types. This setting affects free speech, essentially censoring certain Websites from its users.
Other default settings define the community of file sharers. Limewire has a default setting to share files only with people who are sharing files. Users can set the minimum number of files an uploader has to share. This feature defines the community’s boundaries. It can exclude “freeloaders” or people sharing only a few files. Limewire sets the default to one file and, thus, effectively allows everyone (including “free-loaders”) to share files. 
Finally, there is a default affecting social communication determining whether the chat feature is on or off.
Limewire’s use of defaults demonstrates how defaults can affect a wide variety of issues. As a matter of policy, defaults are good for a number of reasons. First, defaults provide users with agency. Users have a choice in the matter: They can go with the default option or choose another setting. Second, a default setting guides the user by providing a recommendation. However, there may be situations where users do not need or should not have options. We discuss these situations in more detail later, but the key point is sometimes we do not want to give a user choices.