朋友們，請您不要傳送 .doc 檔

Dear friend(s),

This message was automatically sent by the computer of _______. It is a revised version, since things haven't changed much yet.

______ thanks you for sharing your files with him/her, but ____ suggests you not to transfer .doc files in the future.

.Doc are closed-format files; they are readable only by the proprietary software, Microsoft Word. .Doc files are well-known active carriers of numerous viruses (e.g. Macro). People may have to use a virus-scanning program to inspect the files before they can securely open them. This adds rather a bit inconvenience.

.Doc files are also not economical - compared with a .txt file with the same content, a .doc file eats up much more harddisk space.

After all, transfering doc files presupposes people receiving them have already installed Word. But even worse, assume people to have a version of Word not lower than yours.

Microsoft Word is deliberatley designed in a way not to be 'downwardly compatitble'. This means that you cannot read the .doc files created by Microsoft Word of higher versions than yours, even the files contain only very simple text messages.

When transfering .doc files to others who cannot read them, this exerts pressure on people to buy or upgrade their Word. And often this implies upgrading their hardware too, given the memory-eating tendency of new versions of Microsoft software. In this way Microsoft (or even 'Wintel') has secured its monopolized profits by creating countless unwitting propangandists.

If not using .doc files as email attachments, what's the alternative ? If only simple text message is to be conveyed (in most cases of my experience), saving in .doc format is just an unnecessary habit. You may choose to save the files in .txt (plain-text ) format instead. You can create .txt files very easily using numerous text-editors, even Word or Wordpad - although they actively discourage you from doing so by showing 'warining messages' everytime you are pressing 'save' !

If layout of the document is to be preserved, you may save the file in '.rtf' (rich text format) when you are pressing 'save' in Word. RTF is a fairly established word processor file format that can be read by both PCs and Macs.

If simple (like boldface, line-separator,...), but not too sophisicated, layout effect is needed, it's worth trying to use html-editors (e.g. Netscape composer and many others) to create html files for attachments.

Since html is an open and public standard (not yet monopolized by a single Corporation - thanks to all people not using Internet Explorer or Frontpage), html files can be accessible by many e-mail users who are very likely to have an internet browser too in their platforms (e.g. Windows or Linux).

.Html files are mostly safe - provided that you won't switch on the scripting function of your email programs/browsers too carelessly to invite virus-infection (these viruses are mostly written in VBscript/Javascript - programming languages executable only when embedded in html).

Even you have created some visual effects using the newest version of your powerful html-generators, the textual content of your files should be readable by all netizens (provided you are considerate - like putting alternative text descriptions in all images of your documents, or adding captions and summaries to your tables. No more ablebodism, thanks.)

In any case, however, you should keep the main body of your e-mail message plain text, and do not use HTML/ MIME formated messages, because still many mail-reading programs or ways of receiving mails (e.g. telnet) can only handle plain text messages. Another common mistake is when the body of an e-mail has no text and the message you wish others to read is solely in the attachment to the e-mail. One way that works, is to copy/summarize the content of the document file in the body of e-mail message. This gives the recipient a choice.

Lastly, it takes time to download an attachment; so help others save their money (connection fee) and time (e.g. place your MEGABYTES files in a website [e.g. the free Yahoo! Club service] so that people can download them only if they want them).

If you find this message interesting, please consider sharing it with your friends, since you might have only forwarded their .doc files. You are also most welcome to comment on this message so that it can be more helpful.

Thank for for your attention.

regards,
The Computer
________