[FYI] WTO

[Horns@t-online.de (Axel H. Horns)]

[Von plattformunabhaengigen Textformaten scheint man bei der WTO 
auch noch nichts gehoert zu haben.                          -AHH]

http://www.wto.org/wto/online/indexm_newsoft.html

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  WORLD TRADE  ORGANIZATION


                                                           WT/INF/8 

                                                           31 March
                                                           1998 

                                                           (98-1269)



                        NEW SOFTWARE AT THE WTO
                         Communication from the Secretariat


   The Secretariat will shortly be migrating to a new computer
   operating system, Windows NT 4.0, and will adopt Microsoft Office
   97 Professional Edition as its standard office applications
   software. (see note 1)  This means that all official documents,
   which are currently produced using WordPerfect 5.2 for Windows,
   will be produced in the future with Microsoft Word 97. 

   This change will have some implications for the Document
   Dissemination Facility (DDF). Delegations should note that as of 2
   June 1998, the Secretariat will be posting all documents on the
   Internet in the Microsoft Word 97 format.  There will be a short
   transition period during which delegations may experience some
   delay in the posting of these documents since the Secretariat will
   require some time to complete the changeover to the new
   word-processing software. All existing functionalities of the DDF
   will work with the new format. 

   The DDF will therefore contain documents in two word-processing
   formats:   WordPerfect 5.2 and Word 97.   Delegations will need to
   make certain adjustments to cope with this situation.  They may
   wish to upgrade to Word 97 which will enable them to browse and
   print old documents produced in WordPerfect as well as new
   documents produced in Word 97. Delegations using other programs
   will have to download "converters" from the Internet (see note 2)
   or, alternatively, to rely on "viewing programs"(see note 3).  
   These programs, while not perfect, provide a means of browsing and
   printing documents in many different formats.  

   Additional technical details can be obtained from Mr. Ian Huxtable
   and Ms. Esperanza Sesar.



   Notes 

   1.  The Office 97 Professional Edition includes Word, Excel,
   Access, Powerpoint and Outlook. 

   2.  Users of WordPerfect 8.0 will find the converter file at
   www.corel.com.  Users of Word 6.0 for Windows 3.x or Word 95 for
   Windows 95/NT will find the equivalent files at
   www.microsoft.com/office/office/viewers.asp. 

   3.  The Secretariat is familiar with two programs available from
   the following Web sites: Quick View Plus www.inso.com. and Key View
   Pro www.keyview.com.


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