To upgrade or not to upgrade...

A debate has raged on the ABA's legaltech mailing list over the last few weeks concerning software upgrades. The entire debate started when someone posted a message asking for advice about upgrading. It seems that the office being upgraded is still running DOS and an old version of WordPerfect. They are upgrading to Windows 95, and were trying to figure out if it was better to start using Word for Windows 95 or WordPerfect for Windows.

The debate raged with people providing comments on the two different programs. Some people love Word for Windows 95. Some people hate it. The WordPerfect fans and critics chimed in, with accolades and criticisms of both WordPerfect for Windows 6.1 and the new version 7 (for Windows 95). By and large, the comments relating to both programs had to do with the approach each program employed for creating documents, the number of features built it, the capability of the macro language, and how well the programs ran on a pentium with various amount of RAM. For those people living in a vacuum, there is little else to consider.

Let me suggest that the priorities here are all wrong. If you are upgrading, the first and most important factor to determine is what will work with your user base. If you have a large secretarial pool that does nothing but type letters all day, then the last thing you want to do is force them to learn how to use a new word processor just because it has a nifty new macro language that nobody will ever use. Try to evaluate your user's needs, not the features of the programs. And if you're working with a consultant, ensure that the consultant is sensitive to the user's needs, too. If your staff knows one word processor well, then it would be wise to find a newer version of that program which maintains the same basic commands and keystrokes. A more drastic shift will cost you in retraining costs and lost time as your staff struggles with the new software.

I would also suggest that just because you're running Windows 95 doesn't mean that all of your software must be Windows 95 software. To some, this may be a radical concept. Let's face it, Windows 95 was designed with backward compatibility in mind. It can run Windows 3.1 and DOS programs relatively well. Thus, if your staff is using a DOS version of a word processor, it is possible to continue using the same program under Windows 95. Or you could move to a Windows version of the program while maintaining consistency for your staff. And when moving to a Windows version, you could use a Windows 3.1 version if you feel that it is faster or has fewer bugs than the just released Windows 95 version. Unless your staff is doing some serious program multitasking, it is unlikely that you'll ever need the multitasking capabilities which exist in many Windows 95-specific programs.

Upgrading software for your office while considering only the features in the new software is like playing with fire. Getting burned is not just a possibility, its inevitable.

Quote for the month...

Seen in someone's e-mail signature block on the Internet: "The arrival of the paperless office is about as likely as the arrival of the paperless bathroom."

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Samuel Lewis is an attorney practicing Computer/Internet Law and Intellectual Property Law with the firm of Romanik, Lavin, Huss & Paoli in Hollywood, Florida, a member of the Florida Bar's Computer Law Committee, and the creator of COMPLAW^SM . He can be reached at 954-922-4656 or via e-mail: <slewis@CompLaw.com>. The URL for the COMPLAW^SM web site is http://www.CompLaw.com.

Copyright © 1996, Samuel Lewis. All Rights Reserved.

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