it will be the closest thing to writing a document on WordStar in 2018
Hey, let's not knock Wordstar. I wrote my first novel using it. When I got married, my wife and I made our own wedding programs using WS, a clip-art CD that cost $10, and a big font variety CD that cost $8. Granted, 20+ years ago, but WS did EVERYTHING that Word and WordPerfect could do at that time. We had to copy the pages and hand-assemble stuff, but EVERYTHING worked and we had a custom booklet for our guests that cost maybe about $50 materials and software for 200 copies. Not only that, we were able to exactly match the font face, density, and size of the commercial invitations that we bought, and I used a laser jet printer so the booklet contents looked great on the high-grade paper. Say all you like about its venerable age, but WordStar worked GREAT for me at the time that I needed it.
But think about it, the people using software like that its not my age, its old timers not wanting change, whether they're the owners, or the old it guy or the 80 year old accountant...
No, YOU think about it. People drag their feet because they have to stage their products according to their CASH FLOW. You want to change to new software? It costs money to do that and businesses aren't ALWAYS replete with cash. First, over 80% of all USA businesses count as "small business" - the Mom and Pop grocery or the Entrepreneurial pastry chef or the small neighborhood plumbing contractor, etc. They are not making money hand over fist, as the old phrase goes. They hope they can keep their people employed for another month. Access serves SMALL BUSINESSES who can't afford the expensive and continuous update cycle foisted on them by Microsoft and its relentless update cycle.
So... what are they to do? Running a UNIX doesn't avoid the continuous update cycle. Remember, I worked for the U.S. Navy for 25+ years. I saw the security notices that came out every other week. Windows, UNIX, and Apple systems ALL were vulnerable to some degree. As far as expenses go, though, I can tell you from personal observation in the world of commercial programming (which I did before I started my Navy work) that the REAL cost isn't the O/S - it is the development cost of the custom software that caters to your business needs.
When you talk about something going away, that ignores that for the businesses in question, it CANNOT go away without making the business itself go away. Because THEY CANNOT AFFORD the redevelopment cycle you discuss, NFK. You are IGNORING the reality of cash-strapped businesses that struggle to keep the bank balance from bottoming out just before payday.
NFK, you are intelligent enough to recognize many factors, but you are showing a big streak of ignorance as well. Economics drives business. Continual software upgrades eat away at the bottom line where you HOPE to have a positive balance after taxes. Making a huge investment in software only to have someone say, "Oh, that's going away in x years" is enough to make people go crazy. But THEN - starting that replacement anyway because you know you MUST do it? Only to find that NO OTHER PRODUCT does what Access does at this time? Now you have folks ready to retire to the Poconos or jump head first into Mauna Kea.
And worse - when they realize they went to a new O/S (non-Windows) that will require retraining for all of their support staff,... that retraining costs money they didn't have to spend in the first place.
If this is your idea of business economics, you have a lot to learn. I hope you actually DO go into business for yourself and come face to face with this issue. I don't want anyone to fail in business, but it would be great if your attempt ran into a speed bump before you finally started succeeding. You might gain a better appreciation of the other side of the coin on the issues that you are currently pushing.
