I strongly agree with the idea of not using MS Word for composing E-mail messages for the reason Ross mentioned.  I would take the issue a step further by asserting there is rarely justification for using any HTML editor for posting to mailing lists and newsgroups.  All e-mail programs I have seen have the option of composing in plain text, the most compact form for a message and readable by all other e-mail programs.  I strongly recommend using that option.  Your message will get through and the recipients will not miss the fancy fonts.

I also again urge editing quoted text in replies to retain only the parts necessary for understanding the reply.  This reduces the size of the messages and makes them much easier to read.  Several messages in the current Conch-L Digest are good examples of the need for such editing, as they include the entire text of more than one previous message, even with multiple copies of  this footer that the LISTSERV adds:
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> From:          J. Ross Mayhew <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject:      Re: CONCH-L Digest - 28 Nov 2006 (#2006-394)
>
> As has been pointed out by Mr. Caro, Microsoft products will create
> *hugely bloated*_**_ "pseudo-HTML" code - so they are useless for the
> times when one wishes to do anything economically along these lines. So,
> you need an application which produces "clean", sparse coding in order
> to post to the list.

Cecil Bankston

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