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Office 2003 Required

By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Tue Jul 27, 2004 at 12:25:04 AM PDT

It's just a little thing -- or is it? A reader recently wrote in about an annoying experience he had trying to get information from Microsoft's website.

"I needed to know how to solve a problem we were experiencing in Outlook, so I went to Microsoft for help," wrote the reader. "After drilling down I found what looked like a link to a solution for our problem. Upon clicking on the link a page appeared and said that since the machine I was using did NOT have Office 2003 installed, that content was not available to me. I should go out and buy a new Office suite and upgrade to it and then I could have access."

The Microsoft "Buy Office 2003" page he was redirected to informed him that "you have arrived at this page because you selected an item that is available only if you have a Microsoft Office 2003 Edition ... To read and work with premium content provided specifically for the 2003 release of Microsoft Office- including all training courses and some templates, clip art, and more- you need to upgrade to a new Microsoft Office System product."

The reader's company had Office 2003 on some of its computers, but he didn't happen to be using one of them. "Now I have to go start up the laptop with the 2003 version on it, connect it to the network and return to that page before I can get the information I need," the reader wrote. "This is Microsoft's idea of customer service. It seems that with each new edition of Office, Microsoft finds ways to make its customers less productive and really irritated. I guess they are afraid that I might be 'stealing' that information to use on a pirated copy of Office. But if I used a pirated copy, it would probably just give me the info anyway. The more I have to interact with Microsoft, the better Linux looks."

Interestingly, it looks like even those with Office 2003 may have trouble getting to the restricted content. According to Microsoft's trouble-shooting page, visitors need to have enabled the Active-X control on their browser and have their security set at medium for their Office 2003 installation to be detected. Of course, in the wake of the Download.ject attack, we know those settings are just asking for trouble.
< EULA Satires | Constitutional DRM: Part II >


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Office 2003 Required | 403 comments (403 topical) | Post A Comment
Some answers do not need the KnowledgeBase[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#1)
by RocDoc on Tue Jul 27, 2004 at 07:10:00 AM PDT

This issue is not too uncommon in my experience. However, I've been known to let the Internet, via search engines, help me with the answers I seek. May I offer a quote from a story recently posted on Tom's Hardware website (http://www.tomshardware.com/business/20040726/open_source-02.html#technical_support):

"While Windows does have the TechNet knowledgebase, a repository of technical support documents, it is often not complete. A decently worded Google search will usually find the answer to your problems, whether it is with Windows or with Linux."

Microsoft appears to be making every attempt to market their new and "upgraded" products to their existing customer base. One of Micro$oft's pet peeve's, according to Microsoft's own Steve Ballmer, is the customer's desire to NOT upgrade from Win98, Win2K, and Office 2K to Windows XP and Office XP or Office 2K3. Steve has been quoted as saying that Microsoft is going to have to take action to convince the customer to upgrade to the newest release of the product. It appears that this is just one attempt to persuade the customer to upgrade.

Of course, to us, this is guerrilla warfare tactics, otherwise known as FUD. I personally don't appreciate it. However, I am resigned to it, until a competing version of software is released that provides me with similar capabilities and content, and is supported in a more "customer friendly" way. Example, I've disabled IE and OE in favor of Mozilla's FireFox and Thunderchicken (yeah, a cute little barb, but what the hey!)

Let's just say that I'm not surprised at the 900 lbs. gorilla, acting like a bully, trying to "strong-arm" me and other consumers into purchasing their product. Remember AT&T? Broken into "Baby Bells" and now just a legacy of times past. Can Microsoft's fate be similar if it continues these methods and tactics of "sales"?

[ Reply to This ]


Office 2003[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#11)
by Anonymous User on Wed Jul 28, 2004 at 08:57:00 AM PDT

Don't you mean GORILLA warfare?

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


Gorilla? Guerrilla?[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#17)
by Anonymous User on Thu Jul 29, 2004 at 11:00:45 AM PDT

c'est la gor!

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#56)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 06:55:17 PM PDT

出会い系出会い系サイト出会い喫茶出会い掲示板ナンパ出会いカフェ人妻出会い無 009;系サイト優良出会い系攻略 完全無料。アダルトビデオアダルト動画アダルトアニメアダルト画像アダル 488;サイト無料DVDアダルト風俗サンプル無料風俗優良アダルトサイト比較海 806;。人妻画像人妻パラダイス知合い人妻援護会人妻コレクション風 439;告白。熟女画像東京熟女掲示板動画熟女ビデオおまんこオナニー。エロ画像エロフラッシュアニメ 456;ロ動画エロゲームエロ漫画無料エロサイト。エッチ画像エッチ動画エッチ小説写真エッチ 450;ニメエッチ0930。セックスアナルセックス画像セックス動画セックスフレンドスワッピングSEX写真セックスボランティセ 483;クス体位東京セックス仕方 SEX。おっぱい画像おっぱい村長おっぱい楽園掲示板お 387;ぱい命おっぱいゲーム。巨乳動画巨乳画像アイドル巨乳 522;示板風俗。セフレ募集セフレ掲示板セフレ画像掲示板セフレの作り方出会い無料素人セフレ。童貞狩りエロ漫画童貞狩り童貞喪失童貞オークション素人童貞逆援。不倫パートナー不倫出会い人妻不倫不倫を楽しみたい方にはお薦め 154;妻画像など満載出会いサイトを楽しむならココ無料出会いで一緒に遊ぼう出会いはLOVEｱｹﾞｲﾝで決まり

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fgbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#82)
by Anonymous User on Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 12:10:12 AM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


gbvv[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#105)
by Anonymous User on Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 09:36:40 PM PDT

,fff,fff^出会,,

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


gfdd[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#128)
by Anonymous User on Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 09:39:16 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fgkk[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#151)
by Anonymous User on Sat Oct 25, 2008 at 10:05:15 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fdmm[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#174)
by Anonymous User on Mon Oct 27, 2008 at 01:22:21 AM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fbvd[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#197)
by Anonymous User on Mon Oct 27, 2008 at 11:50:47 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


dgff[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#220)
by Anonymous User on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 12:09:55 AM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


ffgb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#244)
by Anonymous User on Fri Oct 31, 2008 at 11:26:30 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fkoo[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#265)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 12:38:14 AM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


okmm[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#288)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 11:24:54 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


mkoo[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#311)
by Anonymous User on Tue Nov 04, 2008 at 07:14:41 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


gfbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#334)
by Anonymous User on Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 07:23:54 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fvbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#357)
by Anonymous User on Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 08:49:21 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


ggfd[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#380)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 12:05:06 AM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fgbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#403)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 11:52:09 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


it is a little thing[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#2)
by Anonymous User on Tue Jul 27, 2004 at 04:29:23 PM PDT

I don't get why people think it is a problem to have Microsoft say that if you want help with office 2003 that you must have office 2003. That sounds reasonable to me. It is possible that (at least some of) the help and add-ins could be destructive to earlier versions. It is also possible that (for technical reasons) features in the 2003 version are needed to acquire this assistance and add-ins. Obviously they are doing something more than just displaying text in a browser if they want to use ActiveX.

You quoted the troubleshooting site to say "visitors need to have enabled the Active-X control on their browser and have their security set at medium for their Office 2003 installation to be detected." What it really says there is that "you need to enable the ActiveX control". One way to do that is to have your security settings set to medium. Another way is to make that site a trusted site. They are not telling you that you have to open your entire system to all the world. Isn't it reasonable for them to ask you to let them help you? They want to provide automated assistance. But you have to allow them to. Trying to help is a good thing.

I think that Linux support organizations will someday offer automated assistance and that they too will have a difficult time providing it for all possible installations of Linux. It will be reasonable to say if you want help with kernel or distribution X then you go here and if you want help with kernel y then go some other place. If you want the help that will interact with your computer you will have to allow it and you will have requirements on what must be installed for that help to function.

When I take my car in for repairs I do not refuse to leave them the keys. Also when I take my car in for repairs some places have different doors based on what you want to have repaired. Some say tire, some alignment, others tuneup... I have to take my car to the appropriate place.

If I want them to work on my fiat I don't take them my Chevy and expect them to apply the fix to the Chevy and I will transfer it to my fiat. In most cases that will be impossible.



[ Reply to This ]


Aliens work at Microsoft[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#6)
by Anonymous User on Tue Jul 27, 2004 at 06:59:36 PM PDT

Perhaps they are doing tricks, but I would expect to find plain english answers to obvious questions at the Microsoft site. I sometimes think that their weird logic is the best evidence that aliens are here on earth (and that they used to work for IBM). Seriously, Microsoft is always the last place I look for information on a Microsoft related problem. Always do a Google search first.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#50)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 06:54:39 PM PDT

出会い系出会い系サイト出会い喫茶出会い掲示板ナンパ出会いカフェ人妻出会い無 009;系サイト優良出会い系攻略 完全無料。アダルトビデオアダルト動画アダルトアニメアダルト画像アダル 488;サイト無料DVDアダルト風俗サンプル無料風俗優良アダルトサイト比較海 806;。人妻画像人妻パラダイス知合い人妻援護会人妻コレクション風 439;告白。熟女画像東京熟女掲示板動画熟女ビデオおまんこオナニー。エロ画像エロフラッシュアニメ 456;ロ動画エロゲームエロ漫画無料エロサイト。エッチ画像エッチ動画エッチ小説写真エッチ 450;ニメエッチ0930。セックスアナルセックス画像セックス動画セックスフレンドスワッピングSEX写真セックスボランティセ 483;クス体位東京セックス仕方 SEX。おっぱい画像おっぱい村長おっぱい楽園掲示板お 387;ぱい命おっぱいゲーム。巨乳動画巨乳画像アイドル巨乳 522;示板風俗。セフレ募集セフレ掲示板セフレ画像掲示板セフレの作り方出会い無料素人セフレ。童貞狩りエロ漫画童貞狩り童貞喪失童貞オークション素人童貞逆援。不倫パートナー不倫出会い人妻不倫不倫を楽しみたい方にはお薦め 154;妻画像など満載出会いサイトを楽しむならココ無料出会いで一緒に遊ぼう出会いはLOVEｱｹﾞｲﾝで決まり

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fgbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#76)
by Anonymous User on Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 12:08:13 AM PDT

,ff,,,f*f不倫

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


gbvv[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#99)
by Anonymous User on Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 09:34:24 PM PDT

,fff,fff^出会,,

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


gfdd[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#122)
by Anonymous User on Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 09:37:01 PM PDT

出会,,,ff,,素人

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fgkk[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#145)
by Anonymous User on Sat Oct 25, 2008 at 10:03:23 PM PDT

,fff巨乳熟女

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fdmm[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#168)
by Anonymous User on Mon Oct 27, 2008 at 01:20:21 AM PDT

,ffff"f,,ff,,童貞

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fbvd[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#191)
by Anonymous User on Mon Oct 27, 2008 at 11:47:05 PM PDT

童貞,f*ffff`

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


dgff[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#214)
by Anonymous User on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 12:07:15 AM PDT

,ff,,出会,,,f

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


ffgb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#238)
by Anonymous User on Fri Oct 31, 2008 at 11:23:28 PM PDT

不倫熟女,fff風--

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fkoo[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#259)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 12:36:15 AM PDT

,ff,,SEX逆援

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


okmm[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#282)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 11:22:41 PM PDT

不倫童貞ff',

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


mkoo[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#305)
by Anonymous User on Tue Nov 04, 2008 at 07:14:09 PM PDT

人妻,f*f,ff,,

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


gfbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#328)
by Anonymous User on Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 07:23:03 PM PDT

,fff^,f熟女

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fvbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#351)
by Anonymous User on Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 08:48:43 PM PDT

人妻,fff不倫

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


ggfd[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#374)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 12:04:17 AM PDT

,fff^SEX逆援

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fgbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#397)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 11:51:38 PM PDT

童貞,f人妻

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


Not so little for Tech support[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#7)
by wantobe on Wed Jul 28, 2004 at 03:19:18 AM PDT

I agree in principle with most of your points, but only being able to get help for MS Office 2003 if 2003 is installed on the computer you're using to access the sight makes IT's job harder. Being able to download patches and updates to a server and install them on the machines that needed them would have been a big plus and would have made my job a lot easier.

Remember, the guy Ed wrote about just wanted to read the documentation on the problem, and MS blocked him from that. There's no benefit to MS doing that other than trying to force companies to upgrade across the board. Many smaller companies simply can't afford the ridiculously high prices MS wants for bloated, bug-laden software that oftens causes IT headaches for months during the initial roll-out.

People don't upgrade Office anymore because of some "must-have" feature included in the new version. They upgrade in the (often vain) hope that some annoying behavior(s) have finally been fixed. There's no compelling reason to upgrade from Office 2000, or even Office 97 for that matter, to Office 2003. There may be some cool bells-and-whistles that, if they work properly, might be nice to have, but there's no killer feature that makes an upgrade imperitive. MS knows this, and they know that IT shops are figuring this out, so they're resorting to other means to force upgrades.


Rob Miles
--
There are 10 kinds of people in the world; those who understand binary and those who don't.
[ Parent | Reply to This ]



I agree[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#22)
by shantanuo on Fri Jul 30, 2004 at 05:23:23 AM PDT

I, too really don't see any reason to upgrade. But Microsoft is using every trick to force the users to use the latest releases.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#37)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 06:52:34 PM PDT

出会い系出会い系サイト出会い喫茶出会い掲示板ナンパ出会いカフェ人妻出会い無 009;系サイト優良出会い系攻略 完全無料。アダルトビデオアダルト動画アダルトアニメアダルト画像アダル 488;サイト無料DVDアダルト風俗サンプル無料風俗優良アダルトサイト比較海 806;。人妻画像人妻パラダイス知合い人妻援護会人妻コレクション風 439;告白。熟女画像東京熟女掲示板動画熟女ビデオおまんこオナニー。エロ画像エロフラッシュアニメ 456;ロ動画エロゲームエロ漫画無料エロサイト。エッチ画像エッチ動画エッチ小説写真エッチ 450;ニメエッチ0930。セックスアナルセックス画像セックス動画セックスフレンドスワッピングSEX写真セックスボランティセ 483;クス体位東京セックス仕方 SEX。おっぱい画像おっぱい村長おっぱい楽園掲示板お 387;ぱい命おっぱいゲーム。巨乳動画巨乳画像アイドル巨乳 522;示板風俗。セフレ募集セフレ掲示板セフレ画像掲示板セフレの作り方出会い無料素人セフレ。童貞狩りエロ漫画童貞狩り童貞喪失童貞オークション素人童貞逆援。不倫パートナー不倫出会い人妻不倫不倫を楽しみたい方にはお薦め 154;妻画像など満載出会いサイトを楽しむならココ無料出会いで一緒に遊ぼう出会いはLOVEｱｹﾞｲﾝで決まり

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fgbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#63)
by Anonymous User on Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 12:01:26 AM PDT

,ff,,,f*f不倫

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


gbvv[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#86)
by Anonymous User on Thu Oct 23, 2008 at 09:25:36 PM PDT

,fff,fff^出会,,

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


gfdd[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#109)
by Anonymous User on Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 09:33:21 PM PDT

出会,,,ff,,素人

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fgkk[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#132)
by Anonymous User on Sat Oct 25, 2008 at 09:54:29 PM PDT

,fff巨乳熟女

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fdmm[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#155)
by Anonymous User on Mon Oct 27, 2008 at 01:15:39 AM PDT

,ffff"f,,ff,,童貞

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fbvd[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#178)
by Anonymous User on Mon Oct 27, 2008 at 11:40:09 PM PDT

童貞,f*ffff`

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


dgff[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#201)
by Anonymous User on Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 12:01:43 AM PDT

,ff,,出会,,,f

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


ffgb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#225)
by Anonymous User on Fri Oct 31, 2008 at 11:16:16 PM PDT

不倫熟女,fff風--

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fkoo[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#246)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 12:31:10 AM PDT

,ff,,SEX逆援

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


okmm[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#269)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 11:15:14 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


mkoo[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#292)
by Anonymous User on Tue Nov 04, 2008 at 07:11:42 PM PDT

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[ Parent | Reply to This ]


gfbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#315)
by Anonymous User on Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 07:21:41 PM PDT

,fff^,f熟女

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fvbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#338)
by Anonymous User on Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 08:46:04 PM PDT

人妻,fff不倫

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


ggfd[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#361)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 12:01:35 AM PDT

,fff^SEX逆援

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


fgbb[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#384)
by Anonymous User on Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 11:49:09 PM PDT

童貞,f人妻

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


A better car analogy[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#18)
by Anonymous User on Thu Jul 29, 2004 at 11:39:28 AM PDT

Here is a more accurate car analogy: I go to a Honda dealer and ask to buy an oil filter for an Accord. He takes one look at my car, a VW Beetle, and refuses to help me.

"If you want to buy Honda parts, you must drive a Honda car."

"The filter is for my wife's car."

"It doesn't matter. We can only sell parts to verified Honda owners."

Jerking around your customers like this will not make you any friends....

[ Parent | Reply to This ]



Problems with your car analogy[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#24)
by Anonymous User on Fri Jul 30, 2004 at 08:31:54 AM PDT

The difference is that when you go to the dealer you are looking to "BUY" an oil filter. If a Honda dealer had said that if you buy you car from us we will give you free oil filters for life. Then I think it would be reasonable to ask that you show proof that you did buy the car from them and it was covered by that deal.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#40)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 06:53:18 PM PDT

出会い系出会い系サイト出会い喫茶出会い掲示板ナンパ出会いカフェ人妻出会い無 009;系サイト優良出会い系攻略 完全無料。アダルトビデオアダルト動画アダルトアニメアダルト画像アダル 488;サイト無料DVDアダルト風俗サンプル無料風俗優良アダルトサイト比較海 806;。人妻画像人妻パラダイス知合い人妻援護会人妻コレクション風 439;告白。熟女画像東京熟女掲示板動画熟女ビデオおまんこオナニー