Microsoft Office!

[TBSN]

I want to get office for my new XP computer, and I was about to, until I downloaded and installed the trial for Office 2007. Wow, things have changed. A LOT.

Does anyone use Office 2007? (I'd only be using the "standard" package, mostly word.) Is there a previous version that is still available that looks more... um, normal?

I guess I could get used to the new interface, I was just a little surprised at how different they made everything. I looked at Academic Superstore but it seems they only have the 2007 version...

Maybe I will use- dare I say it- a word processor besides microsoft Word...

 

[fredhe12]

I still use Office XP and it's fine by me. Our entire office, except for me, has been switched over to 2007. I've heard comments ranging the gamut from loving it to wishing they never changed it. From what I hear, it's pretty good.

 

[Homerboy]

2007 is wonderful, as long as you don't mind change. While it is DIFFERENT than previous incarnations of Office, that doesn't make it WORSE. You simply have to get used to the new layout changes, usage, functionality etc. Once you get past that learning curve 2007 is fantastic.

 

[Aznguy1872]

office xp is good. from my experience, I didn't like 2007, its so different.

 

[Nizology]

I like Office 07. The tools bar along the top is extremely useful. Although prior versions had similar functions, 07 is much more streamlined.

 

[lxskllr]

Give OpenOffice a try. I have MS Office2003, and prefer it by a small amount, but if I didn't already own that I'd use OpenOffice. I'm not a hard core office app user, so some features may be lost on me, but OO does a very good job, and you can't beat the price.

 

[TBSN]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
2007 is wonderful, as long as you don't mind change. While it is DIFFERENT than previous incarnations of Office, that doesn't make it WORSE. You simply have to get used to the new layout changes, usage, functionality etc. Once you get past that learning curve 2007 is fantastic.

Well, I don't mind a change, as long as it's good when you get used to it! So, just out of curiosity, the version that came before 2007 was called Office XP?

Originally posted by: lxskllr
Give OpenOffice a try. I have MS Office2003, and prefer it by a small amount, but if I didn't already own that I'd use OpenOffice. I'm not a hard core office app user, so some features may be lost on me, but OO does a very good job, and you can't beat the price.

Thanks for the alternative suggestion. I'll check that out too

I guess I was just shocked when I saw the 2007 GUI, with the circular file menu button and all the colors

 

[BlueWeasel]

Actually, I think Office XP came out in late 2001 or 2002 and was the successor to Office 2000. Office 2003 came out in, well, 2003, and was the version prior to 2007.

 

[Schadenfroh]

I have not tried Office 2007, I am just content with Office 2003. How I :heart: Outlook 2003. But, I will have to urge you to get used to the new office 2007.... it is the future, shame Microsoft did not allow for a "Classic Mode" to give it an Office 2000 feel.

 

[A5]

Openoffice is essentially a free/open source Office 2003 clone...if you want the old interface, use that. I like the Office 2007 interface, but I don't have the bank to pay for it.

 

[WildHorse]

I have both

MS Office Professional 2007

and

OpenOffice.

I got the MS Office free for attending an MS event. Otherwise I'd just stick with OpenOffice.

MS Office is nice to have IF you have some way to acquire it inexpensively, such as through a university discount, etc. Otherwise, I think it's very overpriced. I wouldn't have paid for it.

OpenOffice is breathing down MS's neck, progressively getting closer & closer to being a true full clone of Office. OO does everything I need to do.

MS's advantage was the lengthy legacy of trained customers. Prospects for having to relearn a different brand was an impediment for users switching over to OpenOffice, which admittedly still has more clumsy menus.

MS has imho made a big marketing blunder by totally redesigning the user interfaces in Office 2007, requiring re-learning by Office users. It defeats the training-legacy advantage they had.

Since users are faced with a re-learning curve to master the very expensive new MS Office 2007, why not switch now, over to free OO? It seems like a good time to make the change.

I'd bet MS's gui redesign will cause a lot of long-time Office customers to jump ship to OpenOffice.

 

[Schadenfroh]

MS Office is nice to have IF you have some way to acquire it inexpensively, such as through a university discount, etc.

For anyone who might be interested:

MSDNAA for students (heavily discounted MS software), I love this (being a computer science major, it is practically free, although it depends on your university, iirc).

People who are employed, checkout the Microsoft WAH (work at home) program. My father purchased MS Office Pro through it for < $30.

I'd bet MS's gui redesign will cause a lot of long-time Office customers to jump ship to OpenOffice.

Or just continue using the MS office versions that they are familiar with. I know a couple of people that are still using Office 97 for their home office.

 

[duragezic]

Office 2007 is ******* awesome. I never liked 2003 and stuck with 2000 at home for a long time.

Well, I've only used Word 2007 and Excel 2007 a lot, but they are MUCH better than any previous versions IMO.

Yes, the UI is laid out differently, but not that much. There was hardly any learning curve. I don't know why someone who need weeks and/or training to use it. It was very intuitive and quick to pick up for me. Most things are in a better place so I can do common formatting and other tasks in Word much faster with 2007. Excel took a little longer, but that was probably because I was using it for more intensive things that I hadn't had to ever do in the past.

And OO sucks IMO. I have never been able to get used to it since using older versions years ago to quite recent ones. An awesome effort by them; I'm really glad that free, open source software can compete with the giant Office, but it just isn't for me.

 

[WildHorse]

Or just continue using the MS office versions that they are familiar with. I know a couple of people that are still using Office 97 for their home office. - Schadenfroh

The darn thing is, the MS Office 97 Small Business Edition that I own and used for years won't play on WindowsXP.

Unfortunately, Microsoft forced people to re-buy Office for use on WindowsXP.

So those people still able to use their Office 97 for their home office very well might still be using some OS like Windows 98.

 

[stash]

I'm 99% sure that Office XP is no longer in support. I'm not sure why you would be considering a product that is two product revision old. 2007 is a great product, but if you really can't stand it, Office 2003 would be a much better choice than Office XP.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

I used Office 2003 since it first came out. I have been using the Office 2007 trial (mostly Word, Excel, Outlook) for about two months now. I think if you are an intermediate-level user, there is no real learning curve. It's fairly intuitive and unless you are a novice computer user who is averse to change, it should not be a deal-breaker. For instance, my Dad (a technophobe) has trouble finding his way around the new interface but it shouldn't be a problem for the average ATer.

Yeah, you could say I'm an Office 2007 fanboy.

 

[TBSN]

Well I'm a student, so I'll be getting MS Office 2007 Standard for about $140-ish if I remember correctly from Academicsuperstore.com. Unfortunately my school isn't part of the MSDNAA, but whateva, its not so bad.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: scott
Unfortunately, Microsoft forced people to re-buy Office for use on WindowsXP.

So those people still able to use their Office 97 for their home office very well might still be using some OS like Windows 98.

I was able to install and use Office 97 Pro (SR2) on another XP (32bit) Pro PC here.

Screenshot

 

[WildHorse]

I was able to install and use Office 97 Pro (SR2) on another XP (32bit) Pro PC here. -Schadenfroh

Ha Ha!

When I moved from W98 to WXP years ago I couldn't do what you did there.

Good for you!

 

[Lord Banshee]

IF you are not going to use office to make money then you have the right to buy the Office 2k7 home and student version that is limited to 3 PCs for only 140 dollars... They sell it everywhere, i got mine at wal-mart. Comes with Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote.

BTW i think office 2k7 is greatly improved from office 2k3.

 

[bucwylde23]

I LOVE Office 2007, but 2003 is very good as well.

Office 2007 is a bit strange at first but after using it for a while, I realized how much better it really is. The new ribbon toolbars are awesome, I love it.

 

[Hadsus]

Originally posted by: TBSN
I want to get office for my new XP computer, and I was about to, until I downloaded and installed the trial for Office 2007. Wow, things have changed. A LOT.

Does anyone use Office 2007? (I'd only be using the "standard" package, mostly word.) Is there a previous version that is still available that looks more... um, normal?

I guess I could get used to the new interface, I was just a little surprised at how different they made everything. I looked at Academic Superstore but it seems they only have the 2007 version...

Maybe I will use- dare I say it- a word processor besides microsoft Word...

My company is changing over to Office 07 in the fall and I just ordered my copy. I'm surprised this replaced the old office so quickly. Anyway, I think the time is now to go ahead and take the leap.

 

[AgentDib]

I think 2007 is clearly better. Whether that margin is greater than the added expense and having to spend a few hours tinkering with it depends on you, however.

 

[Hurricane Andrew]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
2007 is wonderful, as long as you don't mind change. While it is DIFFERENT than previous incarnations of Office, that doesn't make it WORSE. You simply have to get used to the new layout changes, usage, functionality etc. Once you get past that learning curve 2007 is fantastic.

Exactly.

Why not download the Office 2007 30-day trial? It sure can't hurt.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Does anyone one know if Office 2007 still has the 65,000 record limit in Excel? This is really annoying when working with large databases. There is a work around by using an add-on but still......