ActiveWin.com: Microsoft Office 2007

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Activewin have just posted a twenty-two page review of the new Microsoft Office 2007. In the review, he covers the new interface (Ribbon) and improvements, as well as the core products: Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Outlook. In addition, he has included over 84 screenshots of the different features of the product. Here is an excerpt:

Sometime in January 2007, Microsoft will launch the release of Microsoft Office 2007. The suite will be available in eight editions, Basic, Home & Student, Standard, Small Business, Professional, Ultimate, Professional Plus and Professional Enterprise. This new version is Microsoft’s most radical departure in years, interface wise and offers new features and familiar tools that are sure to have users mesmerized and perplexed at times. If one was to investigate the current Office user base they would be surprised to find users running versions of Office as far back as Office 97. I have encountered one case where a seamstress is running Office 95 and Windows 95 and doing just fine with both I might add. But for many companies the user base is primarily saturated with versions 2000 and XP with some just planning or completing their move to version 2003 over the next two years. So, where does this leave Office 2007 if so many Company’s and users are what you would describe as contented with older versions of Office?

View: Full Article @ Activewin

#1 +guylaroche on 16 Nov 2006 - 15:37

Thanks

(2 replies) #2 Hexter66 on 16 Nov 2006 - 16:00

I think this is the best version of office I have used so far, runs nice and fast on my computer, I got the enterprise edition and upgraded from 2003

#2.1 Rowain on 16 Nov 2006 - 17:31

Ditto. Office 2007 has made my work so much smarter, and all the features you could possibly want to access when you select a certain part of a document (or spreadsheet, or database table, or whatever) is just a click away. It has helped me become far more productive as I don't have to navigate endless numbers of menus to get to where I want anymore.

#2.2 Hexter66 on 17 Nov 2006 - 10:20

Quote - Rowain said @ #1.1

That the main thing I like about Office 2007 they got rid of all the clutters which was in 2003 and replaced them with a ribbon which is alot better and cleaner. I also like the fact that it has a blogging function and is compatible with wordpress, blogger and others. I use wordpress and I find alot better than copying and pasting also the spell checker is alot more accurate then the earlier versions.

(1 reply) #3 Galley on 16 Nov 2006 - 16:05

I'm not sure if I'm gonna wait for this to come out on the Mac next year. By then I'll be using iWork '07 which is rumored to have a spreadsheet application included. The whole ribbon concept in Office 2007 however, is brilliant. GoBeProductive has been using a similar interface for nearly 10 years.

#3.1 antsy on 16 Nov 2006 - 23:52

Is mac office completely separate?

#4 ambiance on 16 Nov 2006 - 17:07

I'm sold on XML compression and I am sure there will be many other things as well.

(1 reply) #5 Harsesis on 16 Nov 2006 - 18:39

What build number is office 12 final ?

#5.1 xeed on 16 Nov 2006 - 18:44

12.0.4518.1014

(1 reply) #6 HeartMan on 16 Nov 2006 - 18:50

In Powerpoint, are the media files finally embedded the file or do you still have worry about keeping track of them, too?

Thanks,

HeartMan

#6.1 tiagosilva29 on 16 Nov 2006 - 23:48

The media files are embedded in the Office files.

Presentation1.pptx ppt media image1.jpeg

#7 xxdesmus on 16 Nov 2006 - 18:56

Good review, but I feel like they should have mentioned the great connection wizard in Outlook 2007. If you setup a new mail account in the vast majority of the cases it will auto detect all the correct settings for you once you enter your email address and username/password. It's wonderful to not have to remember all the mail servers and such.

It's a great review of a great product.

(1 reply) #8 soldier1st on 16 Nov 2006 - 19:15

is this alot better than 2003?

#8.1 Jugalator on 16 Nov 2006 - 23:08

I think 2003 was a pretty nice step up (esp. as for Outlook), and this one even moreso. It can be a bit confusing, but I find it much more pleasant to use, and I'm still finding new things about it. There should be a form of online "trial" version though, because it's always hard to know how another user would feel about it. Just read up on reviews is my best suggestion.

#9 xxdesmus on 16 Nov 2006 - 19:21

^^ Yes, if you can get used to the ribbon UI. I am able to do all kinds of things with Office 2007 that I never knew how to do in Office 2003. It's that good.

(1 reply) #10 Magallanes on 16 Nov 2006 - 19:44

Compact XML sound more a heresy rather a nice feature. XML was created for interconnection, a plain and easy to understand text, not a spaguetti.

#10.1 RealFduch on 17 Nov 2006 - 16:13

Weren't people bashing MS because they didn't know how to interconnect with MS Office?
Closed-proprietary-formats anyone?
No it's easy to use office documents without MS Office and even add some specific features to documents.

#11 Andy13 on 16 Nov 2006 - 21:07

Off point but that site is soooo annoying! The popups...grrr. It's also slow to load.

(1 reply) #12 Jugalator on 16 Nov 2006 - 23:05

I'm happy with my Office 2007 install at work..

There are many good things about it (Access 2007 is like a whole new app

) and as an example, I like Outlook 2007's new category system that's unified across mails, tasks, and calendar events. They remind me of Gmail's "labels". I've now made a rule that auto-categorize incoming mails depending on if they're from my office or customers, and then it also has a way to build a sort of virtual folders (called "search folders" ) based on those categories using its new instant-search feature. Very flexible and nice. Oh, and I like the new UI (it's sad Vista didn't get anything like it! ) making everything so much more accessible. Everything feels so "direct" with no menus to traverse. Tabbed toolbars (which is basically what ribbons are) is one of those ideas you wonder why no one (?) thought of before.

#12.1 TEMPNEGROQ on 17 Nov 2006 - 00:40

outlooks fast search feature blows
should be built in and not requiring friggin windows desktop spyware

(4 replies) #13 sLm4ever on 16 Nov 2006 - 23:13

the Ribbon is so gr8 ... but I hate that I can't customize it T_T ...
I just need to add 2 or 3 icons but I can't ><; ... or I don't know how <,<; !?

edit: typo

Last edited by sLm4ever on 17 Nov 2006 - 10:32

#13.1 Jugalator on 16 Nov 2006 - 23:17

Can't you just right-click the ribbon and select to add things to the quick access toolbar?

#13.2 tiagosilva29 on 17 Nov 2006 - 00:02

#13.3 sLm4ever on 17 Nov 2006 - 10:30

Quote - Jugalator said @ #13.1

that's what I'm doing now actually but ... it's not as good as if it was in the ribbon itself = ...

thanks anyway ^^;

#13.4 sLm4ever on 17 Nov 2006 - 12:51

damn this thing is good !! ... I noticed something ... when I add what I want to the quick access toolbar it was added to the ribbon ^^ ...

this is really great

... they did a very good job on this

#14 fergiej on 16 Nov 2006 - 23:49

never mind...

#15 jester1x on 17 Nov 2006 - 05:01

Office 2007 is quite nice, but Adobe Acrobat doesn't integrate with the programs unless you use a plug-in. Yeah, it still works, but the interface is much more convenient in Office 2003. You can't export email(s) to pdf directly from Outlook 2007. You can only export documents to pdf that are opened with Outlook 2007. So, no rush to upgrade for me just yet.

Last edited by jester1x on 17 Nov 2006 - 05:09

#16 The2 on 18 Nov 2006 - 12:04

The best upgrade from office '97. GUI is so good.. 10/10 !

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ActiveWin.com: Microsoft Office 2007 - Review

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ActiveWin.com: Microsoft Office 2007 - Review

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