Office 2007: First impressions of an average user

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OK, well perhaps I am not the average user, but I can say with my hand on my heart that I have never installed any of the Office 2007 Betas and, for what it's worth, not really followed the Office 2007 developement program with as much energy as others.

So, overnight I fired-up my Technet Plus subscription and downloaded Office 2007 Professional with a view to evaluating the final product. The first thing I noticed was the choice of versions available...one of the things I actually was aware of from the various news posts here at bink.nu. Looking through the programs available for each version I settled on the Pro download. At 410meg it wasn't that large, I certainly expected a bigger download. Nice to see. I let it download whilst I caught up on my beauty sleep.

The install of Office 2007 was fantastically simple. I mean that, in fact, I can't believe how much so. Finally, a Microsoft app that asks me for my product key up front and then doesn't bother me again until the end! The install removed my Office 2k3 install and put down 2007. As smoothly as I could have ever wanted.

Again, having not really spent much time going over beta screenshots like some people do, I was really taken back by the UI in Word. Outlook was about as I expected, but Word and Excel really threw me...for about 4 minutes. Seriously, that's all it took. The UI is simple, makes a lot of sense, and wasn't hard at all to 'master'. OK, 1 vote from me.

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#1 +accesser on 04 Dec 2006 - 10:37

I need to have a play with 2007 I’ve looked at the screen shots and also the Demos at a Microsoft event I went to but I’ve yet to sit down and play with it so this was quite interesting.

Has anybody else heard about the new licensing for OEM system builders? At the Microsoft Ready summit I was taken by surprise to find that OEM system builders can now install office onto a computer where the customer did not purchase office it will run for a short amount of time and they can then purchase it later unlike older OEM office products where you had to pay for it at the time you purchased the computer.

(3 replies) #2 Sp3ctranova on 04 Dec 2006 - 10:44

I'm going to be all sad when my Office 2007 Beta runs out

But hopefully my free one will come by then (from Microsoft's watch-three-webcasts-get-a-free-Office-suite program)!

#2.1 +accesser on 04 Dec 2006 - 10:46

How long do they last ?

#2.2 Sp3ctranova on 04 Dec 2006 - 10:50

Quote - accesser said @ #2.1

I think it expires on March 1, 2007. However I'm not sure on this...I hope I don't go to type a word doc one day soon and realize i'm out of luck.

#2.3 neufuse on 04 Dec 2006 - 17:13

so get the RTM trial version? its already on microsoft.com 180 day trial... and well its not a beta!

#3 Matt T on 04 Dec 2006 - 11:26

The link is broken.

#4 david13lt on 04 Dec 2006 - 11:27

Nope, it is till March 15, 2007.

#5 mrmckeb on 04 Dec 2006 - 11:47

I hope the team behidn the 2007 UI get onto the Windows team and show them what the next generation OS should be like...

#6 Alto on 04 Dec 2006 - 12:21

"caught up on my beauty sleep"

You're surely a woman

#7 Ivand on 04 Dec 2006 - 12:23

Powerpoint templates look AWESOME, ive been playing with Office '07 for 3 days now, and Im really digging the new UI, everything is simpler.

#8 AMDMEFX-55 on 04 Dec 2006 - 12:29

I got to use beta 2 but have not looked into the final one. I liked it just like office 2003. We need Office 2007 where I work I am going to hound them till we get it hehee.

#9 xxdesmus on 04 Dec 2006 - 13:14

I agree, Office 2007 literally takes about 5 minutes to get comfortable with. After that point, you'll be able to do things in Office 2007 that you never had a clue how to do in Office 2003. It's that good.

(1 reply) #10 Sekerob on 04 Dec 2006 - 13:15

One thing on the document sharing was noticed: it asks which browser people will be viewing the docs... IE3 thru IE6 are listed. Not IE7 or the default competitors browser, which goes to show that MSFT is still not learning its lessons.

The ribbons are nice once u know what is where, but far from intuitive..... TR has still bunches of bugs. If that went to RTM, it's not going to make it to my desktop @ any payment.

Last edited by Sekerob on 04 Dec 2006 - 16:33

#10.1 nowimnothing on 04 Dec 2006 - 17:09

"The ribbons are nice once you know what is where, but far from untuitive..."

Please tell me you're kidding. The ribbons are VERY intuitive. The problem is just that things aren't where they used to be. You've got to break yourself away from thinking "where were they" and think "where should they be" and usually you'll find them very quickly.

(1 reply) #11 Jugalator on 04 Dec 2006 - 14:53

They FINALLY did something good about Access 2007... It's like a whole new app

#11.1 pckiller00 on 04 Dec 2006 - 15:31

Agreed, I'm really liking Access 2007, it is like a whole new app, Outlook 2007 is nice as well, Excel 2007 is good as well, Word 2007 isn't too bad either. In general Office 2007 is great, the way to go, the GUI takes some time to get use to but all in all, not a bad app suite.

#12 Elite_graphix on 04 Dec 2006 - 14:55

i absolutely love office 2007- one program suite MS have really got right... soo simple to use...

#13 +AltecXP on 04 Dec 2006 - 15:38

now if only they do the next VS like this.

#14 cooljerk_dv on 04 Dec 2006 - 16:22

I love the ribbons interface, If only they could add this funtionality into the next windows version

(1 reply) #15 Id Hit it33 on 04 Dec 2006 - 16:26

lol wheres the download link

#15.1 neufuse on 04 Dec 2006 - 17:15

on microsoft.com there is a 180 day trial link for office 2007 RTM

#16 +haveblue128 on 04 Dec 2006 - 17:10

As a beta tester on Office XP, 2003 and 2007, I fully support and recommend this new Office new offering from MS. In short, while others may have grumbled, I have been using Office in an operational environment-regardlless of bugs- since the Beta I Technical Refresh was released. It is a totally changed take on Office and one which is far better than previous versions.

The MS employees who ran this program deserve kudos not just from MS, but also the Beta community as well as consumers. While I have be party to a few dreadful MS betas, in this case-from concept thru full dev- the strategic archtects and all players who worked to make Office 2007 both fresh and solid software did an inspired job. This is also the first long-term beta in which I have participated where the staff was highly responsive to bugs. newsgroup questions and even direct emails. Purchase this software when you can as Office 07 is a new and far more accessable Office Suite than MS has created in the past-in fact their best Office platform to date.

Last edited by haveblue128 on 04 Dec 2006 - 17:16

#17 neufuse on 04 Dec 2006 - 18:36

the ribbon would be perfect in Visual Studio with its tens of toolbars and that confuseing mess of which one does what.... in windows though? the os alone? i dont think i'd want the ribbon in the OS as explorer windows with it, too much wasted space

#18 naap51stang on 04 Dec 2006 - 20:38

B2TR runs fine on mine, but all I ever use is outlook and word

#19 Unholy Moley! on 05 Dec 2006 - 04:54

Not a particularly useful or interesting article in my opinion.

#20 maf_74 on 05 Dec 2006 - 07:00

The installation is nice. The UI has been updated. Um, that's not really much reason to fork out hundreds for Office 2007.

#21 Aero Ultimate on 05 Dec 2006 - 10:59

I've been trying the Betas, and I'll have to say that (quite unlike Vista) Office 2007 is actually a huge step forward compared to Office 2003 or even before!