Office 2007 & Home Users

[Jim Higgins]

From my reading of the feature set of Office 2007 that this is like using
nuclear weapons to crack walnuts-possible but really gross overkill. Most
home users can barely scratch the surface of Office XP and 2003 let alone
expending considerable energy in trying to learn Office 2007. To me it
feels like the home user has been relegated to the bottom drawer of the
filing cabinet.

Is there any reason for the "average" SOHO or home user to go beyond Office
2003 and buy ($$$) Office 2007 and work to learn it? I do not see a reason
to do so.

 

[Echo S]

Actually, I think Office 2007 has been designed to make life easier for the
novice user. It's the power users who will suffer with this version.

 

[Jim Higgins]

I get the opposite impression from what I have read.

Actually, I think Office 2007 has been designed to make life easier for
the novice user. It's the power users who will suffer with this version.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/
PPTLive! Sept 17-20, 2006 http://www.pptlive.com

 

[Patrick Schmid]

You need to actually use it to get a good impression of this. Most power
users will agree with Echo on this one. Office 2007 is definitely not
very nice to power users.

Patrick Schmid
--------------
http://pschmid.net

I get the opposite impression from what I have read.

Actually, I think Office 2007 has been designed to make life easier for
the novice user. It's the power users who will suffer with this version.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/
PPTLive! Sept 17-20, 2006 http://www.pptlive.com

From my reading of the feature set of Office 2007 that this is like using
nuclear weapons to crack walnuts-possible but really gross overkill.
Most home users can barely scratch the surface of Office XP and 2003 let
alone expending considerable energy in trying to learn Office 2007. To
me it feels like the home user has been relegated to the bottom drawer of
the filing cabinet.

Is there any reason for the "average" SOHO or home user to go beyond
Office 2003 and buy ($$$) Office 2007 and work to learn it? I do not see
a reason to do so.

 

[Chris Schatte]

As well,
The average Small business owner will benefit, takes less time to find most
options.

Chris Schatte
--
use the Office Online web based newsreader here:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx
In Office System 2003 applications:
Help/Assistance Pane/Communities
SBA Spotlight

Actually, I think Office 2007 has been designed to make life easier for the
novice user. It's the power users who will suffer with this version.

 

[Echo S]

I get the opposite impression from what I have read.

You may feel differently after you actually use it and get used to it. The
learning curve is very shallow for most basics; it's really just a matter of
forgetting what you used to know about where the various functions, tools,
etc., were located.

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Jim,

If you have a cable or DSL connection you can now try Office 2007's online 'Test Drive'.
http://microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/testdrive.mspx

This lets you go a step beyond reading about Office 2007 without installing the product (it will install a 'citrix metaframe' add in to your MS Internet Explorer 6.0 or 7, and you'll need to turn on cookies for the site.

You can use the Test Drive on Windows 2000, something you can't do with the actual Office 2007 download

The Test drive includes the apps, sample files, and tutorials for these 2007 Office system products

Microsoft Office Access 2007
Microsoft Office Excel 2007
Microsoft Office Infopath 2007
Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
Microsoft Office Powerpoint 2007
Microsoft Office Project 2007
Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
Microsoft Office Sharepoint Designer 2007
Microsoft Office Visio 2007
Microsoft Office Word 2007
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 [with] Business Contact Manager
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 web access

It even has bug/error dialogs "Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to close" (can't get much more realistic than that <g>).

=============
I get the opposite impression from what I have read.>>
--
I hope this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office system products MVP

LINKS for the 2007 Office System

1. Read about it, try it, or watch the movie
the 2007 Microsoft Office system info,
online Test Drive, or downloadable beta is at
http://microsoft.com/office/preview

2. Already have 2007 Office System Beta 2?
Send Microsoft your feedback (with pictures)
http://sas.office.microsoft.com/

3. Use the 2007 OfficeOnline website without Office2007

a. Install the ActiveX access control
http://office.microsoft.com/search/redir.aspx?AssetID=XT101650581033
b. then visit http://officebeta.iponet.net

 

[Jim Higgins]

Alas, I have dial-up. I would still be downloading a year after Office 2007 comes out :-(
"Bob Buckland ?" <75214.226(At Beautiful Downtown)compuserve.com> wrote in message Hi Jim,

If you have a cable or DSL connection you can now try Office 2007's online 'Test Drive'.
http://microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/testdrive.mspx

This lets you go a step beyond reading about Office 2007 without installing the product (it will install a 'citrix metaframe' add in to your MS Internet Explorer 6.0 or 7, and you'll need to turn on cookies for the site.

You can use the Test Drive on Windows 2000, something you can't do with the actual Office 2007 download

The Test drive includes the apps, sample files, and tutorials for these 2007 Office system products

Microsoft Office Access 2007
Microsoft Office Excel 2007
Microsoft Office Infopath 2007
Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
Microsoft Office Powerpoint 2007
Microsoft Office Project 2007
Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
Microsoft Office Sharepoint Designer 2007
Microsoft Office Visio 2007
Microsoft Office Word 2007
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 [with] Business Contact Manager
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 web access

It even has bug/error dialogs "Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to close" (can't get much more realistic than that <g>).

=============
I get the opposite impression from what I have read.>>
--
I hope this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office system products MVP

LINKS for the 2007 Office System

1. Read about it, try it, or watch the movie
the 2007 Microsoft Office system info,
online Test Drive, or downloadable beta is at
http://microsoft.com/office/preview

2. Already have 2007 Office System Beta 2?
Send Microsoft your feedback (with pictures)
http://sas.office.microsoft.com/

3. Use the 2007 OfficeOnline website without Office2007

a. Install the ActiveX access control
http://office.microsoft.com/search/redir.aspx?AssetID=XT101650581033
b. then visit http://officebeta.iponet.net

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Jim,


LOL.

If it's like prior test drives, it would be very slow on dial up but may still be workable. Unfortunately the modem in the test
computer here isn't working or I'd try the test drive it to find out. The longest part would probably be about 3/4 of an hour for
the initial installation of the add-in and first time load of the test drive.


==========
Alas, I have dial-up. I would still be downloading a year after Office 2007 comes out :-( >>