Why keep a previous version of Office when installing 2007?

[mousemanb]

Hi all,

Can someone help me understand the advantages of keeping around an old
version of Office when installing 2007? Will I lose functionality of my
previously created/saved documents if I uninstall the previous version? I
can't seem to find the answer to that fairly simple question anywhere.

I just purchased Office Standard 2007 but currently have Office XP
installed. I've been reading the posts on this site and have also read the
Microsoft Support page about using Office 2007 on a computer running another
version of Office. But none of them actually address that particular
question.

Should I keep Office XP installed? What do I gain or lose if I uninstall it?

Do documents created with Office XP not work properly with 2007 or
something?

Sorry for the basic question, but I've been looking around for over an hour
and can't seem to find the answer! If anybody can point me in the right
direction to an article or something that can help, I'd greatly appreciate
it. Thanks!

 

[LVTravel]

Office XP documents will open and should work correctly on Office '07.
Office '07 documents won't necessarily transfer all of it's features to
Office XP, even if the compatibility pack is installed or the document is
saved as a Office '97-2003 formatted file.

Those that keep the older versions on their computer do so to allow them to
have a stable "base of operations" while they learn the new interface of
Office '07. If you are a power user of XP's version, there will be a fairly
steep learning curve to find all those same features in Office '07's
programs.

Since I teach MS Word and PowerPoint as part of my job, I need various
versions on the computers that I use to teach with so that I can show each
student what the features and interface of each version is like. I
regularly use Word 97 when I am creating a simple document but use Word '03
when I have to get very complex and use Word's features. Word '07 is a
relatively new addition to my system and I am learning the ins and outs of
that program so that I will be teaching it within 3 months. I strictly use
PPT '03 currently as my presentation program but again, I am learning the
features and interface for PPT '07 both to teach and to use in the future.

Currently I have Office versions 4.3 (old Windows 3.1 version of Office),
Office 97, 2000, XP (2002), 2003 and 2007 installed on my teaching laptop
and home desktop (for my study before I teach.) Each of my two systems has
Windows XP (one is home version and laptop has Pro version as it's operating
system.)

The only issue between the two versions is that there can be only one
version of Outlook on a computer at a time. Other than the Outlook issue,
whether you keep XP on your system, uninstall XP and install 2007 or have
2007 overwrite the XP programs, is entirely up to you.

Hope this helps, let us know.

 

[mousemanb]

Hi LVTravel,

Thank you very much for the detailed answer. It was definitely quite
helpful. I think I'll keep Office XP on my computer, as I'll certainly be
sharing documents with people who don't have Office 2007. Additionally, I
wasn't aware that there was such a steep learning curve to the new Office.
That's good to know.

Is there a resource anywhere online that tells people this kind of thing?
It seems that Microsoft would have something like that in an FAQ somewhere,
but I certainly couldn't find it.

Anyway, thanks again.

 

[LVTravel]

Thanks for the feedback. While I don't think there is any single specific
resource telling the major changes before the product is purchased here are
a few sites that will help with the training:

See here for beginning of help on MS Office '07
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/default.aspx

One link there takes you to this training area
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/FX100565001033.aspx

A link explaining the new interface and comparable commands in older Office
Apps. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[mousemanb]

Thanks again.

There's a lot of stuff on those pages to digest. I'll have to go through
some of those tutorials when I have some time to devote to it. Thanks!

 

[LVTravel]

You are right about a lot of material. Have fun.