| Overall Rating: |
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5
5
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| Performance: |
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4
5
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| Ease of Use: |
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5
5
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Pros: programmable tool bar, grouping of common tasks in ribbons, immediate effect of formating visible on screen, aesthically pleasing interface
Cons: big overhead requirments, slows down older systems, requires openess to change
Microsoft takes a lot of hits for being a huge organization that does what it wants regardless of what happens to consumers. Let's face it - they can be seen as the Darth Vader of Computer Software. But Office 2007 is truely a product in which the force can be WITH the user.
Not only is the UI functionality tremendously improved with the implementation of the much touted Ribbon tecnology but, the completely customizable toolbar makes it nearly effortless to get the major job tasks done efficiently. Granted this is one of Microsoft's more radical product facelifts. Experienced users will likely spend some time getting acquainted with the placement of some features, but the learning curve is well worth the effort. Just don't do the upgrade when you're facing an unforgiving deadline.
Outlook has increased security features which make it easier to protect against malware, spyware, etc. as well as better ways to organize and tag important mail and contacts and appointements.
Excel and Word both benefit greatly from ribbon technology because now common tasks are organized into common sense groups. In particular, the Home ribbon combines most of the day to day features so that clicking on drop downmenus is essentially eliminated.
Powerpoint gains significant improvements in the handling and insertion of pictures as well as style and theme upgrades that keep focus on clean information presentations without a lot of "fluff" that never gets used even though it makes a big splash for those that like eye candy.
Of special note is the ability to see format changes on screen before they are finalized. Being able to check out the myriad of pre-formated styles available really helps in designing documents that look and flow right the first time.
My recommendation to experienced users is this: throw out your recollections of how Word and Excel used to do things and give Office 2007 a fresh slate to work on. The biggest problem with this release is that it is RADICALLY DIFFERENT and people don't embrace change as readily as we would like. But if you're up for a fresh take on and old office standard then Office 2007 is for you.
Microsoft spent considerable sums of money collecting information from users about features and functions that they wanted to see in the next generation. Well guess what . . . we got those features and functions and then some. Now it's time for us to embrace what the user groups asked for and learn how to use this fantastic tool to its utmost potential.
One warning - don't install this on your older PIII systems and expect it to boot quickly. All the features of this package require some significant horsepower to work in a non-glacial timeframe.
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