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 - The learning curve is huge. HUGE. The contempt and arrogance of the designers of previous users is downright scary. Every review I read that claims the Office upgrade is anything but a catastrophe, I have to wonder who signs their paycheck. If you know the office suite well, heaven forbid an expert, the Word, PowerPoint or Excel upgrades are at best a very painful experience, Finding the high end features will frustrate the heck out of you. There is no choice either; you have to learn everything again. To be fair, the suite works fine, however, everything I've ever learned every functional or utilitarian approach is lost. Lost is the analogy for the whole upgrade. I can't believe I paid Microsoft to torture me like this. Rating:  - Brilliant for ExcelA company I worked for in 2007 switched to this product mid-year and I was anxious at first since I am a heavy Excel user particularly. While the learning curve wasn't too bad, I did have to ask a few questions here and there but it took me hardly anytime to adjust to it, and the Excel program enhancements alone are enough for me to want to upgrade my home office. I was laid off at the end of December and I find myself "homesick" for the upgraded Excel. They do offer a trial download at Microsoft as well. Rating: - Getting BetterI have this suite and did not like it at first. It is really true that for people who have been using MS a long while will have more of a learning curve than a new user of MS Office 2007. The reason is because us old users are used to how things were before MS decided to move things around and make us go on an Easter egg hunt. I have been using the product since June 2007. I find some things annoying, but I find other features to be very helpful - so basically, I have a sweet and sour feeling about this version, but I wouldn't go so far as to tell others not to use it. I will say though - BE PATIENT and you will get used it (then when another version comes out we can get used to it too :-) ). Basically, just keep in mind that every thing changes over time and we can adapt. Change is always around us. I have written a couple of FREE tutorials for those of you who need a little help with MS Word 2007: http://reginastevens.com/articles.cfm. After you get used to the new version, you might even like it. Rating: - MS Office 2007Microsoft Office Professional 2007 UPGRADE I have been using computers for over 45 five years and PC's for the past 25. I recently upgraded from MS Office 2003 to 2007 (professional) for use on my home computer. Over the years I have progressed from various minicomputer report generators, word processors and PC based word processors. There is always a certain amount of learning with the upgrading process, but I am totally disgusted with some of the changes in Officer 2007. I use all of the components of the package (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint), but am most concerned with Word, especially for anyone in a business environment where time, deadlines and money are important considerations. Some of my concerns are with the new interface. It is almost impossible to locate many of the features that are required to prepare a simple letter or report. Yes, they have supplied a lot of interactive help and it is great for kids and geeks in learning mode, but very slow and frustrating for a mature user that is really only interested in getting the job done! I just completed trying to edit a report and it is so bad that I am going to the office and use the old machine! Another example is with the importing of scanned material into a document or report. It use to be a very simple process of importing directly from a the scanner and now there is a whole new separate system that requires going out of word, importing the material from the scanner into clip organizer and clipping back into work. It is a horrible and inconvenient system that is a poor substitute for the old approach. I will not pretend to have a complete understanding of the 2007, but these are a few things that I notice. My real concern is that anyone in the business world should look long and hard at making the change as the loss in productivity while learning to use the new system will very high. Now having stated that side of the problem I am certain that there will be a reverse effect when starting employees from secondary schools and college come into the organization they will feel most comfortable with the new product, given that Microsoft gives them the most recent material for free. You can't win on this one. Microsoft needs to go back to the drawing board on this one! Rating:  - Don't buy this unless you REALLY need the extras.I have been using Microsoft Office since 2001, owning every format it has been released in even prior to that date. My favorite, MS Office 2003, is a fantastic program, which allows me to do everything from write business letters, faxes, client billing, office memorandums, power point presentations, project potential profits for an upcoming year, etc. You might now ask, why can't the 2007 version do this? Well, it can... if you can find the buttons. MS Office 2007, is essentially a re-worked version of 2003 with INCOMPATIBLE file extensions, and SMALL few new options like seeing text size/font while mousing over text, yet having to track down misplaced buttons, an annoying layout that seems to have been designed with people of lower intelligence in mind, and less online support. I do enjoy some of the new templates and options. But they are more of flashy extra, like leather in an old car. Whomever dreamed up doing this, was most likely someone with a degree in business but NO personal experience in what people really NEED in the office, to get things done. Example: Excel is only useful to a certain point in 2003 as it runs out of space with giant worksheets for company billing. It also has some new time based options for age requirement in a billing folder. BUT, there are other free programs out there (many online) which easily replace it, do all of this and more like open it further if you run out of space, without having to spend a small fortune to replace it. Why waste your hard-earned money on a fancy faced office, with no real improvements over 2003? Buy MS Office Professional 2003, and leave the 2007 version to the forgotten shelves containing "supposedly improved software" of yesteryear. My copy is going to be donated free of charge to someone who cannot afford even 2003, and has enough time on their hands (as well as inexperience with former versions) to learn it.
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