Microsoft has finalised the code of Microsoft Office 2007, and corporate customers will be able to get their hands on a download of Office Small Business 2007 shortly. But you'll have to wait until early next year to buy a boxed version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and the other members of the Office 2007 family. The consumer editions of Microsoft Office 2007 are expected to hit stores early next year, in step with the Vista operating system.
We've examined the RTM version of Office 2007, which has been released to computer manufacturers bundling their laptops and desktops with Microsoft's new software. For more than a year, we've been following the development, with prerelease reviews, slide shows, and videos, in our test-drive of various rough-draft versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and companion applications.
Installation of Office 2007 RTM took us about 10 minutes on a Windows XP computer. You're allowed to install Office 2007 software on two computers for your personal use. The user license agreement makes you agree that you will download updates whenever Microsoft deems necessary. Also at any time, Microsoft may verify your license key to make sure that you're not using pirated software.
Once you open the applications, you'll be greeted by a drastically new interface. Office 2007's major programs each organise features into tabs rather than drop-down menus and dialog boxes. The fresh face of Office takes some time to get used to, but it also surfaces long-buried tools.
Another big change to Office are its new XML-based files, which squeeze more data into fewer kilobytes. However, as with the release of Office 1997, you won't be able to open a file in the new format immediately when using earlier versions of the programs. This could cause grief if you have the new software but need to share work with people who haven't upgraded. The 2007 applications let you save backward-compatible files, but not by default. Those running, say, Word 2003 who need to open a Word 2007 DOCX file will first have to download a one-time Compatibility Pack. We're glad that you'll be able to run all of your familiar Office 2003 programs side by side with the new Office 2007 apps, with the exception of Outlook on the same hard drive. This would be useful if you want to compare, say, how a macro was created in 2003; it'll have to be reconstructed in 2007.
Office 2007's other notable features include a strong emphasis on style templates, with the ability to preview on the fly changes made to fonts and graphics. There are more options usually offered by top-end desktop publishing software for dressing up documents with charts, diagrams, and pictures. For instance, new shortcuts for analysing information within Excel let you display patterns of data as a colorful heat map. There's new support for blogging within Word, Outlook gets deeper search and task management abilities in addition to SMS text messaging, and Office 2007 features easier-to-manage overall document security.
Oddly, however, Microsoft won't let you easily access, author, or edit those letters, reports, spreadsheets, and presentations within a Web browser. Microsoft and Google are battling to win over small-business users with free, Web-based services. But there is no Microsoft equivalent to the online Google Docs & Spreadsheets, just as Google's productivity services don't match the depth of features within Microsoft Office software.
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook will make up the AU$690 Office Standard package, while will come with the same applications, though trading Outlook for OneNote. The AU$749 Office Small Business, AU$849 Professional, and AU$1,150 Ultimate editions will throw in more services for businesses, including Outlook with Business Contact Manager, Publisher, and Access. Office 2007 is supposed to work the same whether running on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, or Vista. At office.microsoft.com, you can still download the beta edition of Office 2007, but it will expire early next year upon the release of the final retail version.
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WTF_RTM
05/05/2008, 12:24 PM
rating
10/10
What The Fnck does RTM mean?
Pros: Microsoft has done everything possible to eliminate the competition so that you have to buy their product. All Hail Bill Gates. May he monopolize us for years to come. Amen.
Cons: mysterious RTM designation makes me think it has something to do with Remember The Milk.
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dacarrison
31/03/2008, 07:10 PM
rating
9/10
An excellent update to the Office family, suitable if you have never used Office before, or are willing to relearn it
Pros:
- The interface, when gotten used to, is excellent
- The themes look very professional
- The New C fonts (Candara, Calibri, etc.) also look very professional
- You'll find features you've always wanted, but have never been able to find, are easily accessible.
- Access is much more cuddly, and I can use it even betterer than I could before
- The damned paperclip has been killed off!
Cons:
- Expensive, unless you are a student, teacher or qualify for the Academic Professional version
- Publisher has not recieved much of an update
- Outlook's main interface has not been updated
- All the good office assistants (i.e. Links, Peedy, etc.) are no longer present.
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dhawa
18/05/2007, 10:15 PM
rating
6/10
thannnnnkkkkkkssssss
Pros: cooolllll
Cons: coooollllll
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Anonymous
13/03/2007, 09:07 PM
rating
7/10
Expensive? I got it for free... think file sharing
Pros: Very Good
Cons: None
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gokolo
26/02/2007, 05:38 AM
rating
10/10
cool i love it, i never some think like this beforce
Pros: cool
Cons: cool
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24/01/2007, 09:52 PM
rating
2/10
Sounds good however its going to be far too expensive.
Cons: Far too expensive
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