Office 2007 - Revolution or Evolution?
Written: Feb 20 '07 (Updated Feb 21 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: new and better interface, new functions, easy to use, big step forward
Cons: might be confusing at first for long time office users
The Bottom Line: Office 2007 is a revolution of Office suites. The new interface makes it easy to use. A decent amount of new features make this the most powerful Office Suite yet.
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| twofish72's Full Review: Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 |
Office 2007 is finally out. And for once, Microsoft has really revolutionized the interface. Remember the toolbars on the top saying "File", "Edit", "View", etc.? Gone! Remember the more or less dull gray interface? Gone! Remember drop down menus everywhere? Gone! I can safely say that I was really, really pleasantly surprised after installing the Office 2007 Professional Package.
This review is not going to go into the details of what Office 2007 offers in terms of giving a complete list of all the functions. There are references the size of phone books out there that do that. I am going to look at Office 2007 from the standpoint of a end user that has worked with earlier versions of Office before and is now switching (or thinking about switching) to 2007.
As with all previous Office incarnations, there are different versions to choose from. The bigger the package, the heavier the price (duh!). Office Professional (Plus) 2007 offers the following components:
Word 2007
Excel 2007
Access 2007
Publisher 2007
Outlook 2007
Powerpoint 2007
Infopath 2007 (Office 2007 Pro Plus)
Communicator 2007 (Office 2007 Pro Plus)
There is no big difference between the regular Pro version and the Pro plus. The latter is for volume license contracts only, but uses basically the same applications, except the regular pro version has a "Business Contacts Manager" that ships with Outlook. It's for sharing Contacts more efficiently, for example in the use of marketing campaigns. The "Plus" version features Infopath 2007 and Communicator 2007 which are (in the broadest sense) applications to improve communication in your company. On Microsofts website you will find an extensive list of which application ships with a particular version of Office 2007.
System requirements
Remember when Office 200 only needed about 300-400 Megs? Well, that's long gone now. Office 2007 is not that forgiving. The Pro Plus version of Office 2007 needs the following:
min. 500 Mhz processor
256 Megs of RAM
Windows XP SP2 (or Windows Server 2003 SP1)
roughly 2 GB of Hardware space, some will be freed up after installation
And THAT, ladies and gentleman is only to be able to see the new cool interface... don't expect much productivity here. But seriously... Windows XP SP2 is one of the requirements. You will have trouble getting XP running alone decently on a machine like that. Not to speak of the fact that you want to put a 2gig Office Suite on top of that. Yes, it's possible, but don't expect much speed. If you are sticking to one-page Word documents without pictures, you might be happy. Other than that, I recommend a little more punch for the machine, especially on the RAM side. Personally, I am running it on a notebook with an Intel Centrino 1.6 Ghz and 1GB RAM. It runs perfectly. I have also had it installed on a 1Ghz AMD DURON with 512 MB of RAM and it runs pretty fine there too.
Microsoft advertises the new look and feel with all the applications (except Outlook). That's because they actually radically changed their user interface. It really is a new look and feel and in my eyes a good one.
In case you have never had Microsoft Office before, lets do a quick rundown of the applications being shipped with Office 2007 Professional. If you are familiar with the Office product line, you might want to just look at the quick feature list under each application.
1. Word 2007
Pretty much one of the grand daddys of word processing software. Has been around for ages in all it's reincarnations. And the reason it has been around is not only because it's from Microsoft but mainly because it is a very good program. Microsoft has gradually eliminated flaws over the years and has delivered one of the most powerful and fun to use word processing software today. There is hardly anything in terms of writing that cannot be done with Word.
some new features include:
- Blog features: Blog entries can be authored in Word 2007 directly and then uploaded to a blog. Word 2007 supports different Blog Websites. Among them are Windows Live Spaces, SharePoint, Blogger and others.
- Improved Grammar and Spelling checking function.
- live preview: offers a preview of what a specific function does to your document before you apply the changes.
- Open XML file format for smaller size documents (applies to all Office applications)
2. Excel 2007
Microsofts spreadsheet solution and like Word, it's a cornerstone of Office. If it can be put in a table, if it has numbers or if it needs to be calculated, Excel is the solution for you. The nature of spreadsheets is that they're not that easy to get into in the first place. So if you are having additional trouble getting the hang of a program, making a spreadsheet becomes even more trouble and more frustrating. Office 2007's new interface is designed to make your life easier on the interface side. And I have to say, Microsoft did a very good job there. If you hate spreadsheets no matter what 'though, I doubt there is a program out there to convince you otherwise.
some new features include:
- huge increase in spreadsheet size. 16 billion cells are now possible, roughly ten time more than in Excel 2003.
- color scales: Cells change background color according to the value in them. It is also possible to have "data bars" in the cells that "fill up" according to the value in the cell.
- new and improved filter options, for example the quick filter option.
3. Access 2007
Microsofts "small scale" database solution. Small scale meaning not really small in terms of capabilities, but more aimed towards users who don't want a full fledged SQL solution with a separate server running. If you have no clue what a database and SQL is, just be assured that you bought a capable product that will come in handy once you get the clue.
some new features include:
- support for more data types
- improved dropdown lists
- new preset schemata
- capability to synchronize with Share Point Server 2007 and Share Point Services 3.0
4. Publisher 2007
If your project needs desktop publishing, it can be done with Publisher. Another application that has been around for years. It's Microsofts application for anything that has to be brought on paper and is a little more like a newspaper or a brochure. While Word would be able to handle even that, Publisher is built specifically for it and makes it a lot easier.
some new features include:
- save as PDF
- Catalog Merge: This function can create content within a publication by retrieving the data from an external source. Comes in handy if you make lots of brochures that look the same, yet have constantly changing data, for example price listings.
5. Powerpoint 2007
Powerpoint is one of the most widely known applications. If you have ever seen a guy giving a speech, having a slide show in the background, chances are he used Powerpoint. The 2007 version is probably the most easy to use. When it comes to just packing a couple of slides together to a show, the new interface of Office 2007 makes that way easy and fun.
some new features include:
- better table support
- digitally sign presentations
- support for widescreen slides
6. Outlook 2007
Microsoft's Email Client. A small version of it is part of every newer Windows System (2000, XP, etc) and is known as Outlook Express. While Outlook Express never was more than the smaller brother of Outlook 2000, the new version of the full Office solution is a very easy and capable email client. Weirdly, Outlook 2007 is the only application in the package that has not gotten the new interface revamp. But more on that and the new features later.
7. Microsoft Infopath 2007
Infopath is a nice little new tool first introduced with the Office 2003 suite. Basically what you can do is create forms for others to fill out. Well, that's a really abreviated description of it's capabilities. The kick is the fact that all happens on the computer so there is no need for paper anymore. It's the modern way of data gathering. You have dynamic forms to collect, transfer and administer data. Infopath uses XML based data entry forms. The 2007 version is the latest installment from Microsoft. It doesn't have the new interface either, but still can show an impressive list of improvements.
some new features are:
- The ability to send forms per email. These forms can then be filled out within Outlook 2007. In addition, forms can now be filled out in browsers too, basically eliminating the need for the Infopath software to be installed on the target system.
- export forms to PDF and XPS
- You can now make forms for mobile devices.
8. Communicator 2007
Microsoft describes it's Communicator applications as (and I quote):
"a unified communications client that supports a large range of communication methods and makes it easier for information workers to find and connect with their colleagues and coworkers from anywhere."
That is Steve Ballmers description of a chat software client. Just kidding. Of course the communicator can do much more than just that. It is a communication tool that enables you to communicate in real time with basically anybody (who has Communicator too, of course) by all kinds of different means. Chat (or "instant mail" if you want to sound important), VoIP, Video-Conferencing and more. To do it's job, Communicator needs an "Office Communications Server" so it's not really stand-alone. The kick is that this application integrates with all the other Office application and that is where its true power lies (otherwise it would really only be a chat client). You can initiate communications from all kinds of applications. Got an email from a co-worker who screwed up? No need to grab the phone, initiate a video-chat and have him SEE your wrath. Do you have an office document that multiple people are working on? From those contextual lists, you now can initiate communication to cooperate better. Communicator is a new way of making your workers share information person to person in real time.
Since I have mentioned the new interface of Office a couple of times now, lets take a look at what that actually is...
The new interface - what is a ribbon... and why is it fluent?
Who doesn't know Word? It has been one of the dominant word processing applications forever and Microsoft intends to hold that ground with the new 2007 version. Since it is the most widely known office application, I will use it to explain the new interface of the Office 2007 Suite, as all applications except Outlook 2007 utilize it.
When you start it for the first time, you will be surprised by its new looks. Gone is the old toolbar...replaced by a big Office-Button and a "new" toolbar. Behind that big Office-Button hides most of the stuff that was in the old "File" toolbar entry. Open, Save, Print... all those functions can be found here. Including "Word Options", which contains most of the settings and preferences you ever need to change - neatly categorized. Help, update and Office repair functions can also be found here.
Right next to the Office-Button is the quick-access bar, which includes one-click icons for the various tasks you always use: print, save, print preview... the works. It can be customized to contain more or less entries.
This is where similarities to the old Office suites end. So far, it has only been an optical redesign. Office Button instead of "File"-Toolbar entry and a quick-acccess toolbar, not that much, eh?
All the other functions Word offers are categorized under a new toolbar in the second row. Home, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review, View and Developer are new options for the user to select. And in the third row directly below are all the sub-functions that belong to those new entries. That one is called "the ribbon". Actually, officially it is called "Microsoft Office Fluent". But ribbon makes more sense and is shorter.
An example: The "home" entry contains clipboard settings, font selection, paragraph settings, document styles and editing tools (find and replace). By limiting and reorganizing the functions under each new toolbar entry, Microsoft has made Office way easier to use for the beginner. Most of the standard functions for editing text are found here. Second example: Want to insert a picture a spreadsheet or Word-Art? Select "insert" in the new toolbar and all the things you could insert in a document are neatly listed for you, organized by category: Pages, Tables, Illustrations, Links, Headers & Footers, etc.
All icons are big, colorful and easy to access. That might sound stupid for the professional user but believe me, you will much quicker find the function you are looking for if your brain can tie it to a decent size picture, instead of just a text description.
Some of the functions have been streamlined too. Remember how annoying it was to insert a picture in previous word versions? You had to go to "insert", "select graphics" and then "from file". And now? You click "insert" and then "picture" ... and POOF, a file browser opens and you can select your pic. Sure, it's technically only one mouseclick less, but believe me, not going through drop-down menus anymore for that is very pleasant. The same for inserting tables, charts, clip arts, etc. etc. Some of the stuff is even context based. So the function won't show unless you mark specific thing. That keeps unnecessary options from confusing the user.
Another big improvement is the fact that nearly all the functions have a preview. You can see what will happen to your document by just hovering the mouse pointer over the corresponding function. So no more trying out a function just to hit "undo" if you don't like it. Sometimes the icon of the function itself is made up as a picture, showing the result (i.e. Word Art).
Overall, the interface is a huge improvement for the beginner. But is it that cool for the long time, dull-inteface hardened office user? Yes and no. You will certainly have a problem finding all the functions you blindly knew how to find in previous Word versions. Especially in the beginning you might find yourself using the help function once in a while to find a function you always knew how to use in the previous versions. But after that, working with Word and Office will be easy and smooth.
Excel 2007, Powerpoint 2007, Access 2007, Publisher 2007... they all use the exact same ribbon interface that Word has. And subsequently, are easier to access if you work with them the first time. But also, again, if you are a long time Office user, you will find yourself looking for your old buttons and icons in the first couple of times you use the new Office applications.
Outlook 2007 - the ugly duckling?
As I mentioned earlier, Outlook 2007 is the only application that pretty much looks like it's 2003 predecessor. Which is funny, because it's actually the application with the most cool changes beneath the outer shell.
First, there is the "To-do"-bar. Similar to the main screen in Windows Mobile, it displays the calendar with appointments and tasks to do. A quick overview for the day... very neat.
Secondly, the "attachment preview". Now, you can preview attachments without actually having to start the corresponding program. Lots of file formats are supported, with new ones being added through previewers that can be installed. Sadly, PDF docs are not supported yet (at least in my version). Microsoft defintely needs to change that.
Third, there is the function of sharing your calendar again, without the need for an Exchange server. It's called "publishing your calendar" and works through through Microsofts Office Online service. You can also send "calendar snapshots" per email. A similar feature has been in Outlook for Windows 95 (and was useless there) and Office 2000 (better working, but still useless for business purposes). In Outlook XP and 2003 the feature had been abandoned because synchronizing the calendar via email just proved unreliable. Since Outlook 2007 uses a server based service from Microsoft (instead of having your own Exchange system running) we can now hope that it works.
Another one... some of the views have changed a little to make them a little less "cluttered". The calendar looks slightly more accessable, the contacts folder offers eight different ways of viewing your contacts, the task area is very clean and just screams for lots of tasks to be put in and categorized. So even though Microsoft didn't give Outlook 2007 the new "ribbon-look" of all the other applications, it still offers a refreshing look. If you are used to Outlook 2000, you're in for a visual treat.
Other new features include:
- a RSS feed reader
- indexing of pretty much the entire Outlook database. Makes searches within the database a lot faster and offers search results while the characters are typed in.
- support for multiple calenders with side by side view
- support for text messaging if you use Outlook together with Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging
Working together with old friends - Office's backward compatibility
Undoubtedly you will find yourself in the position of having different Office versions running at your workplace (if not, congratulations!). So how does the new kid on the block play with the established teams? The answer is: very well. One of the first things you will notice is a new document format of the individual applications, which is marked with an "x" in the file extension (for example, Word doc's are now called .docx). Another one is the macro-enabled format, which has an "m" in the file extension. You can also set the standard to be Office 97-2003 documents, which will work flawlessly with all the "old" documents you might still have. As a matter of fact, at the moment I am the only one in my company working with Office 2007 (kind of a test run), everybody else is using Office 2000/XP/2003. And I haven't run into problems at all.
General Office 2007 features
Office 2007 has a lot of features that are implemented in every application of the suite. One being, of course, the new design. Another biggie is the support of Office OpenXML file format, which, in conjunction with ZIP technology will make for way smaller Office files. Also, PDF support is available as a download.
In my eyes, the biggest general feature is... drumroll... the REMOVAL OF THE OFFICE ASSISTANTS! No more annoying wizard or the paper clip of doom! I know they have their fans but I just hated their binary guts. Office 2007 features an improved help system which is called super tooltips. I would upgrade to Office 2007 for that reason alone.
Another Office feature is themes and quick styles. Pretty much all Office documents can be "themed" the same way to give them a uniform feel. So preparing a set of different documents is no longer something that necessarily has to look like a bunch of printouts from different programs. You pick a theme and everything you do to it or enter in it will get the same style as all the themes in all Office application are the same.
I have Office 2003, should I upgrade?
Yes and no. If you are fully happy with all the functions of Office 2003, the only reason to update would be the new interface. If 16 billion cells in an Excel 2007 spreadsheet don't interest you because you don't use Excel or you use a different Email Client than Outlook anyway and all the rest of Office works fine for you, there might not be much reason to upgrade. Still, I recommend you take a look and see for yourself. Office 2007 is available as a fully working 60 day trial version on Microsofts website. Get it and try it. Chances are you will stick to it.
And I have Office 2000 or XP, what about me?
Get it. Seriously, there is no reason to stay with the old Office packages. While the changes between Office 2003 and 2007 are not mind blowing, a lot happened compared to the earlier versions. Outlook alone is a reason to switch. In case you don't know it, Outlook XP or earlier can only support a database of up to 2 gigs in size. So if your Outlook is bloated with a huge bunch of email attachments (maybe even music or video clips) and on top of that you have hundreds or thousands of contacts and a calendar with multiple appointments every day, chances are, you are getting dangerously close to the limit of Outlooks database. Once you break the 2 gig barrier, the Database will become useless and will not accept any more data. All emails that comes in after that will be lost. "Cutting off" the database at that point is the only way to get your data back. That limitation alone is worth the upgrade to Outlook 2007 and when you are thinking about doing that, you might as well update the whole rest too.
I am a Mac. What about my Office?
Well, it's not yet there. Microsoft will produce an Office 2007 package for the Mac, but it is not yet ready. At the moment, I hear it is scheduled for the second half of 2007 and will probably be named "Office 2008 for Macintosh".
The final recommendation
Office 2007 is a pretty big leap forward. It offers enough functions to make you think about upgrading but the interface alone is something that would justify getting Office 2007. All in all a application package I can recommend.
One word of warning has to be given 'though. Long time Office users will have problems with the new interface, simply because no function is where you had it in earlier Office packages. I can safely say that the leap between the interface of previous Office versions and the 2007 one is as big as Windows 3.1 to Windows Vista.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
twofish72
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Member: Michael Opitz
Location: Wisconsin
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 0 members
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