well vista ultimate + office 07 + new hardware( cuz i can't resist)= good bye end of year bonus!

"My new computer's got the clocks, it rocks
But it was obsolete before I opened the box"

-weird al

lol

As long as we have multiple options (MSO, OO, Works, StarOffice, etc) we should all be happy. If one were to "win out", we would eventually all "lose out" from stagnation. This release will cause the OO folks to work harder to better what users find to be ideal features. All hail competition!

Beta doing fine. On the first use , i had to waste quite a few sheets while printing.

To those complaining about price: Do you go into Mercedes dealerships and complain that they offer a product to people who want and can afford it?

In 1987, Microsoft introduced Works, their first productivity suite. This was 3 years before the first version of Office (for Mac) and 5 years before the first Windows version of Office.

Over the past 19 years, Microsoft has steadily upgraded Works, roughly as often as Office. (The only reason Office is up to version 12 is that Office for Windows started at version 3 to align with Mac, then skipped from 4.3 to 6.0 to sync versions across the individual programs. Works is currently at 8.5 but started at 1.0 and has never skipped any major versions.)

Today, the basic Works 8 retails for $49.95 and of course can easily be found for less. It is fully capable of reading and writing Word 2003 and Excel 2003 files. The deluxe edition (Works Suite 2006, which includes a full copy of Word plus other home/consumer features not available in any edition of Office) retails for $99.95. Over the years, various editions and promotions/rebates have made legal retail copies of Works available for as little as 10 bucks, which happens to be price that OEMs like Dell pay to preload Works on new computers.

During the past 19 years, Microsoft has pulled the plug on plenty of products in the Office family. Anyone remember Vizact? Clearly, Microsoft has shown unwavering commitment to offer Works for people who don't need all the capabilities, complexities, and expense of Office.

Yet I constantly see people claiming that Microsoft is trying to shove Office down the throats of people who don't need the features, the bloat, and the price. These people will typically wipe an OEM-preloaded copy of Works from a computer without even launching it once. And while they preach open source alternatives, in reality most of them will pirate Office instead.

If a schoolteacher or a janitor walks into a Mercedes dealership and insists on buying a Mercedes and has any way of coming up with the money, they will sell it to him/her. There is nothing wrong with that. And Mercedes can't stop them from ever seeing a Mercedes advertisement, but I'm sure Mercedes isn't exactly planning their advertising campaigns to target janitors. Similarly, Microsoft has never targeted home users with Office. Only recently has Microsoft offered the Student & Teacher Edition of Office. They spend very little advertising it, and it exists because schools want to meet real-world demand by employers for specific skills in Microsoft Office. Sure, you say students should be taught about alternatives so they can spread the gospel. Folks, we're largely talking about vocational training here. In terms of sheer numbers, the majority of these students are trying to climb out of burger-flipping jobs into entry-level clerical work. They are not going to be in a position to influence IT strategy. Good or bad, it's simple reality that schools need to prepare students to earn a living, and it is standard practice by every major manufacturer of computer products to offer academic editions/discounts, so the existence of Student & Teacher edition hardly undermines the fact that Works has always been the product Microsoft intends for the low end of the market.

If we were talking about a 3 year stretch, maybe even 4 or 5 years, I might be willing to believe that Microsoft shipped Works as a joke, a smokescreen to hide their true Office intentions. But we're talking NINETEEN YEARS including steady upgrades and pricing which isn't that much higher than the price of a boxed OpenOffice CD from typical sellers at http://distribution.openoffice.org/cdrom/

As true as true will ever get. Unfortunately the drum-beaters can't or won't take the time to read such an argument.

err, it's not on usenet =[ come on guys get uploading!

"Gone gold" and "Release To Manufacturer" only mean the product has been finalized and they're preparing to mass-produce it... it hasn't even been shipped yet.

MVLS says it's down this weekend for quarterly updates. I hope that means office 2k7 will be available there on Monday.

*edit*

Nevermind that, I just checked again and I already have Office 2007 and Vista keys listed on the site. b'dass!

Maybe not on your usenet... :p

http://www.winsupersite....e/office2007_rtm_17.jpg

Just that they spent time invested in changing the way Word *looks* tells me that they seriously were hunting around for features to add. Really now, Word needs little, but it certainly doesn't need to look different than windows!

it looks good on huge LCD screens.
Although I do agree with that it should have a consistent look with Windows, but maybe they are trying to make office and windows as far as possible, considering Office is sort of the monopoly of word processing... I'm not saying openoffice is bad or anything, but hey, it's free.

You should try it. The UI enhancements make sense. I don't think it's so much that they were "hunting" for features, but rather, they were making it accessible. They added a lot, but the GUI is more than just a new skin. It makes you faster, and that's a good thing.

but it certainly doesn't need to look different than windows!

Have you run it in Vista? The Look&Feel is quite fitting. You don't actually expect them to design the app to fit the GUI of an OS they're phasing out, do you?

Why would anyone want Office 2007? That depends. If you spend all your time in a Word and/or Excel to the exclusion of other apps, then maybe 2007 will be worth your time and money if you use its expanded features. If not, then OpenOffice is by far the better choice with its superior document handling abilities and more accurate and extensible academic features. If you're a current or long-term Microsoft Office user, then expect the learning curve to take some time to find everything. To help with that task, here are two interactive guides:
— Word 2003-2007 command reference guide
— Excel 2003-2007 command reference guide

I'm writing an extensive word processor review for DonationCoder.com that will publish in December, and to answer dhjdhj's previously posted question below, go get the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, PowerPoint 2007 formats at http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/converter.mspx. This will allow you to keep using Office 2000, 2002, and 2003 with 2007's Open XML formats through Office's next upgrade, presumably in 2009. As for what's new, check out the Microsoft Word Team blog, which holds this upgrade is focused on five things:

(1) Quick Styles Sets
(2) Document Building Blocks
(3) Content Controls
(4) Themes
(5) Live Preview

If you like Microsoft Office, I suspect you're going to love Office 2007. If you're sitting on the fence, then choose an alternative or bide your time. Just realize you're going to have to unlearn a lot of things before mastering Office 2007!

I choose MS Office in my office, on the contrary, I choose OpenOffice at home.

That's because I have to create .docs for others to read in office, but I don't have to at home.

I've found OpenOffice very suitable for creating .DOCs. Only times I've had problems is when I tried to paste MS Visio stuff into an OOo Writer .DOC and then e-mail it to someone. I suppose I was asking for it though. :)

For some screenshots...

http://www.tgdaily.com/p...s/gallery-20060619.html

And... "Office 2007 pricing is set to range from $149 for the student edition to $679 for an "ultimate" package."
$150 not $250
http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/11/06/office_2007_rtm/

can you tell me the system requirements please?

The following into google ... (www.google.com)

OFFICE 2007 system requirements

top listing ...

http://office.microsoft....cts/HA101668651033.aspx

Google for a man, and he'll have the information he needs at that moment.

Teach a man to Google, and he'll start thinking he's an expert on everything.

/sarcasm

At 250 dollars for the "cheap" version how can microsoft justify that? I mean they bleed the mom's n dad's of the world just so there kid can get what their teachers or school recommend. Then you have corporate entities, government agencies etc.

There really is no idea how man people use openoffice or other alternatives of office. I know eventually the free versions will catch on, just like firefox did.

I get your point, but the firefox comparison doesn't apply. Firefox did not catch on because it was free compared to IE which was also free or Opera... which was also free (all web browsers are free... bad point). Firefox caught on because people that knew, were recommending it to people who didn't know, as an alternative to the outdated and insecure IE6.

The issue with the free office products (which I haven't used myself so I don't know if my speculation is correct) is that they are lacking in usability or features for the product that people pay good money for and better have all the features in the word and make my life way easier. When money is the motivation you will make your product better. If no one will pay you anyway, who cares how good you make it cause hey, it's free! Better than nothing!

"There really is no idea how man people use openoffice or other alternatives of office. I know eventually the free versions will catch on, just like firefox did."

I highly doubt it, if it every caught on, it will start with those very small firm. Big corporation hardly change. It will take a lot time and resource to re-train everyone to the new interfece. They cannot afford it. They are better off paying for a new version of the same product.

lol this has nothing to do with poor people needing word so they have to get office... this is for top dawgz, the corporates who will use all these features.. chill the f|_|ck out

This is great news. As a small business admin and teacher, I use office tools to help students with assignments and communicate with them down the road. Thank you for this report.

A Ryan Thompson
TEFLocal ESL office

You should push openoffice.org forcing the parents to buy microsoft's office just because of teachers like you. They should be taught that microsoft isn't the only player in the office space.

At 250 dollars for the cheapest possible version that is student and teacher edition whats the point? woo it has a pretty blue dumb dumb interface. The best thing I bet is the 250 dollars at a minimum your bank account is lighter and microsoft's bank account is that much fatter good job!

There is noreason for it, use office 2003 or xp even you can get it on ebay for dirt.

And you will be able to do the same for office 2007 once released. Stop your whining.

Stop your whinning and do something about it. He is doing what's right for his student. Do you think corporate america give a **** if you put down you know know openoffice on your resume when they want someone who know Excel and Access?

"In addition to bug fixes and performance improvements, Office 2007 RTM includes several updates, including a SMS text messaging application, localization, and multi-language support."

And when and how were these tested? Shoved in at the last minute, AFTER beta and RC testing were complete?

Office 2007 is probably the first version of Office that I truly enjoy using. Word 2007 is absolutely great, and so is Outlook. I've been using the beta for quite a while now with not too many issues.

Definitely worth it, for once.

Already on the USENET.

Heh... Highly doubt it's hacked yet though. Probably be unusable shortly after install.

..at least until it *does* get hacked.

So what are the legitimate reasons for anyone running office 2003 to upgrade to this?

There are several reasons, one of which is the new interface. While it may seem difficult at first (as it did to me), the new strips actually have me using more functionality than I did before because the features aren't buried in menus.

In addition, the new file format, which is a renamed Zip file of an XML folder and file structure, is utterly alien to Office 2003. The new format is smaller and handles more features (and this is coming from someone who sees almost no difference between Office 97 and 2003).

Outlook has changed little, and oddly is about the only app to do so. There's a nice little calendar/todo sidebar on the right of the Outlook 2007 window, but that's the most visible change. OTOH, a not-so-visible change is finally ditching Word as the default editor, merging the rich text editing functionality directly in so as to not be such a resource hog.

Overall, this is probably the biggest change in the Office suite ever -- but keep in mind the size that comes with it. It's larger than Office 2003, though I will wait for the final release to be available through my company's EA before I provide final comparisons.

Hmmm, let me ask the question another way? What am I going to be able to do that I can't do in Office 2003? I understand there's a new file format, but why would I (or most end users) care? It seems to me that the majority of users in the world barely scrape the surface of Office's functionality - so what are users suddenly going to want to do that will make Office 2007 a worthwhile upgrade?

I haven't seen Office 2007, I don't know what the ribbon actually does - but I know how to make a word be bold, italic, red, superscript, etc....I know how to format paragraphs, do borders (use style sheets and equations, etc) sowhat am I going to want to do that requires me to upgrade?
In other words, what are the significant improvements in functionality that make it worthwhile to upgrade?

The interface is completely different. There are, for most intents and purposes, no more menus. Yes, you can italicize, bold, etc. But the ability to use columns, drop caps, tables, etc, has actually been made easier with the new ribbon layout. These are often out of sight, out of mind with older versions, but are presented pretty clearly with the new.

How much new functionality? Not terribly much. There is some, including significant improvements in the security of protected docs and some new features in forms, but it's mostly a UI change. I think it's worth testing at least, and eventually Microsoft will get around to posting the trial versions. Check it out then, but when you do, use it for a couple of weeks before deciding. If it works for you, then upgrade. If not, keep using what you have. I will not berate you for it.

"In addition, the new file format, which is a renamed Zip file of an XML folder and file structure ..."

Actually Microsoft doesn't use "real" XML they use their own bas****ized version which requires their "magic pill" to decode. Like so many things which Microsoft does you won't be able to fully leverage them unless you're using Microsoft stuff to do it (in this case the latest version of Office). If you upgrade to Office 2007 and choose to save your documents in their "XML" format you won't be able to share your documents with anyone who is using an older version of Office, period. They will have to upgrade to read what you've created. Just as Microsoft wants it.

You are better off to stick with Office 2003 and save your documents as Word documents (.doc) or use OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org) to save your files as actual zipped xml (ISO Standard) documents. If you send them to someone who's using Microsoft Office they can at least download and install the cost free OpenOffice program to read what you've written.

You just saved them hundreds of dollars and didn't force them to upgrade - just because you did.

This is exactly what Microsoft has been struggling with for years. People don't upgrade. No matter how hard they try, people find the existing version of Office adequate for most tasks - they see no reason to waste money so they stick with what they have.

That's why so many PC channels include "bundled" versions of the latest Office Suite. This way a person brings their computer home (or has it installed at work), creates a document and sends it to a poor unsuspecting individual who will be forced to purchase the latest version in order to read the latest (in this case "XML) documents.

Microsoft seeds the need, creating lemmings where there were none.

Well yes, that's exactly my sense of it.

Yes, they're also often just not needed. More relevently, my 10 year old daughter has no problems creating columns, tables and so forth with the current version.

I just don't see the value in the new version....time to sell Microsoft stock (oh, I already did!)

---->These are often out of sight, out of mind with older versions, but are presented pretty clearly with the new.

Microsoft will provide readers for the new format for previous versions of Office as they have for every new release before. You will be able to open the new format in older Offices. You haven't been following this very closely, huh? No need to create worries based on incorrect speculation.

As I stated in a post above, with every new release of Office, MS has also released FREE converters or decoders or whatever you want to call them of the new formats so that you're current version of Office can open them. This is why people had no need to upgrade.

There are a lot of benifits, and new "abilities" in Office 2007 that would help in your consideration of upgrading. 1) the ribbon that everyone is talking about, changes dynamically based on what type of content you have selected or are editing.
2) The advanced tool tips (don't know official name) that instead of showing 1 or 2 words like "Bold" or "Columns" now have a few scentence description of what that tool is useful for.
3) Live formatting previews, if you have something selected and you want to change the font face, style, size, etc. you will see it changing on the page as you run over the options in a drop down list so you can see exactly what it will look like when you make the change. Huge time saver. I can't count the times I have had to pick a font, undo, pick another font, undo, pick another font, undo...
4) You can hide the ribbon to free up more space to see what you are working on, and then show it with one click and have all the tools avilable easily.
5) MS has said that the new formats are open for any program to work with them, so you aren't stuck using office 2007 to get the benifits to the new format.
6) The styles for charts and such have been modified to look more professional and not as ugly and blocky as they are in even Office 2003.

You might not see any benifit in what I have mentioned. There is probably more done to speed up the process that you already know how to do (i.e. fewer clicks to do what you want) than actually new features. I recommend using the trial versions.

You sir, are mistaken. No magic pill required other than a free download of the compleatly unencumbered standard over at ecma.

U can stop fudding now mmmK?

"Actually Microsoft doesn't use "real" XML"

Please show us real XML. XML by definition is developer designed, using schemas. Your comments show you don't really understand XML or schemas..

Good points, Martin. I think Office 2007 is great for someone who wants almost full-fledged desktop publishing including in their suite work; otherwise, I'm not sure the new features are worth the hassle. I'd argue in favor of the new file format long before I would the new features. But then, OpenOffice now has a universal ISO-certified format in their ODF, which means Microsoft Office's formats are second fiddle for the meantime.

How long after this is released do beta 2 users have before their installation gets deactivated? I like what they've done with Outlook 2007, I'm considering buying the retail version of that.

You'll get a much better value if you purchase the whole suite which will come with Word, Excel, Et Al. This is by design. C'mon - fork it over! You know you want to! Hahahahaha

28 February '07 is the die-date (I think) for the Office Betas.

Anyone know when MSDN Subscribers get this?

7 days later i believe

From MSDN
"Windows Vista and Office 2007 will be available through TechNet Subscriber downloads within 7 days of release to manufacture (RTM). TechNet Subscriptions is committed to making new content available to our subscribers as soon as is practical."

MSDN says within 7 days of RTM

Being a TechNet Subscriber, I am looking forward to the RTM version. Beta 2TR has been awesome. It sure improved my work environment.

Today is a good day to work at the IT department of a Microsoft Volume Licensee. November 30 will be better, but today ain't bad.

Amen to that!