Basic Compatibility Issues in Office 2007
,----[ Quote ]
| This paper merely scratches the surface of Office 2007 compatibility issues.
| Many more issues exist that are application-specific.
|
| Organizations should avoid a mixed environment of Office versions at all
| costs, even if it means staying with a previous version until Microsoft
| addresses the compatibility issues.
|
| If Office 2007 must be deployed, then it should be deployed to users as
| rapidly as possible to avoid:
|
| *Risks of content loss
| *Increased training requirements and compatibility-specific end-user
| reference materials for BOTH Office 2007 and previous office version
| users.
| *Increased strain on I.T. support staff
| * Decreased realization of the benefits of the new features of Office
| 2007
`----
http://dearmicrosoftofficeteam.blogspot.com/
Related:
,----[ Quote ]
| Becta, the organisation that implements government educational technology
| policy, has claimed Windows Vista and Office 2007 should not be deployed in
| schools because of potential compatibility issues with earlier versions of
| Microsoft's software, as well as software produced by Microsoft's rivals.
| This view was reiterated on Wednesday in an update to a Becta report released
| late last year.
`----
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/itmanagement/0,1000000308,39292025,00.htm
Office 2007 may be Microsoft's Titanic: former Government IT boss
,----[ Quote ]
| Bill Gates has been talking up Office 2007 ahead of its business launch
| on November 30. However, the recently departed deputy CIO of one of
| Australia's biggest government Microsoft sites believes introducing
| the new version of Microsoft Office may be the company's biggest
| ever disaster.
`----
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/7234/53/
UK schools advised to avoid Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| "In the interim, Becta's advice to schools considering moving to Microsoft's
| School Agreement subscription licensing model is that they should not do so,"
| says the organisation.
`----
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/133436/uk-schools-advised-to-avoid-microsoft.html
Office 2007 downgraded to 2003
,----[ Quote ]
| It seems that there are people who really do not like the new interface and
| find it more limiting that what Vole was turning out four years ago.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/18/office-2007-downgraded-2003
Partners Fix Up Office 2007 and Windows Vista
,----[ Quote ]
| On Friday, Addintools, based in Hai-nan, China released Classic Menu for
| Office 2007, after more than six months of beta testing. The user interface
| enhancement does what Office 2007 can't: Revert to the Office 2003 look and
| feel.
`----
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/channel/partners_fix_up_office_2007_and_windows_vista.html?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535
Why Microsoft's ribbon sucks
,----[ Quote ]
| Bottom line, I have a lot of respect for Microsoft and many of the
| outstanding people that work there (e.g. Bill Buxton).
|
| But the new ribbon sucks.
|
| I've been using it daily for months (Word, Powerpoint, Excel), and I
| consistently stumble on the same functions over and over again. I doubt I
| will ever master it. And I'm an interface designer!
`----
http://www.dexodesign.com/2007/08/why-microsofts-ribbon-sucks.html
July 1: No more Office 2003 for OEMs
,----[ Quote ]
| It’s only been six months since Microsoft launched Office 2007 at retail. But
| as of July 1, 2007, Microsoft won’t be making the OEM version of Office 2003
| to its PC partners, a k a “OEMs.”
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft has told OEMs that they must stop selling Windows XP preloaded on
| machines as of January 29, 2008. Retailers also are required to stop selling
| XP on that date.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=519
Poor Design by Microsoft - "Save As" Button in 2007 Excel has been located!
,----[ Quote ]
| In an experiment 4 out of 5 users took longer than 2 minutes to find
| the SAVE AS button. And 3 of those users needed to use the PAPER CLIP
| (CLIPPY). This is clearly poor design upon Microsoft. They never think
| about the end user. The menu structure is horrific and it has been
| proven inefficient!
`----
http://www.fumbled.org/2007/04/20/poor-design-by-microsoft-save-as-button-in-2007-excel-has-been-located/
Bold Redesign Improves Office 2007 But Learning Curve May Be Too Steep for
Some Users
,----[ Quote ]
| "it requires a steep learning curve that many people might rather avoid.
| In my own tests, I was cursing the program for weeks"
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116786111022966326-T8UUTIl2b10DaW11usf4NasZTYI_20080103.html
Question: why do I need to upgrade to Office 2007?
,----[ Quote ]
| Much has been said and written about Microsoft's "bold", "gutsy",
| and "innovative" initiative of releasing Office 2007, an office
| productivity suite with a totally new user interface. However, the
| question that is bound to be on the lips of every user will be: "why
| do I need to upgrade?" Microsoft doesn't really have a good answer.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft, however, claims to have come up with something better
| and more intuitive - the Ribbon. Such a claim begs the question:
| "If the new user interface of Office 2007 is so intuitive, why does
| it have a learning curve?" And it does have a learning curve - a
| very steep learning curve.
`----
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8561/1023/
Office 2007 Review: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back - Part 1
,----[ Quote ]
| I've been using Office 2007 for a couple of weeks and I'm convinced
| that Microsoft missed an opportunity to change the way we relate to
| software by taking one step toward radical change, but ultimately
| failing when it came to implementation.
`----
http://byronmiller.typepad.com/byronmiller/2007/04/office_2007_one.html
Is Imitation The Sincerest Form of Flattery?
,----[ Quote ]
| As many as 8 of the top 10 benefits of Microsoft Office 2007
| provide capabilities that have already been addressed by Corel
| WordPerfect Office X3. Some "new" features of Microsoft Office
| 2007 have even been part of Corel WordPerfect Office for
| close to a decade!
`----
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?c=Content_C1&cid=1166553933785&lc=en&pagename=CorelCom%2FLayout&trkid=wpe0107ft
http://tinyurl.com/2key74
Microsoft: Word 2007 crashes are a feature, not bug
,----[ Quote ]
| Crashes in Microsoft Word 2007 are designed to improve security,
| says Microsoft
`----
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;377659799
A most ingenious paradox: make 1900 a leap year?
,----[ Quote ]
| I don't believe there's been enough discussion of the weaknesses
| gradually being uncovered in Microsoft's 6,000-page dump of Office
| behavior, which they are trying to call a standard.
|
| [...]
|
| To help Office to become a standard, one adaptation governments
| could make would be to retroactively declare 1900 a leap year.
| This would require updates to history books and other documents
| (for instance, V-E day would change to May 7, and the World
| Trade Center attacks would have taken place on September 10)
| but I'd like to see a cost comparison with the alternative that
| businesses dread: migrating to open document formats.
`----
http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2007/01/a_most_ingenious_paradox_make.html
|
|
