To Update or Not to Update? That is the Question

Have you been wondering whether or not you should update your version of MicroSoft Office to the new 2007 version? Do you really need to? What’s so different with the latest version? Do you just have to have the latest & greatest? Curiosity getting the best of you?

Before you go digging into your wallet, let’s have a look-see at what’s inside that nifty new orange box. While there are numerous suites available (Basic, Home & Student, Standard, Pro, etc.), I personally opted for Ultimate because I wanted to tinker around with Groove, OneNote, and InfoPath. For this conversation though, we’ll just stick with the basics as they apply to the most common applications like Word, Powerpoint & Excel. If you want to dive into some of the newer applications like Groove or InfoPath, check out MicroSoft’s website.

So, what’s new for 2007? The first thing you’ll notice is that the overall user environment is a little different with all the 2007 applications. (Duh! It’s a new version; they gotta switch things up a bit!) I must say, it’s taken me some time to figure out where most of my favorite icons/commands are. For example, instead of clicking “File” to access print or save options you now click a MS logo icon. Sure, things look & feel different, but the basics are still the same. It just takes a little time to get use to it.

Of note are some behind-the-scenes changes to Office that users should definitely be aware of. Office now uses an XML format for files, which reduces the overall file size. (Hint: Word 2007 documents save as yourfilename.docx, rather than yourfilename.doc.) This new feature is great if you send a good deal of large files via email. However, it does cause some compatibility issues with older versions of Office. If you update to 2007, you do have the option to save files in the old 97-2003 format. If you’re on an older version of Office, a compatibility pack is available from MicroSoft.

The best new features of Office 2007 are those that simplify the use of other modern technologies. One such example is that Word 2007 is blogger-friendly. You can now create new blog posts & publish them directly from Word. Just enter the login information for your existing blog(s) & off you go! For those of us who type out our blog posts in Word first, this is a great convenience! When you’re done typing, rather than saving the file, importing it to your blog platform, making any necessary adjustments, then publishing, you just click the ‘publish’ button inside of Word & you’re done! This feature is compatible with most of the common blog hosts like TypePad, Blogger, Sharepoint, and Wordpress. For me, that feature alone made it worth the cost of updating!

For more information on Office 2007 applications & their various features, visit the MicroSoft website.

About the Author: Sandi Johnson is the Founder of Virtually Yours, LLC, a Virtual Assistant practice specializing in supporting creative professionals by taking over the administrative tasks sucking up their time & blocking their creative energy, thus enabling them to once again pursue their passion with zeal. Sandi is a member Virtual Assistant Chamber of Commerce, as well as managing editor for the Technology section of the VACOC’s weekly ezine, Gritty Business Buzz.

Copyright © 2007-2008 Sandi Johnson, Virtually Yours, LLC; all rights reserved. You may print this article for personal use, or republish it only if it is left unaltered in its entirety, with all links made active. If published, please email the author with a link to the article. Contact the author directly for other permissions.