Warning AGAINST updating to Office 2007

[StanSz]

A respected friend and programmer of mine passed on the following info regarding Office 2007. Apparently Names are deleted in your previous work when the upgrade is done. Here's the complete text of his message for other's consideration.

"VERY IMPORTANT information about Office 2007:

I upgraded to Office 2007 a couple of weeks ago.

Today I called to RETURN the blasted thing!

This is the worst piece of software upgrade I have ever seen.


#1 Big bad mistake: If you used “Names” in Excel they all get deleted when you convert the workbook! For me, this would be MONTHS of work to rebuild them. Further, if you used Macros that referred to these names I think they are worthless too (this may not be the case, but I am not going to spend time on it to figure it out). I verified the above with MS Technical Support today.



#2 Big mistake. The file format changed. Old versions cannot read Office 2007 files. So, to communicate with the vast majority of users who have not upgraded you must save your work twice, once in the new format and once in the old format. If you don’t save in the new format, you lose new features and you don’t know WHAT THE HELL you are losing when you save in the old format…it just says you will lose “something”.



#3 Big mistake. They COMPLETELY CHANGED all the menus. It is VERY DIFFICULT to navigate around unless you use just basic function. There is a new tool bar at the top that is VERY FAT (takes up a lot of space). All the old file menus are hidden under a little circular Icon with the MS 2007 logo. When you click this you do see the File, etc. menus. HOWEVER, the functions in them are mostly GONE. Just the basics are there.



#4 You can now save a file as a webpage (you could before), but the new format is called “single file” web page. Guess what…no browser except IE7 can read these files. The old version is there, but now mandates a companion folder that previously was not required unless you had embedded pictures.



There are more issues, but I am RETURNING THIS PIECE OF CRAP TO Microsoft and I suggest none of you waste money upgrading.



Am I pissed, you betcha!"


Also apparently PowerPoint files done with Office 2007 cannot be viewed correctly with the PowerPoint Viewer.

Stan Sztaba



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[starl]

I have to disagree.
I've been converting many workbooks to 2007 and the Names are just fine.
Yes, the file format changed, but you can save in the older version file format.
The menus are very different, but after less than a week, you get the hang of it. And MrExcel has a great free tip card. I'm actually starting to agree with the new layout
don't know anything about the webpage.

I suggest people try it for a week and get their own opinion.
Now Word.. that's another story.

 

[SydneyGeek]

Now Word.. that's another story

Tracy, care to share the joys of Word 2007? I'm just about to install 2007 alongside 2003, so I get the choice, but I haven't been near any of the apps in real detail yet.

Denis

 

[starl]

Well, i'm working on updating my book for 2007.. and the other day I tried to do the text in Word, but i found it frustrating...
I like to see my styles.. I like to be able to have my cursor in text and easily see the style in the toolbar. I can't find as simple an option in Word. There IS a taskbar thingy, but it's huge..... so i'm working on the book in 2003 because I don't have the time to figure out if there's a better way.

that's my only grief. oh.. i did notice that it looks like MS is trying to get people away from print layout and to using the other layouts... small thing, but it just felt that way.

I suggest getting bills tip card. and his new book.. that book is fantastic! makes it a lot easier to dive into 2007.

sorry, haven't done much in word....

 

[SydneyGeek]

Thanks Tracy,

Sounds like MS is hiding more stuff in the interests of usability. I got frustrated with XP -- mail merges and styles were easier to work with in 2000, IMO.

I will get my hands on Bill's book though.

Denis

 

[starl]

There's explanations about the menu change - and once you read it, it does make sense... i mean, with the way the programs have been expanding, trying to find all the menu options....
but with these context sensitive ones, it's supposed to be easier. All i know is that it's 'not as bad as the first glance makes it appear.

except word. course, if i met someone who new the menu, maybe i'd change my tune... but the concept just doesn't seem to work as well to me..... to me, hiding the active style is like hiding the Name field!!!

 

[SydneyGeek]

to me, hiding the active style is like hiding the Name field!!!

Yep. Frustrating when you rely on them like I do. But maybe MS don't expect users to use styles. Mostly, when I show styles to people who have used Word for years, it's news to them. So maybe Marketing said "People don't use them much, let's hide them..."

Denis

 

[starl]

From what I've learned about Word, they expect people to use styles...too much doesn't work right if you dont' set them up right. They do show styles on the ribbon, but I have yet to see something that shows the *active* style.

 

[StanSz]

A further update..."the problem is when you convert an old workbook, it deletes all your named ranges. This is due to a “new” organization method. The same “new” organization method is also there for “Conditional Format” on cells. It’s hard to get used to.

ANYHOW, the real problem is the deleting of all named cells. You must go through and rename and/or reassign everything. For a workbook with 5 names on 1 or 2 sheets, no big deal, But, for a workbook like xxxx.xls with hundreds of names and lines of macro code it is nearly impossible.

I use names in nearly all my workbooks and don’t see ANYTHING NEW in Excel to give me a reason to upgrade. I only see problems."

 

[starl]

I still don't know what you're talking about. I've opened several 2002/2003 workbooks in 2007, saved as 2007 and my named ranges were still there! Both workbook and worksheet level.