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280 of 300 found the following review helpful:
 Wait for this upgrade -- Important Things to Know Mar 28, 2007
By Bruce D. Namerow
Normally I might wait to install a new software upgrade, but I just got a new laptop and thought it would be best to use Office 2007 with the new Vista operating system. I was wrong.
You would expect that a multi-billion dollar company like Microsoft could put out a powerful and bug-free piece of software. But after a month of using Office 2007, you get the distinct impression that this software is not ready for public release. Microsoft should be ashamed.
I don't know the root cause of my problems, but I have to stress that I am running a clean install of Office 2007 on Vista, so there shouldn't be any software conflicts or issues.
So what are my issues? The list is long:
-- My biggest concern is that MS Word constantly hangs and stalls. It can making editing a document very painful. I suspect the problem is when I put images or Visio diagrams into a document. But that is something the old MS Word was able to do without an issue. Oddly, if I have a colleague open the document and save it out in Word 2003, the problem goes away! What?! It's killing my productivity.
-- When ever I cut and paste from an old document, Word hangs for 15 to 20 seconds. And often the formatting and margins in my new document go haywire. I keep having to spend a ton of time fixing things. This never happened in the old Word. This is another time killer.
-- Every few days, Outlook 2007 starts telling me that it cannot display my email folders. Uh oh! I have to completely restart my computer to see my email again.
-- Outlook 2007 breaks many graphic emails that people send -- they look like a mess. It is because Outlook 2007 does NOT render HTML correctly since it uses the Word engine, not Internet Explorer to display email. I have no idea why Microsoft did this, but they have got to fix it.
-- Many of the issues in the old Word 2003 still haven't been fixed. If you place an image, it can often be hard to get it to appear correctly. Why can't they solve this one?
-- While most Office programs have the new ribbon interface (which I like), some programs like Visio 2007 do not. So you have to remember how to use two interfaces. Couldn't Microsoft find the time and money to update ALL its programs? Give me a break.
-- On a few occassions in Visio 2007, my files have failed to save correctly. At first I thought this must have been my fault, but it's happened to me a few times and can't be a coincidence. A few times I've gotten an error message and lost my work. Ug.
-- Word and Excel 2007 use a completely new file format. So anyone you send a document to has to have 2007 installed (which isn't likely the case). To get around this, you can save it down to a 2003 file format, but then you end up with two files on your hard drive -- one in the new format and one in the old format. What a pain! Also, there definitely seems to be an issue with Office 2007 opening older Office 2003 files. Could be the cause of many of my problems, but there is no way I can avoid using old files. They should have worked harder on compatibility.
There are good things about the new 2007. I do like the new interface design and the new features in Outlook 2007 are amazing for organizing tasks and sharing your calendar.
But I don't think it's fair that Microsoft released a product so full of serious, serious bugs that have cost me hours and hours of extra work. I didn't spend hundreds of dollars on a beta product and don't think the public should have to suffer. Surely they can afford to do better!
NEW ADDITION TO MY REVIEW:
Today I discovered that I can no longer paste Excel charts into Word like I used to. When I try, the chart goes in, but any bars/lines disappear.
60 of 71 found the following review helpful:
 Worth the upgrade Feb 13, 2007
By R. J. Walters
I have been using the Professional version of this software for about 6 months now. The beta version had some bugs but that is why it was a beta. I became fluent in MS Access while I was working in the corporate world and took that knowledge with me when i started my own business. I wish I had had 2007 when I developed all my software tools around MS Access. It would have greatly reduced my development time. The new interface takes a little while to get used to but now it seems second nature to me. I can even confidently do mail merges between apps. That is something I have always had trouble remembering how to do since i don't do it everyday. The only reason it doesn't get a 5 star rating is that I think the upgrade price is a little steep.
31 of 35 found the following review helpful:
 Comprehensive - But Maybe Too Much So Aug 14, 2007
By Electronic Gadgetphile
I needed to get a copies of Access and Publisher for my new laptop which was running 2003 Office Standard. After Googling around a bit I determined that Office Professional would give me these plus the upgraded to 2007 Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook applications with a host of other features including Business Contact Manager for about the same cost. The install was reasonably painless and the software activated and registered without any problems - not always the case with Microsoft but this time they seemed to get it right. After using the applications for a couple of weeks I am still trying to get used to the "Ribbon Bar" which is markedly different, somewhat intuitive and decidedly more comprehensive. The applications take longer to initialize and Outlook has become painfully slower but works. I am running it on a Sony SZ230P with Intel Centrino Duo T2400 1.83 GHz running XP Pro with 2 gigs of RAM so maybe it is underpowered. I did uninstall the desktop search agent which seemed to make the system more sluggish and have now improved performance a bit. I am reasonably proficient in the Office applications but probably only use 5-10% of the functionality embedded - but I carry the overhead on the system which, I believe, bogs the system down overall. Would be nice if MS would allow the configuration of various levels of sophistication during the install process depending on the needs of the user. In summary, I will continue to use the Suite and become more proficient in using the "Ribbon Bars" and hoping that MS will issue some upgrades that speed up the system overall until I can afford to upgrade the laptop to a faster processor.
18 of 19 found the following review helpful:
Excellent Upgrade Jun 01, 2007
By S. rich
Good or not, office, particularly word is installed on about 90% of all desktops. Word, Excel, Outlook, and Powerpoint have become the standard.
Having said that, Office 2007 is really an excellent upgrade.
For the first time, in Word, i find the options that i need to do my job.
The "ribbon" after a day or two is a big step forward.
The graphics, and the resizing of pictures and all images are excellent.
I am now moving beyond just producing document, and now producing really good looking documents.
Office 2007 stability has been good, no significant bugs.
This is a good product upgrade. And i guess $250 after five years of Office 2003 is reasonable.
Office 2007 is even easy to install.
I like this product.
24 of 27 found the following review helpful:
Steep learning curve Jul 04, 2007
By M. C. Seltzer
I deeply regret Microsoft Office Professional 2007 UPGRADEupgrade. The new ribbon means that I have to completely relearn commands that I have used effortlessly for years. Some users find the ribbon to be intuitive; to me it is cluttered and obscure. It has become a game in my office, when we are searching the first time for a command, to see whose guess will lead us to the hidden treasure. Unfortunately, in our intensely busy, deadline-driven office, we don't have time for this.
Especially disappointing is the lame Help, which I have finally abandoned. I've had to resort to Google-searches for the commands I need.
The only way I have been able to get any work done in Word or Excel is through the prior version's keystroke commands, which are still built in. But you have to know the entire series of keystrokes.
I feel betrayed by Microsoft. Such a sudden and dramatic change with so little support for users of prior versions has slowed my work to a crawl.
You would probably like Office 2007 if you are new to Office, if you tend to use just the basics or if you really like exploring new software. If you have invested a lot in using prior versions and just want to get your work done, be prepared to lose a lot of time. Either way, I strongly recommend downloading a trial version before buying it.
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![Microsoft Office Professional 2007 UPGRADE [OLD VERSION]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21n6-FjoiPL._SL160_.jpg "Microsoft Office Professional 2007 UPGRADE [OLD VERSION]")
![Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager [Old Version]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41pd9dbiVWL._SL75_.jpg "Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager [Old Version]")
