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(More customer reviews)After spending days reviewing everything I could find about Small Business 2007... from the videos at the Microsoft site, to reviews from the private sector, chatting with Microsoft pre-sales to ask all my questions, 1-800-426-9400, (about 7 times over 3 days) and the reviews on Amazon, I decided to take the plunge.
While reviews from some folks left me concerned about leaving Office 2003 behind after 3 years of heavy daily use, I pressed on.
I was glad for the tip about cutting through the clear tape (it's hard to see its there) around the hard plastic package in order for the red tape/tab to be pulled to open the box.
The install went great. Tip- if you have a previous version of Office on your machine, remove it from your system using the control panel-> add/remove programs. After the removal is complete, re-start your machine before installing 2007. (Some of the pre-sales folks at Microsoft told me 2007 would install over 2003.... wrongo!)
Initiating Outlook was easy. 2007 remembered all my settings from 2003 and all my folders, sub-folders, signature files and settings and installed them intact. Very nice. (I did make a .pst back-up from 2003 and didn't need to use it. I do think however, it's a good idea to have a back-up.)
I've already created some very cool graphics and training forms that I couldn't do in 2003. Probably a 'user deficit'! So I guess this bears witness to how intuitive the interface really is for me.
A lot of folks are bashing the new 'ribbon' interface and talking about it functioning slowly and it being difficult to use. This is not my experience at all.
I have only 512 MB of RAM on the XP OS and 2007 runs no differently than 2003.. no lag time or hour-glass waiting... even with changing between word - power point - and excel docs all open at one time. I guess it depends on what other programs you have running in the background- drawing off your RAM resources. I don't let anything run in the background except for my anti-virus program and printers. Everything else I open as I need it from my start menu. This is all in how you've configured your start up options as your computer boots.
The ribbon menus are very straight forward, and with mouse over tells you exactly what everything does. Also, if you're in word and want to do something you used to do in 2003 and can't figure out how, you can type this phrase into the search field inside word -> "Office 2003 Interactive" (without the quotes).
This will open a window in your internet browser that will have a view of 2003. You click on the menu selection or item you used to use in 2003, (right on your screen, this is why its called 'interactive') and it will show you what you need to do in 2007 to achieve the same task. That's pretty handy.
All in all I'm pleasantly surprised. I feel I made a good buying choice after doing my research.
My recommendation is to do your own research, and look at the videos Microsoft has available which demonstrates how 2007 is different. At least this gives you a visual.
http://www.microsoft.com/office/newday/default.mspx?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=DF7DDF87-E82B-4DFF-B637-7A7198470DCE
(If this link gets chopped up in the post, be sure to copy and paste the whole link into your browser.)
And:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/FX101635841033.aspx
Chat with the pre sales folks. If you have a question that is technical in nature and they can't answer it, they get you in touch with a technical expert specific to the program in office your inquiry is about, at no charge to you. Also you can always download a free trial, and if you don't like it at the end of the trial don't buy it.
I really felt a social obligation to write about my experience to help those who are on a 'due diligence journey' as I was. Hope this has been helpful. ;->
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Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 FULL VERSIONOffice Small Business 2007 is the complete powerful and easy-to-use productivity and contact management suite. It will offer new tools to help employees at small businesses work more efficiently and effectively so they can deliver better customer service. People will be able to organize all their customer and prospect information in one place as well as develop more professional presentations marketing materials and campaigns in-house.GeneralCategory:Office applicationsSubcategory:Office applications - office suiteLicense Type:Complete packageLicense Qty:1 userLicense Pricing:StandardDistribution Media:CD-ROMPackage Type:RetailHeader / Localization:EnglishPlatform:WINSystem Requirements / OS Required:Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or later Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or laterSystem Requirements Details: Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or later - 500 MHz - RAM 256 MB - HD 2 GB; Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or later - 500 MHz - RAM 256 MB - HD 2 GBUNSPSC CodeUNSPSC Code:43231513Product IDUPC:882224263597Manufacturer Part:W87-02380
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