How is Office 2007 Better Than Its Earlier Versions?

I have had office 2007 for some time now and you don't even need to ask if office 2007 is better than previous versions. I am just going to say why I think it is better.

The best thing and most noticeable thing is the overall look, completely renovated. Instead of the grey background behind the white page in Microsoft Word, it now has a blue background with a lighter top left hand corner. This is the same for the other Microsoft Office applications.

Another thing I like is the ability to preview any changes you are going to make on the actual document before you make it by rolling over the option in the menu.

The new file format docx is a compressed version of .doc. This also consequently applies to the other Microsoft office applications, except for publisher. So for Microsoft PowerPoint the file extension is now in the form of pptx and Microsoft Excel is now saved as xlsx. Actually, the format for Microsoft Access is accdb.

The docx format is interchangeable with the format of a compressed folder, the zip format. To test this, simply change the file extension to Zip.

Another nice touch is the round menu button which has been used to replace the file button, from which you can make a new document, open a file, save in the docx format, save for office 97 to 2003 in the doc format. You can also print, send and publish the file from this button. The new loading screen is also better than the older white one.

With the new menu layout, you can now select a menu option and not have it disappear like on other versions. So for instance, on older versions if you clicked on the edit menu and you then clicked back on the page on which you were working, the menu would disappear. This does not happen in the 2007 version. So you can now choose a menu option and have it stay on.

One other improvement is the way in which Office shows the hotkey when you press alt. It shows you the hotkey next to the button itself.

The only Microsoft Office application which has not changed too much is publisher. It also has the nice glossy look of office 2007 but it does not have the ability to preview changes and even the background behind the white page is not significantly different.

The file format is still the same in publisher which also allows for easy distribution of work. So overall, the new Microsoft Office 2007 is better than earlier Microsoft Office Versions with compressed files, a better look. I've also been told that it loads faster than other versions; I have not noticed this improvement myself.

Microsoft could have added the function which Open Office has. I rather liked the function on Open Office that predicts the word you are typing if you have already typed it in that document. It predicts the word and you simply hit enter to insert it, you carry on typing if it is wrong. Open office is the name of a free office application with all the basics; a word processor, a database manager and all the rest. Not only does it open and save in the format for any office package like Microsoft office, and others.