Why It's Time to Upgrade to Office 2007 and the People Who Are Stopping You?

There are many reasons to upgrade to the new Office 2007. As I type this article in Word 2007, all I can think is how much I love the new ribbon design. How pretty? Of course I have more substantial reasons for why an upgrade is not only practical but also necessary at this point.

Let's face it; Office 2003 and earlier versions are out of date. Over the years as Office has evolved, it seemed as if Microsoft was constantly adding on without taking off any of the other unnecessary features. As a matter of fact, Word grew from 2 toolbars and 100 commands in its first release in 1989 to over 1,500 commands and 30 toolbars in the 2003 edition. With Office 2007, Microsoft went back to the drawing board, giving the programs a much needed Spring cleaning. Office 2007 doesn't look, or feel, like your same old Office.

With Office 2007, you can choose how diverse you need it to be based on your needs. With eight different editions, you don't have to be bogged down with unnecessary fluff if you don't need it. It makes it easier to accessorize how little or how much as possible. There is Basic, Home & Student, Standard, Small Business, Professional, Ultimate, Professional Plus, and Enterprise. Analyzing your needs and choosing the right package may take some work beforehand, but once you do you will be happy that you didn't pay the additional money for features you will never use.

While we are talking about money, pricing for Office 2007 is very close to Office 2003. In my opinion, Microsoft took a huge step up when they developed the 2007 version and I was worried that I would have to really come out of my pockets for this completely redesigned software package. I was pleasantly surprised when I only had to pay $239 for an upgrade of the Standard edition.

All of this and I haven't even touched upon the new features that make my life better and my projects more attractive. SmartArt, building blocks for Word, new templates for Access, new themes, new charting features in Excel, custom layouts for PowerPoint, and Word's Quick Style are just a few that has allowed me to be embellished with compliments from my boss.

If for nothing else, the ability to use XML as a file format would sell me on Office 2007 alone. This provides for more compressed files, allowing more compact sizes. Now Office 2007 files aren't restricted to only Office applications; the power of XML offers interoperability. Plus, if a part of your file becomes corrupted, the entire file isn't wasted because the components are saved as separate units.

I know what you are thinking. With all these great features, why people aren't upgrading as soon as possible; because of other people aren't upgrading. Unlike with other versions of Office, 2007 isn't automatically downward compatible. Microsoft does offer a free downloader that allows earlier versions to open documents created in 2007, but it is almost like pulling teeth to get people to do this. I can't tell you how many assignments for school or documents sent to other people were sent back to me because they couldn't open them.

Another reason people don't want to upgrade is because they are allergic to a six letter word, C-H-A-N-G-E. After finally mastering the earlier versions, and hearing how new and different Office 2007 is, they are afraid to have to learn a new program. What they don't realize is that, because all the other fluff is gone, it will be easier to learn and operate the 2007 edition than it was with the earlier versions.

The main reason that my entire office can't dump 2003 altogether is that it isn't compatible with our outside software vendors as of yet. We rely on databases and reports sent from other companies; unfortunately, their software doesn't work with Office 2007. We will have wait until they update their systems before we can upgrade ours. This may be the case in your office as well.

Once you are able to upgrade your Office programs, I recommend that you do it as soon as humanly possible.