Improvements Throughout

How reliable is the suite? Since version 2003 Microsoft has really stepped up to the plate when it comes to reliability, the tradition continues with the 2007 release, since BETA 2 I have had minimal trouble maintaining the suite, except for cases where it was specific to it being BETA software, majority of those issues have been resolved. Just in case something goes awry you can run the new Microsoft Office Diagnostics, which replaces Detect and Repair. Other Office tools such as Document Imaging, Scanning, Language settings, Clip Organizer and Office Picture Manager are virtually unchanged. The performance of Office 2007 is great, applications launch and close quickly especially Outlook, they don’t get stuck in memory like they use to when exited.

The suite functions flawlessly on both 64 and 32 bit Windows, including the new Windows Vista, all applications except for some Server applications are still 32 bit. I was personally anticipating a 64-Bit Outlook to accompany the 64-bit release of Exchange Server 2007. Support for Windows 2000 has been dropped, so the cost to use the suite is Windows XP or higher, I personally don’t agree with this stance, since Windows 2000 still remains a reliable, dominant OS in the Enterprise and will continue be so for the foreseeable future especially for maintenance support contracts that last up to 2010. Grammar and Spell checking continues to be a hurdle, my Beta 1 preview was heavily criticized for its poor grammar because I depended on Word to do both my spell checking and grammar. Even in the final version the issue remains, I hope the next release focuses heavily on improvements to this area. I also notice at times, Word will just switch from English Caribbean to English US; regardless my Local is set to Jamaica and English Caribbean in both Regional Settings in Windows and Office Language settings.

Back up and migration of Office settings remains a missing mystery, since Office XP, the Office Files Save My Settings Wizard helped users move over personalized settings and Dictionaries to later versions or additional installation’s of Office you might have on another PC, this is nowhere to be found in Office 2007, ‘bummer’.