[Nimbus]

I am currently using Word 2002 as part of the Office suite.

On transfer from XP to Vista had to stop using Outlook because of Password
problems and Word 2002 was more of a problem than I was expecting to set up
to work on Vista. This was probably my fault and Word 2002 is working fine
now.

I have realised that I am very dependant on the initial installation disks
and have been heavily reliant on this discussion forum for helping me tidy up
my templates and macros. There will come a time, I'm sure, when I will be
forced to upgrade to a later version of Word.

Is it worth upgrading to a later version of Word and/or Office now? What
are te advantages and the risks. I'm getting an impression that 2007 is not
all sweetness and light. Is there some other discussion forum where these
issues are discussed?

[Jim]

FWIW, I recently researched this for my company. I found very few
compatibility issues between Office 2000/2003 and 2007. In word, I found
that some older graphic inserts in the docs appeared only as black squares in
2007. I had to re-import them into the 2007 doc.

I also found that Word 2007 ran considerably slower than previous versions.
I have a real muscle machine and I could notice the speed diff (scrolling,
panning in/out, global changes etc). With some of our slower machines, the
speed diff is a considerable handicap.

Learning curve is sizable too, especially for those not already proficient
in Word. A lot of the functions are the same, just getting to them is
altogether different.
--
Jim Hull
Technical Writer


"Nimbus" wrote:

I am currently using Word 2002 as part of the Office suite.

On transfer from XP to Vista had to stop using Outlook because of Password
problems and Word 2002 was more of a problem than I was expecting to set up
to work on Vista. This was probably my fault and Word 2002 is working fine
now.

I have realised that I am very dependant on the initial installation disks
and have been heavily reliant on this discussion forum for helping me tidy up
my templates and macros. There will come a time, I'm sure, when I will be
forced to upgrade to a later version of Word.

Is it worth upgrading to a later version of Word and/or Office now? What
are te advantages and the risks. I'm getting an impression that 2007 is not
all sweetness and light. Is there some other discussion forum where these
issues are discussed?

[Nimbus]

Thanks Jim.

Your input much appreciated.

One of the reasons I was considering an Upgrade?! was that the same version
of Word running on my considerably higher spec machine using Vista was
noticably slower than on my old XP machine. Do a save on Vista and you can
watch the rectangle disappear onto the bar at the bottom , whereas on XP it
was over in a flash. So concerned was I about this that I unistalled Office
and checked everything about my new machine and found that it was working to
spec. As soon as I loaded Office again it started slowing down. It seemed
that old Microsoft Word and new Microsoft Vista are not compatible.

If you say that Word 2007 is slower still it looks like out of the frying
pan into the fire.

How come such a good product as the old Word is becoming so cumbersome.
Dinasaurs disappeared because they couldn't adapt fast enough. Word will
disappear because they keep changing it.

And don't start me on Vista which to my mind is getting in the way of
efficient working not aiding it one jot.


"Jim" wrote:

FWIW, I recently researched this for my company. I found very few
compatibility issues between Office 2000/2003 and 2007. In word, I found
that some older graphic inserts in the docs appeared only as black squares in
2007. I had to re-import them into the 2007 doc.

I also found that Word 2007 ran considerably slower than previous versions.
I have a real muscle machine and I could notice the speed diff (scrolling,
panning in/out, global changes etc). With some of our slower machines, the
speed diff is a considerable handicap.

Learning curve is sizable too, especially for those not already proficient
in Word. A lot of the functions are the same, just getting to them is
altogether different.
--
Jim Hull
Technical Writer


"Nimbus" wrote:

I am currently using Word 2002 as part of the Office suite.

On transfer from XP to Vista had to stop using Outlook because of Password
problems and Word 2002 was more of a problem than I was expecting to set up
to work on Vista. This was probably my fault and Word 2002 is working fine
now.

I have realised that I am very dependant on the initial installation disks
and have been heavily reliant on this discussion forum for helping me tidy up
my templates and macros. There will come a time, I'm sure, when I will be
forced to upgrade to a later version of Word.

Is it worth upgrading to a later version of Word and/or Office now? What
are te advantages and the risks. I'm getting an impression that 2007 is not
all sweetness and light. Is there some other discussion forum where these
issues are discussed?