Microsoft Office 2007 Upgrade Guide

This article is an overview of the most significant changes to the most commonly used Office applications. The main focus is on the improvements made by the Ribbon UI (UserInterface) and XML implementations, as well as their downsides to the average user.

Should I Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007?

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Microsoft Office 2007 is the most recent version of the popular office suite. While the decision to upgrade ultimately rests with you, there are many things to consider before making your final decision. Unlike the previous upgrades of the office suite, 2007 incorporates much more than just some new features and bug fixes. The first and foremost change you will notice is Microsoft's new "Ribbon" graphical user interface.

Microsoft's new Ribbon graphical user interface

 

As you can see from the picture above, Microsoft has done away with its fixed menu on the top of each window, as well as its hierarchical toolbars. The goal of this new interface is to give you all the options you would need in easily navigable tabbed browsing, thus doing away with searching through numerous menus to complete a task. Also new is the Microsoft office button in the top left corner. Not unlike the start button, this is where you can change your global options and settings for the program.

While the Ribbon is designed to give a faster, more intuitive method of navigating all of the Office suite, it comes at the price of a relatively steep learning curve. Those who find that they are using Office to make simple docs, spreadsheets, and presentations may find it better to wait a bit before upgrading, especially if working in an environment that focuses on strict deadlines. On the other end of the spectrum, users who have an extensive knowledge of Office 2003 and its features may also want to hold off a bit.

Customizing Office 2007 falls under two categories. There is a drop down menu called the Quick Access Toolbar. This can be edited in the Office menu by selecting commands that are used often and designating them for the toolbar. The second option allows the user to customize the look of the Ribbon of a single document of one Office application at a time, with the option of saving it as a template. This feature requires some extra software and an extensive knowledge of the Microsoft's RibbonX XML markup language. Keep in mind that even just knowing the markup language still limits customization in terms of the way one can change how the Ribbon functions. The third customization is available to developers to make third-party add-ins that can be installed by the end-user.

XML also brings with it a new form of file extension for Office documents created. You will be able to tell them apart by simply looking for the "x" at the end of the extension ( i.e. .doc becomes .docx, .ppt becomes .pptx, etc.). It is important to note that previous versions of office will not be able to open these new formats without a patch of some kind. Users of office 2000 and later for Windows can download Microsoft's compatibility patch.

Microsoft Office Compatibility

Users of older Office applications will not be able to open these formats. Also, Macintosh users will have to wait a while longer before a viable option is available to them. If you know that you will be sharing documents with people using older versions of Office, you can save a document in a compatible format by choosing "Word 97-2003 Document" under the "save as" option.

While these customizations may seem daunting, there is an assortment of new features available only to Office 2007 applications. These are listed in the table below.

Major New Features in Office 2007

Office Word 2007	Office Powerpoint 2007	Office Excel 2007	Office Outlook 2007
Contextual Spell Check Blog Authoring support for Blogger, Windows Live Spaces, and more... Preview formatting options in real time Automatic citation generator	Support for 3D rendered transition Preview themes in real time by hovering the mouse, one click to change a the global theme Enhanced features for Presenter View	Improved aesthetics on charts and graphs "Data Bars" - display a gradient in individual cells to graph their contribution to a group Icon sets allow users to display mini icons in cells to easily designate subgroups	Speedier search due to indexing To-Do Bar - Combine tasks from Outlook, OneNote, and flagged mail. To-Do Bar also integrates with calendar for scheduling Send and receive SMS text messages* *Provided Outlook Mobile is supported by your service carrier

There are many more features that cannot be covered in one web page. Microsoft's Office 2007 web site does a good job of going through demo videos of the software.