Office-version

[XL-Dennis]

Hi all :hi

Here is a quick poll to see what the common office-version is among us.

Kind regards,
Dennis

[WillR]

"Multiple"

2K at work
2K and XP at home

[Zack Barresse]

i was using multiple {2k, '02} until recently - then upgraded the home pc. '02 all the way around now.

(also rather doubt i'm going to upgrade to '03 )

[Sphinx No. 4]

Office 2002 here.

Are there really any good reasons why one should upgrade to Office 2003? From 2000 or 2002 anyway.

[Anne Troy]

I run all 4 versions listed on my WinXP. :)

Hm. I see we need many more smilies. I'm on it.

[brettdj]

2003 at work

97, 2000 & 2003 at home.

I keep 97 handy so that I can make sure that my functions and code are backwards compatible. The lack of modeless forms is my biggest beef with writing code for 97

[Ivan F Moala]

@ Work > 97 & 2000

@ Home > 97, 2000, 2003

[mark007]

I'm on 2000 mainly (work + laptop) but 2002 on my desktop.


Office 2002 here.

Are there really any good reasons why one should upgrade to Office 2003? From 2000 or 2002 anyway.

As far as I'm aware the only real change is impoved security from 2002 to 2003 so not really. Especially as these changes are in areas that were already fairly secure as oppose to tightening up the ridiculously unscure worksheet passwords! From 2000 to 2002 the main change is smart tags which I'm still not convinced are that useful - but there you go!

The problem is Excel is top of the market by such a length that there is no competition - this is unfortunately stunting improvements.

:)

[Anne Troy]

I love Outlook 2003 compared to 2000....

:D

[SJ McAbney]

Doesn't vBulletin allow you the option to have Office Version as part of a user's profile so that it shows on screen like Location and Custom Member Title?

[mark007]

If it doesn't it should be possible to add. We could make use of the favourite app field i.e. rename to Office Versions and then display that just under location.

If it's thought useful I can look into it.

:)

[XL-Dennis]

Hi,

I can agree to it but I would also like to point out that it can defeat the wish that OPs add the version-information in threads and where this field has not been filled in/contain old information in the profile.

Kind regards,
Dennis

[SJ McAbney]

In my experience on other forums - mostly with Access - you do get people who ask questions regarding code which doesn't work for them. Typically, they are using DAO on an A2000 - or above - database when they should be using ADO or should have set a reference to DAO.

Being able to see at a glance what tools a user asking questions has makes it easier to respond accurately the first time as there are still people out there who use A97 and XL97 and there's no point in posting code that makes use of, for example, the Split() function.

Same goes for compatibility of uploaded files - you can see immediately what version they will potentially be presented.

[Anne Troy]

Feature added. :)

[Insomniac]

Using Excel97 for development at home all the time, have access to all other versions at work & family, but since work will probably still have some comps with only 97 for next couple of years need to maintain compatibility: a pain but neccessay & a good learning experience.

[Zack Barresse]

FYI, the feature Dreamboat is referring to is edited from your options (User CP link).

:thumb thanks Dreamboat!!

[Adaytay]

Developed business applications in 95 thru to 2002. :boing

Currently using: 2000 @ work :roll:

Have access to all versions listed @ home, although mainly use 2003 now - playing with it! :bug:

Ad.

[Cosmos75]

At Work: Office 2000 + Access 97 (I'm the only one who needs it)

At Home: Office XP (2002) - Developer Edition

I voted for what I have at home not at work.
:cool:

[SJ McAbney]

Spare a thought for me at my work. Our "hi tech", "always at the forefront of technology" IT that I was told about (and what sold me on the job) when I went for an interview last year was none other than some computers on W95, other W98, others W2000, and others WXP. Two versions of MS Office - 98 and 2002. It's a bloody nightmare. Half my stuff falls flat on its face in W95 as API calls don't work with it. :mad:

[Juan Pablo Gonz?lez]

Ok, that's it. We're all geeks in here.... how is it possible that 65% run multiple versions ??? lol... (of course, I'm including myself..). We should have a sub-poll then...

2 versions, 3 or 4. I'm in 4...

[50gumbys]

And now, for some lighter music..

We just went through a massive upgrade onsite (refinery) - for one thing, to get rid of all the different versions of Office. What a nightmare !!

We now run 2000 ('cause it was cheap!), Access & Project 2002. Next year we'll go 2002 'cause we'll have the licenses for it.

At home, I've got 98, 2000, 2002 on my laptop; 2003 on PC.

[Anne Troy]

Sorry. It's a limitation of this board to provide sub-polling functionality.
SOMEBODY GET US A CODER!!
LOL.

[XL-Dennis]

Juan,

I have both swedish and english versions of them all :D

(I assume You keep at least one version in spanish ;) )

Sure, I can also digg out version 2.1c, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 of Excel but only the swedish versions :boohoo

No wonder why MS Office is MS's cashcow #1 ;)

Kind regards,
Dennis

[shades]

At work: Excel 2002 and Access 2002

At home: Excel 2001 and Word 2001 (OS 9)

Just purchased Excel 2004 and Word 2004 (OS X)

[JackInTheUK]

Xp guys

Jack

[jamescol]

Office 2002 here.

Are there really any good reasons why one should upgrade to Office 2003? From 2000 or 2002 anyway.
Depends on your needs. Here are some awesome improvements for my environment: (LONG LIST!)

BIG PERFORMANCE REASON
Intelligent network detection
Local caching downloads all necessary information to your computer as it comes in?so you're not affected by network performance issues. When the mail server is unavailable due to network, maintenance, or outage conditions, you can continue to work without interruption.

AWESOME addition to Office
InfoPath 2003
Use Microsoft Office InfoPath? 2003 to streamline and control the gathering of information that your team or organization can reuse across processes and organizations. InfoPath provides support for XML, XML Web services, and custom XML schemas. Use dynamic rich authoring and built-in validation in a WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get") environment. InfoPath 2003 is available in Microsoft Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003. Read the InfoPath 2003 overview (http://www.microsoft.com/office/infopath/prodinfo/overview.mspx).

Outlook 2003 connectivity performance enhancements
Outlook 2003 stays connected even when you roam between network connections, making it easier to switch between working at the office or remotely. Outlook 2003 adapts for bandwidth availability. You can also choose when to download large messages, when to synchronize your Inbox and mobile device, and other ways to improve how you work in different networks.

Programmable task panes
Extensible Markup Language (XML) enables developers to create solutions that incorporate information from a variety of sources into Access 2003, Excel 2003, and Word 2003 files. Programs in Office 2003 Editions can automate virtually any task involved with creating files such as reports, spreadsheets, and forms. Using Office Professional Edition 2003, you can customize schemas and task panes to integrate with other programs or XML data sources.

Excel 2003 Visual XML Mapping tool
Use the visual mapping tool to map a user-specified XML schema to fields in an Excel spreadsheet. The visual mapping tool makes it easy to bring XML data into a spreadsheet.

Note The Visual XML Mapping tool is available in Office Professional Edition 2003.

XML support in Word 2003
Word 2003 supports customizable XML schemas, enabling you to open business documents that contain XML data and work with them like any other document. In addition, you can save and open XML files in Word 2003 to integrate with key business data in the organization.

Word 2003 editing restrictions
Lock down portions of Word documents to prevent anyone from editing sections they are not authorized to edit. Choose to allow others to make changes with revisions marks, or make the entire document read-only.

Word 2003 formatting restrictions
Lock down a document through the Protect Document task pane. Give coworkers permissions to edit content in a document, but not any of the styles that make up the document formatting.

BIGGIE!!
Information Rights Management (IRM) in Office Professional Edition 2003 files
Help reduce the risk of having confidential e-mail messages and files fall into the wrong hands, whether by accident, carelessness, or malicious intent. Specify who can receive files and set restrictions on copying, forwarding, or printing them. IRM functionality is available in Excel 2003, Outlook 2003, PowerPoint 2003, and Word 2003.

IRM document expiration dates
Give your files an expiration date, after which they cannot be viewed or shared.

IRM organizational policy templates
Create custom templates, geared for specific use, that help protect files. For example, an organization can create a company-wide "confidential" template that helps protect sensitive documents and e-mail messages from unauthorized use.

E-Mail Desktop Alerts
Announcements inform you immediately of new e-mail messages coming in, no matter which program you are using. You can open or delete the e-mail message from this notification window.

Arranged By conversation
Along with grouping messages by date, size, subject, and other criteria, Outlook 2003 offers a "Conversation" option. Catch up on e-mail using a conversation-oriented view that shows only unread or marked e-mail and the specific messages that are being responded to.

Research and Reference task pane
Do research without leaving the program in which you're working. The Research task pane brings electronic dictionaries, thesauri, online research sites, and proprietary company information into Excel 2003, Outlook 2003, PowerPoint 2003, and Word 2003.

Word 2003 Reading Layout view
The Reading Layout view makes it easier to read documents online. It optimizes the document for reading on screen, including larger text, shorter lines, and pages that fit exactly on the screen.

PowerPoint 2003 Package for CD
Package a PowerPoint presentation to a CD for broader sharing or distribution. When the recipient inserts the CD into their CD drive, the presentation automatically launches in slide-show mode using the improved PowerPoint Viewer.

[Paleo]

Using 97 and 2003.

[The Tamer]

Work: Office 97, Outlook 2000
Home: Office 2003 (including Outlook)

[mdmackillop]

Work: Office 2000

Home: Office 2003

Regards,
MD

[Ken Puls]

Work: Office 97 & 2003

Home: Office 2003

[countingapples]

Depends on your needs. Here are some awesome improvements for my environment: (LONG LIST!)

Those are all the reasons that we upgraded all users on our network from the assorted versions (97-02).

At home I have 95, 2000, 2003. I put 95 on the kids' homework computer to keep them out of mine. :devil:

[shades]

I put 95 on the kids' homework computer to keep them out of mine.

I thought it was the other way around: they would put the older software on the "old" people's computer, so they would stay out of theirs!?:rotlaugh:

[Zack Barresse]

I thought it was the other way around: they would put the older software on the "old" people's computer, so they would stay out of theirs!?:rotlaugh:
I see it's nothing new to you, eh? :winking2:

[Paleo]

Gee, I think I would do the same. Giving the old one for the kids...:whistle:

[Brandtrock]

Home is work for me, so ...

Wife's PC Office 2000
Kid's PC's Office 97
My PC Office 2000 and 2003 once Anne MADE me get it :rofl !!!

[Scottie P]

I see it's nothing new to you, eh? :winking2:

Heh-heh!!
Nice one! :devil:

[countingapples]

I haven't put any on my laptop yet.. thinking of going dual boot w/linux and using the open office and excel viewer for anything I take along with me. :think:
Work can just give me the use of one of theirs if they want me to take anything along on a business trip. :devil:
I figure my kids can learn at the beginning just like the rest of us. :evillol:

[Ken Puls]

FYI, OpenOffice does not support VBA macros. Once it does, I may switch, but until then it's way too expensive for me to convert! (Even as free!)

[Scottie P]

FYI, OpenOffice does not support VBA macros. Once it does, I may switch, but until then it's way too expensive for me to convert! (Even as free!)

With the latest version of CorelDraw (12) I notice more and more that Corel has done quite a bit to integrate with MS Office VBA, including expansion of VBA use within CD itself.
Helpful and Interesting.
Leads me to think (at least at a cursory level) that OpenOffice would be (or has been) looking at this as well. But with the move toward (umbrella phrase->) .NET Technology (by MS)...is it worth it for OpenOffice to pursue the course?
Interesting point of curiosity; dunno. :dunno

Lets ask MrExcel! :devil:


:think: Addendum: http://api.openoffice.org

[Ken Puls]

It does have a macro form of some kind... just Basic, I believe, but does not support actual VBA. As I remember, it just comments every line of your code. That of course is fine if it doesn't understand it, but it's a permanent change. You bring it back to an MS program and the comments remain! :doh:

I believe that OpenOffice support XML though, so maybe they think that is the future? :dunno

[Paleo]

FYI, OpenOffice does not support VBA macros. Once it does, I may switch, but until then it's way too expensive for me to convert! (Even as free!)


Hi Ken,

openOffice supports a macro language based on VB too but its terrible.:devil: Very hard to program and I just dont know if someday they are gonna make it good at all...:dunno

[countingapples]

I know that Open Office doesn't have any worthwhile macro capability. :yes If I'm taking spreadsheets with me on a trip, then work is going to be giving me one of their laptops with a full MS Office install! :whip But for my personal laptop, it's more for my fun and games.. so anything that I would be doing OO and the excel viewer would work until I got home to my main machine where I can programme to my heart's content. :cloud9:

[Paleo]

I know that Open Office doesn't have any worthwhile macro capability. :yes If I'm taking spreadsheets with me on a trip, then work is going to be giving me one of their laptops with a full MS Office install! :whip But for my personal laptop, it's more for my fun and games.. so anything that I would be doing OO and the excel viewer would work until I got home to my main machine where I can programme to my heart's content. :cloud9:

On which language do you programm?

[countingapples]

I'm learning vba as I go... and boy to I have a long way to go! :rofl Which is why I don't even attempt to answer q's right now.. I just read and learn as I go.

[XL-Dennis]

Hi all,

Nice to see that the thread is still alive :thumb

For those of You who want to check out an interesting spreadsheet-software should take a closer look to GNumeric.

But please note that it's only available on the Linux-platform:

http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnumeric/

As for the VBA-part there are no indication that it will be adapted by any of the alternatives and therefore they will not compete with MS Office on the Windows-platform within organisations that develop their own solutions.

At first glance this may look as a major drawback but keep in mind that there are many organisations and users that rely only on the built-in functions.

Professional I use MS Office but privately me and my family only use Linux and OpenOffice. I can't afford to buy licensed software to the family in order for them to write documents, send e-mail, access to the internet and play.

Kind regards,
Dennis

[countingapples]

Thanks for the gnome link Dennis.. I'll definately give it a try :yes . It should certainly save me the bother dealing with open office.

[Ken Puls]

I can't afford to buy licensed software to the family in order for them to write documents, send e-mail, access to the internet and play.

No kidding. Gets pretty expensive these days doesn't it?

That's why it's nice to see the open movement though. I'm figuring that whenever I get a new PC, I may just convert my wife to a Linux desktop of some kind (I have a copy of Suse), Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice. Should be able to do pretty much everything she needs with that.

Couple of questions for you though, Dennis...
-How is it for gaming for the kids? Are most games Linux compatible?
-What Linux desktop flavour (platform) do you use? Suse, Red Hat...?

Cheers!

[XL-Dennis]

Ken,

In addition Linux offer me a possibilty to keep "old" hardware longer then what Windows offer.

Linux offer games as well but can't compete with the Windows-platform but my kids are not any gamers so I guess I'm a little bit lucky.

I would recommend http://www.mandrakelinux.com/ which is a friendly version and gives You a good installation-situation as well.

countingapples,

Nice! Let me know what You think about it.


Kind regards,
Dennis

[Ken Puls]

Cool, thanks Dennis! I'll keep it in mind as I'm hoping to upgrade sometime this year.

:hi:

[Paleo]

Are you all aware of Open Office risks after Sep 2004?


http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,117793,00.asp

[XL-Dennis]

Carlos,

I already got a legal issue with MSFT so one more doesn't matter ;)

Except for that I find articles like that to be too speculative.

Kind regards,
Dennis

[Bob Phillips]

I have just bought a new laptop. Of course it comes with Windows (XP Pro, with a free Vista upgrade in the new year), and I have 2000, 2003 and 2007 RTM on it. I was thinking of creating a dual-bootable machine with Linux (Mandrake was the one I would opt for). The thing about Linux is that I think it has gon backwards over the past 2-3 years. Before that you would have thought that Linux was really going to make a significant difference, now even the penguins don't claim that.

Once I get into my new office, I will have more machines, and a whole raft of development and testing machines.

[anandbohra]

Hi Friends
I am using Office 2003 & Office 2007 both at the same time

[untitled]

I go back as far as word 6, and before that wordperfect

I used to use a word processor on my old BBC B? back in the day.

now i have 2K7 @ home and 2K3 at work.

I miss the excel easteregg.

[Zrob]

I use office 2003