Living with Office 2010
With Windows 7 having been finalized, I realized that my main work set-up was utterly lacking in the unfinished software department.
Clearly, that couldn't stand. So, last week, I installed the technical preview of Office 2010 on the Windows 7 machine I have been using every day. For the foreseeable future, I'll be trying to see how the new applications stack up in handling my day-to-day work.
As for my early impression, I think my colleague Rafe Needleman said it best in a tweet he wrote earlier this week, while tying out the new Office.
"I wish Outlook/Office 2010 tech preview would do something weird and dumb so I could write about it. Sadly, it just works."
Microsoft has a tradition of internal testing of its products, which it dubs "dogfooding." Here at Beyond Binary, we like to do a bit of dogfooding ourselves, despite the fact we have two cats and no canines.
Although I have installed all of the main Office applications--Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, and OneNote, I really only use Word and Outlook on a daily basis.
The most noticeable change for me is in Outlook, particularly its new conversation threading feature. Although the concept is familiar to anyone who has used Gmail, it is quite powerful to see the notion applied to the hundreds of e-mail messages that land in my in-box on any given day.
I have a few minor quibbles. Office 2010 is good at bunching together e-mails even if the subject line changes, but its grouping has some false positives in joining disparate conversations just because the subject lines are the same. For instance, it tends to put all of my messages with the subject "Hey there" together, even though that's a standard subject line for me. Similarly, it puts all of my "(no subject)" e-mails together.
That said, I really like the feature overall. It definitely saves me time and makes finding those earlier messages in a thread much simpler.
On the Word front, there are features I am interested in trying out, but few that I have noticed in my casual use. Of course, my use of Word is somewhat atypical. I basically am only looking for a text editor with really good save capabilities. The first thing I do is turn off the smart quotes, hyperlinking, autocorrect, and all of the other features that help distinguish Word from, say, WordPad.
I wrote earlier about one feature I am excited about--paste preview--which helps one see what the different paste options will look like before you commit. That's helpful because usually what I want is the "paste unformatted" option (see above section where what I really need is a text editor), but every now and then I am looking to preserve more of the formatting and it is nice to see what I will get ahead of time.
As a photo nerd, I am also keen on playing around with the artistic effects that Microsoft added to Word. In the past, I needed Photoshop, or at least a program like Photoshop Elements, to do things like turn a photo into a watercolor painting. But now one can do that straight from Word.
Let's see, what else? I'm not a huge fan of the Ribbon, but given that it is here to stay, it is nice to see it has made its way into all of Outlook, as well as to OneNote.
I'm more fond of the Backstage view, which is new to Office 2010. Essentially a replacement for the file menu, the backstage view offers a more contextual and visual way to do tasks like opening recent documents, creating new ones or printing the document you are working in.
But the thing that I am most interested in, the browser-based versions of Office, I will have to wait a little bit longer for. Although Microsoft released the technical preview of the desktop versions in July, we're still waiting on the Web apps. The official word is they should be out in test form "later this summer."
If I were Microsoft, I'd work to get a Web-based Office out there pronto.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
There are many new features in Outlook that I absolutely love. It's about time Microsoft got their act together with this application. I would love to see them integrate many of the features we saw in Google Wave in the next version.
Back to the article at hand, I think that a vast majority of people in the work force use mostly Word and Outlook. Since most people out there stick to those two products, this is a very valid review.
Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning eh?
There is room for reviews looking at products from a wide range of points of view. I, for one, appreciated this example. Thanks Ina.
By the way, as pointed out elsewhere, it is also probably wise to be more careful with punctuation and sentence structure if you want comments to do with word processors to be taken seriously.
Anyway, would you happen to know if those "dudes" on the Redmond Campus sat down this time around with the "bankers" to know what functionalities are really needed in that spread sheet program of theirs; and, that they did not assume that functionalities that they have again included in Office 2010 are what "bankers" and other international folks that might be using Office 2010 need?
Thanks.
Commander_Spock
Apple charges you 2-3X for hardware over a PC.. then they include the OS for "Free".. its not free.. you paid for it just not as software... but as a surcharge on the hardware end.
So the fact that you are then charged another 29.00 or any amount for that matter, for essentially what is a patch, makes them even more expensive...
The reason that these commentaries always break out into catfights is because there is so much disinformation that it always strikes someones nerves when they know its an outright lie.. Apple's marketing has made a killing by spreading out and out falsehoods.. and I'm sick an tired of seeing it day in and day out. so when I see some dyed in Kool-Aid Apple apologist/self proclaimed messiah I will go out of my way to expose them.
How much is iWork'09? How much is Office? How much is Windows 7? How much is Snow Leopard? How much is Visual Studio? How much is xCode?
Feel silly yet? While you could argue that Macs cost a lot to buy (and I'm sure you will) Apple's software offerings aren't expensive.
Now what has ANY of this got to do with a preview of Microsoft Office 2010? And yes, I use both Mac and PC otherwise I'd not be interested in Office 2010 on Windows.
"Apple charges you 2-3X for hardware over a PC..."
No, they really don't. Not for EQUIVALENT hardware. They don't make a stripped-down model, but if you're comparing the same class of hardware (say, a Dell M1330 to a basic MacBook), you'll find the prices are very competitive. While Dell also makes a laptop for half the price, it's also half the speed, much heavier, and with half the battery life. If a stripped-down model is all you need, that's fine. Apple chooses not to compete in the low-end market. Claiming they "charge 2-3x for hardware" is disingenuous at best.
Mac doesn't charge 2-3x more, but they do charge a LOT more. It's not just simply that Mac doesn't sell stripped down versions either. I looked into prices when I bought my last PC and the Dell Optiplex had an extra GB of RAM, faster processor, AND almost twice the hard drive space. All other specs were virtually the same yet the Mac costs an extra $400 over Dell. So to say Mac is 2-3x the cost for comparable hardware is an exaggeration, but they're still a LOT more expensive.
At commander spock: I'm pretty sure not just DUDEs coded OFFICE 2010, i can be certain MS also has female coders working on the office team, and btw for theose complaining of the new ribbon, really? get over it, no one is forcing you to upgrade, keep OFFICE 2003 if you'd like.
Wow. Ok yeah, I understand Microsoft's products are much cheaper than Apple's. That being one of the many MANY reasons I use Windows over Mac. But even at the cheapest prices you quoted, that's still $269 which not all of us have to spend on software. I am going to try to save up and get them eventually though. Especially Windows 7! I love the RC and am dreading the day it stops working.
And you can not use office home & student version for commercial purposes. You can use 79 dolar iWork for commercial use. ( 99 dollars for family install )
Again, I'm not fanatic of any brand. My personal choice would be Mac OSx as operating system with MS Office 2007. ( windows )
I didnt use Windows 7 checked online for info and read peoples comments . I guess this time MS will deliver users a good stable and working system. I had no problems with XP but didnt like Vista.
And I disagree with any comment saying Apple charges 2-3 x times for hardware. ( but i ll agree for extra 100-200 dollars )
[CNET editor's note: Offensive language deleted.]
I don't care if you don't like the ribbon, I dont care if you are being forced to use office 2007, I especially dont care if your life is so empty and pathetic that it makes you feel better to complain on every review related to office.
Deal with it.
As for the comments about this approaching, if not encroaching upon, the concept of personal attacks... I get your views but personal attacks are uncalled for. Each person is going to have their own opinions, please respect them as you would expect of your own opinions.. If that requires you to go get a cig or a cup of coffee or whatever else then go do that.
@moonbeard- I'm sorry you don't like the ribbon, and I'm sorry your job requires you to use Office 2007.. if its making you so unhappy I think instead of lashing out in a public comment section, you should take this up with whatever member of your employment is responsible for the deployment of software at your job. :)
Or, if you drop the new Paste gallery, there's a clearly marked option to "Set default paste".
It's all right there. :-)
Quick question. Does Word still offer the Grammar check explanations? For example, if you set Word to check "Grammar & Style", will it highlight grammatical errors and offer an explanation?
This feature was changed in Word 2007, but is still present. It was completely removed from Word 2008 for Mac.
I would love to know if it is still there?
Thank you!
What I want to know is if this is worth the couple hundred $ per user suite-upgrade from Office 2007 or Office XP. For an office-wide upgrade, we're talking many thousands of dollars...
PowerPoint 2010 is here: http://blogs.msdn.com/powerpoint/
Salaries for idiot Vice Presidents, Analysts, and Programmers, millions - MS Office Standard 2007 (Full Version) $290 - alienating 90% of your formerly loyal user base with crappy software "dumbdowns", priceless!!
Ribbons belong in girls' hair, wrapped around presents, hanging from festive decorations, and tied around oak trees....they DO NOT belong in software.
Next question.
The ribbon works fine for MS Office, but forcing it on other developers is not a good thing, IMO.
Careful while upgrading OpenOffice. They're adding the ribbon pretty soon too.
Umm, that should be *trying* ? -- Unless you're having too much fun with those ribbons Ina.
(I hate those things, give me classic view) :)
My one concern will be user disruption. Office 2007 was a huge shock for a lot of users, and there are enough material changes in Office 2010 that I am concerned that my customers and their users are going to have a lot of heartburn over the switch.
Of course, hiding parts of the menu that you don't often use wasn't the answer. If you use something all the time, well (unless you're an idiot) you know where it is, so not displaying stuff the user uses infrequently means that it is only the stuff the user doesn't know the location of that's not displayed! Hardly a work of UI genius is it?
However the Ribbon has problems of it's own (and many of them) firstly where Menus need height in the display, the Ribbon needs width - which seemed like a good play given the PCs move toward "widescreen", but now looks bad given how many people use laptops or worse (NetBooks). The other huge problem is the graphical nature of the ribbon, it's fine for operations like "italic" not so good for operations like: "Save As". It also occupies a lot more visual space when not being actively used than the Menu Bar it replaced - again this is bad on a laptop. There is no space to display keyboard shortcuts. If you're used to the Menus well the Ribbon seems like change (and evil change at that) for change sake. The ribbon is also harder to manipulate with the keyboard, and harder for makers of screen readers (which might not matter to most people but is very important to some). It is good though that the Ribbon is now consistent across all the programs (some will like it, and if you're going to learn it you might as well have some reward).
If Microsoft have brought back the Menu in some kind of "classic mode" then that alone will help many users make the jump from Office 2003 to Office 2010 (and skip 2007).
So on balance I'd say I'm cautiously optimistic abut Office 2010.
http://blogs.computerworld.com/14510/its_time_to_get_rid_of_windows
"Uneducated comments from trolls always make for entertaining reading, but I wonder what such drivel is doing as an *article* in Computerworld?
Before blaming Windows, THINK. Which piece of junk OS was hosting Twitter when it crashed?
Anyway, we all know Computerworld keeps Nichols around because sub-moronic writing attracts comments and visitors like flies and they earn from the page views."
Keep the hate coming THS. I'm sure you'll win the world over from Microsoft someday. Maybe they'll even erect a statue for you
Apple die-hard fans will line up and chan "Where's my Office 20010? Where's my Office 20010?Where's my Office 20010?" all over the places
I have a hard time with the ribbon in 2007. I use Word and Excel all the time and I still find myself searching for the correct tab with the correct button that will do what I need to do. I just don't understand the organization of it all. It is much more confusing to me than when there were pull-down menus.
Spidey, you hit the nail on the head. If you used previous versions of Excel, the organization of the ribbon makes very sense. Aside from a few new cool, badly-needed features, everyone I know using 2007 thinks it's a POS.
- by ThatIsWhatSheSaid August 21, 2009 4:02 PM PDT
- Why make the freaking dog food so prominent? It hardly illustrates anything.
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