Upgrading Micro$oft Office
~~Chad K. Welch
I briefly mentioned
last month
that I'd like to see a survey of how many people are using the different
versions of Microsoft Office. I use any of four versions depending where I
am. I'd also be interested in seeing the statistics of why people upgrade
(or don't upgrade) when they do. I think that "new functionality" would rank
low in the sampling. I know of people who buy a new computer every four or
five years and only upgrade their software at that time. On the other hand,
I have clients that require projects in the newest version shortly after it
is released, so they (and I, by default) upgrade as soon as the box hits the
shelf.
When deciding to upgrade, cost is a major deciding factor for most of us.
You've probably seen Microsoft's logo displayed as Micro$oft. The Office
products certainly carry a big price tag. Is the value worth the price? I
suppose the answer is different for everyone. The last few releases have
been primarily bells and whistles for the home, student or small office
users. Is the latest version of Office worth its price of $499*? I
think that it is, but are you willing to pay $329* simply to upgrade
from a previous version? That is something that you have to decide for
yourself.
I found a "bell and whistle" in Office 2003 that I was really impressed
with. It is called the Save My Settings Wizard (SMSW). When I brought it up
for the first time I had all sorts of ideas about how this could be a
wonderful tool. It saves all the application settings for all of the Office
products in a file which then can be restored at a later time or to a
different computer. My computer at work seems to enjoy randomly changing my
Office settings for some reason. I was excited that I wouldn't have to keep
restoring my settings manually.
As I went through the wizard I accepted all of the default settings. When it
asked me to choose a location to save the file I found out that a file
already existed with the same name. I didn't understand how that could be.
This was the first time I had run the wizard. Doing a little research, I
found that the file was created a couple years ago. My exciting "new
feature" wasn't new at all. It was part of Office XP and my have been part
of earlier versions as well.
I guess my point is that Microsoft Office is the best thing since sliced
bread, but upgrading may not be necessary for everyone. Installing a copy of
Microsoft Office should be a no-brainer for anyone, but do your homework and
make sure that the added features are going to be worth the price for you.
*Prices based on Microsoft's suggested price for Office XP
Professional on 6/14/2003.
http://www.microsoft.com/office/howtobuy/pricing.asp
Send me an idea that I can use in this column and I'll send you $5.00. Just make sure that
the subject contains the words "Idea for ABC," so that it will get past my
filters.
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Chad K. Welch works as a technician/enabler in
Utah. He is available for
consulting or application programming with Microsoft Office and VBA.
Do you have a question or
tip you’d like to have Chad address in this column? Send an
email to linda@personal-computer-tutor.com
or contact him directly at chad@welchkins.com for more information.
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