Is Microsoft having a hard time selling Office 2007?

[marmar]

Last week, I got a notice that it was my ABSOLUTE LAST CHANCE to renew my trial subscription at the discounted price.....

Today I got an email showing a new discounted price, $10 less than the last final offer price.


When it gets down to free, I'll buy it. :think:

[havocmom]

1. openoffice.org

:hi:

[marmar]

3. thanks for that link.....

[Davis_X_Machina]

4. NeoOffice for the Mac...

...same basic code. I haven't used MS Office in six years, more importantly, my school hasn't, not since '07.. Per-seat licenses for 700 Macbooks add up.

[Jackpine Radical]

12. I use NeoOffice 3.something on a Macbook Pro. It's great.

Actually, I use several word processors depending on what I'm doing. I have iWork with Pages for small things like reports & light DTP, NeoOffice for heavy-duty stuff & serious spreadsheet work, & Scrivener for book-length mss. Nisus & Mellel are also nice word processors for Macs.

[htuttle]

15. The Mac version of OpenOffice is out now, and it's faster than NeoOffice

NeoOffice uses a lot of java bridging code to do the interface, whereas OpenOffice for Mac is 100% native code.

[Davis_X_Machina]

19. Some of the font issues from OO 2.* are unresolved...

...and I have to type a lot of ancient Greek.

[ClassWarrior]

17. What's the difference? I thought OpenOffice already has a Mac version.

NGU.

[hlthe2b]

6. I used openoffice for quite awhille...but it took FOREVER to load

each time and would frequently lock up my machine... I still have it, though because it was nice to be able to automatically convert to pdf without buying adobe acrobat...

Not sure why I seemed to have so many issues with it (under windows XP) but I finally took MS up on their offer for basic Office 2007 at $60...

[TheBigotBasher]

13. You may have had an old version.

Open office boots faster than MS Office. There are just a few things MS Office can do that Open Office can not and that involves giant spreadsheets with advanced pivot tables. The .pdf feature is great as well.

[enlightenment]

25. Which version of Open Office do you use?

I had the same sort of problems with it - slow load, slow execution of commands, locking up, etc. - to the point that I gave up and went back to MS Office. I really liked the idea though and would be willing to try it again if they've fixed it.

[hlthe2b]

27. I'm using OO 3.1.1

[enlightenment]

28. Thank you.

I'll give it another try!

[hlthe2b]

32. The latest version was still problematic for me...

I was patient for quite a while to wait for it to load and I understand that it could take a bit longer to convert MS documents, but it seemed to lock up frequently as well... See if it makes any difference for you...:shrug:

[enlightenment]

38. Oh, b*gger.

Well, I'll try it anyway . . . though it looked like they were getting ready to betatest a new version. I didn't click that link . . . maybe I'll wait a bit and see. I can be patient with slow loading, but the locking up is beyond annoying. Thank you for the additional comments on this version!

[DailyGrind51]

14. OO.org DOES take a long time to load, unfortunately.

I wish you could isolate the individual office components without having to load the whole suite each time.

[blogslut]

36. That's not hard

Just open your Windows Explorer. Click on My Computer > C: > Program Files > Open Office and find the Icon for whichever program you're wanting to use (word processor perhaps?). Then either drag the icon to the Quick Start menu of your system tray or right-click on the icon, choose Create Shortcut and then drag the created shortcut to your desktop.

[bfarq]

16. 3.1 seems pretty stable

I have it on a terminal server supporting 40 users and haven't had any serious problems.

The load time probably results from the fact that OO stores documents in it own format -- an openly documented format. That is less efficient than Microsoft's proprietary document format. Moreover, that means you have to convert before opening any Microsoft document.

On small documents, it isn't noticeable, but large documents on slow PCs can take a long time to convert -- a minute or more. I've had some PowerPoint files that took as long as 3 minutes to open.

With a fast PC, it really shouldn't be very noticeable.

To put this in economic perspective, to upgrade that terminal server to Microsoft's latest operating system and Office suite was going to cost nearly $50,000. Versus almost nothing for using OpenOffice.

[DailyGrind51]

11. OpenOffice.org is great, with all the MSOffice "bells & whistles" at no cost!

[Poll_Blind]

24. OpenOffice is pretty nice. n/t

PB

[Catshrink]

2. I won't buy it

from what I've seen of it, it totally blows.

[Jim Sagle]

5. It should. Excel 2007 ain't nuthin' but shit.

[marmar]

8. True.....I dread ever having to create an Excel file.

[TheBigotBasher]

10. I like excel 2007

for the much larger number of cells allowed. That to me is the sole advantage excel has over open office.

[tammywammy]

20. I like it as well. n/t

[Jim Sagle]

21. I've never seen OO. My only comparison is to all other versions of Excel.

All PC software has evolved to use the "same" basic interface. Excel 2007 creates a new, 10x more complex interface that buries the old commands. Who asked for this shit?

And it's dog slow as well.

[rucky]

7. They're already starting the beta release of Office 2010

:shrug:

[sabbat hunter]

18. not a surprise

Office 2007 has been out since Nov 2006 previous version was out in Nov 2003, office 2010 is expected to be out first half of 2010, so it is pretty much in line with previous versions life spans.

[DJ13]

9. Microsoft was ordered by a court to cease producing all versions of Office

They were found in violation of another software co.'s patent a week back.

January 10 (somewhere around there) is the last date current versions can be sold.

Microsoft claims to have modified versions ready to sell after that date.

[Greyhound]

22. Free is still too much to pay for that disaster.

M$ just refuses to play by any rules.

[im1013]

23. I sincerely hope so.

:nopity:

[KharmaTrain]

26. I'm looking for a replacement for Outlook

First...I agree, Open Office is a very good alternative. I have it loaded with Windows 7 and works very well. The only thing I'd like is a new version of Outlook. Windows 7 doesn't include the MS Mailer, it's being integrated with MS's online Hotmail (which I really don't want or need) and would like a program that archives the mail on my machine.

[JCMach1]

31. Thunderbird will archive, but I went cloud with GMail

My Thunderbird had an unrecoverable crash last summer. After that, I went with Gmail. GMail work with my office email account. Additionally, I use the backup feature to forward emails to an account on my web server. So, I am doubly backed up with no effort on my part and neither account sits on my computer vulnerable to a crash.

[JCMach1]

29. I hate the 2007 suite... especially the WORD redesign!

:puke:

[LeftyMom]

30. They'd have to pay me to use it. I can't find anything in the new version.

[HopeHoops]

33. Screw M$ - use OpenOffice.

I read and write M$ files all the time with Open Office. M$ is bloated, slow, and expensive. Open Office is free.

[Romulox]

34. I need a cheap Windows 7 multi-license promo. Then MS can have my dough.

I should add that I got a 3 license Office 2007 disc a year or two ago for a decent price. It's OK, but the ribbon sucks.

[hedgehog]

35. People new to Office like Office 2007. People who have been

using the older versions are very frustrated because they hae to hunt down various functions that are now hidden on drop down menus. I think you can customize the toolbar, but I already had my toolbar set the way I liked it.

I have one machine upgraded by IT at work and my home machine. I can't move files back and forth easily unless I remember to save them in the older version. I also have to be able to move from one toolbar to the other depending on which machine I'm using.

[JPZenger]

37. Businesses didn't want to have to retrain their employees

So many people were comfortable with the MS Office 2003 versions. When Microsoft changed everything about the format of 07, it was extremely frustrating. Many businesses decided not to upgrade because it required retraining without noticeable benefits. Microsoft's biggest mistake was not offering a classic format, so people could find the commands they needed.

I have 07 and never use it.

[TicketyBoo]

39. I have a MacBook here

and do not have iWork. Any suggestions for viewing an occasional PowerPoint Presentation e-mailed to me by my cousin? Right now what I've been doing is doing a Google search on the title, and some kind soul has always uploaded them. She sends me one of these things every few months, and other than going to Google and finding them online, I don't know what to do with them.

I'm still using AppleWorks for document handling.

[Elwood P Dowd]

40. I thought NeoOffice would do that?

Check their site or maybe some of the Mac forums.