Office 2007 RTM : A user review

This thread is an update to my old thread, the user review of Office 2007 beta 2, most of the images & text are still the same, infect this thread is the same

Microsoft has released the new Office 2007 RTM on MSDN, it will be available publically on Jan 30 2007 onwards, MSDN subscribers can download it right now.

This review is not about the features etc, as they are already known from a long time, such as the ribbon UI, & new collaboration features etc, instead this review is about the user experience & usage

The office 2007 install is now quite streamlined, & although the installation of office 2003 was already quite easy, this is easier, just select what u want to install, & it will install

New file formats, which are now xml based, are there, but I don’t think using these now is a good idea, as many users all over still use .doc instead of .docx. U can set the default file format to save via word options->Save

All the general & finishing option can b found in that big Office orb on far left size, Microsoft supported save as PDF option in Office 2007 beta 2, but it is now removed from the RTM due to licensing restriction by Adobe. However this same functionality is given in the form of a separate add-on to Office 2007, which u can download from here, or a much better option is to use PDFCreator, a free open source virtual printer for your computer, by which u can print to PDF in any application in the OS

The Word options or Excel Options can also be checked from this orb menu



U will find the general options to do whatever u want in their corresponding tabs, like u will find the reading view in the “View” Tab. Inserting Pictures can be found in the insert tab, this way the user actually uses features which were previously in Office but under many menus, now it’s very easy to work on all office applications. In the Quick access toolbar there is an option now, to minimize the Ribbon, further increasing the viewport area, to get the ribbon again, just click on any tab & it will show, work on it, click outside & the tab will minimize

Outlook 2007, the Mail client of Office suite, resembled outlook 2003 on first glance, but now it has instant search in it, if u have Windows desktop search installed, however it will bug u every time, to install it, unless u disable this notification

Tools ->Options->Others->Advanced option -> Disable WDS notification

Contacts are now shown in a cool card like structure, which is lot better than before, u can double click on it to get the detailed look

I haven’t worked on other applications yet, except for PowerPoint. This article was written on Word 2007 itself, with the embedded source code for the images uploaded on imageshack, i just copied them here

The installation size of Office 2007 may very, be sure to delete the MSOcache folder after installing office, in my case it took 590 MB as temporary files were copied

Here are a few pics of word & outlook on my PC; I blurred the private information

Word 2007, full ribon



Word 2007, minimized Ribon




The UI problems with Windowsblind are now fixed, with all the apps

Outlook 2007 default layout

[adit_sen]

I got it the hr it was released. But yet couldnt manage to activate it due to the same "Internet Connection not found" error. I just hope the servers clear up before my usage limit runs out....
Could you tell me from where I can get a corporate key?

peace...
aditya

[adit_sen]

thanks a lot for your help. It working fine now

Cheers...
aditya

[jamyang312]

that's a great review!
wonder what changes will be there in the final version?

Updated the review, for Office 2007 RTM

ActiveWin has posted there through review of office 2007

[zenblue]

Hi Saurav,
Regrading 'MSOcache' folder on my C:\ drive, it has taken 530MB. If i delete this folder, will I be able to uninstall Office2007 when I need to OR Add/Remove Office2007 components later on if required?

Please help.
Thanks
zenblue

[Choto Cheeta]

^^^

Its a 1 year old thread no point bumping up even its for Office Beta !!!

Regrading 'MSOcache' folder on my C:\ drive, it has taken 530MB. If i delete this folder, will I be able to uninstall Office2007 when I need to OR Add/Remove Office2007 components later on if required?

U can uninstall without any issue, but if u want to reinstall or add remove new feature u will be asked by system to insert a installation CD/DVD or point towards Network installation source !!!

[zenblue]

Thanks a lot for the reply Cheeta Atleast now I can free up 530MBs of HD space.

[infra_red_dude]

afaik, there is no way to prevent the creation of msoecache folder in office 2007. i've run into issues uninstalling it after deleting that folder (and freeing those 530mbs of space). but then mebbe the problem is restricted to me as i was using the trial version and the trial period got over. i don't haf full version. so mebbe someone else can confirm. but what i'd like to point out is that i've run into problems while uninstalling it after removing that folder.

[Vishal Gupta]

"MSOCache" folder contains the setup files for Office. If u'll delete it and then try to uninstall Office from system, it'll give error that .msi file is not found. But u can give path to the actual source from where u run the installation and it'll uninstall without any problem. Thats what I think but I hvnt tried it.

[infra_red_dude]

^^^ had tried that, but didn't work.

[Choto Cheeta]

@VG and @infra_red_dude

Office Uninstalls without any Issue once the folder is deleted, but no repair of reinstallation of any feature or Add Remove feature cant be done

[infra_red_dude]

i dunno why it happend like that or was it only me and my installation.

but one thing is for sure which i've experienced in older versions of office. service packs cudn't be applied if the msoecache folder was deleted. neither cud a service pack applied office (2k3 and below) be uninstalled or newer SPs installed if those files were deleted. this is for sure for older office versions.

[Choto Cheeta]

^^^^^

See, that folder is nothing more than the copy of ur Installation files, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825933

If u keep those files so in next update or reinstall or repair or add-remove program u are not asked to insert the installation media, now if u delete, no harm done, as in next update or reinstall or repair or add-remove program u should be asked to insert or point towards the installation Source !!!

[infra_red_dude]

no saurav, compare that folder wid a service pack installed office 2k3. there are lotsa differences. many new files. some old files replaced. its not an exact copy of the installation folder. i can't say that about office2k7 as SPs hafnt been released yet. u may check it out (not office2k7 but prior version wid service pack installed).