Upgrade from 2003 worthth the effort?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Polly the Parrot
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Polly the Parrot

XP Pro SP3 Outlook 2003

Wondering if upgrading to Outlook 2007 is worth the effort?

The interface in 2003 is clean and simple; how so 2007?

Anything I am missing by not running 2007?
 
Polly said:
XP Pro SP3 Outlook 2003

Wondering if upgrading to Outlook 2007 is worth the effort?

The interface in 2003 is clean and simple; how so 2007?

Anything I am missing by not running 2007?
Click to expand...

Get VirtualPC (VPC) from Microsoft. Then get their trial VHD (virtual hard
drive) for Windows XP or Windows Vista as the guest OS. Then install the
trial version of Office 2007 inside the guest OS. You install VPC, define a
guest to load the VHD already provided by Microsoft for a Windows setup in
which to test software, and install Office 2007 into that test environment.
You can then judge for yourself if you're willing to get past the learning
curve for the new UI to decide if there are sufficient new features in
OL2007 for which you are willing to pay for the upgrade cost.

VirtualPC 2007 SP1
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=28c97d22-6eb8-4a09-a7f7-f6c7a1f000b5

VHD: IE6/7/8 + Windows XP/Vista
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...90-958f-4b64-b5f1-73d0a413c8ef&displaylang=en

Office 2007 trial
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ha101741481033.aspx

Even if you don't like Office 2007 for yourself (or are unwilling to pay
more money for a change in the UI that you don't like and for new features
that aren't critical to you), you might still want to do the above setup to
get some experience with Office 2007. Depending on what you do for work,
you might get stuck having to use Office 2007 somewhere, like at work.
 
Get VirtualPC (VPC) from Microsoft. Then get their trial VHD (virtual hard
drive) for Windows XP or Windows Vista as the guest OS. Then install the
trial version of Office 2007 inside the guest OS. You install VPC, define a
guest to load the VHD already provided by Microsoft for a Windows setup in
which to test software, and install Office 2007 into that test environment.
You can then judge for yourself if you're willing to get past the learning
curve for the new UI to decide if there are sufficient new features in
OL2007 for which you are willing to pay for the upgrade cost.

VirtualPC 2007 SP1
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=28c97d22-6eb8-4a09-a7f7-f6c7a1f000b5

VHD: IE6/7/8 + Windows XP/Vista
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...90-958f-4b64-b5f1-73d0a413c8ef&displaylang=en

Office 2007 trial
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ha101741481033.aspx

Even if you don't like Office 2007 for yourself (or are unwilling to pay
more money for a change in the UI that you don't like and for new features
that aren't critical to you), you might still want to do the above setup to
get some experience with Office 2007. Depending on what you do for work,
you might get stuck having to use Office 2007 somewhere, like at work.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help!
 
In my honest opinion, if you are thinking about upgrading at this point, I
would hold off until mid next year since Office 2010 is right around the
corner.

As for you questions...
Office/Outlook 2007 is an excellent choice for Vista/Windows 7.
Office/Outlook 2003 is an excellent choice for XP.

Outlook's main windows interface hasn't changed between 2003/2007. The
message composition window has changed as there is no choice of e-mail
editors and its window has the ribbon.

As for missing anything... the most important question I would ask is do you
need the ability to send/receive the new Office file formats (docx,xlsx,
Open Document, .etc)? If the answer is no or you can get away with using
the File Compatibility pack under Office 2003, I would say wait and address
this again mid next year when Office 2010 is here. I think you will be
happier with this choice when having to spend $400-$700 dollars for a new
copy of Microsoft Office.
 
Agreed - I would not upgrade now, with office 2010 around the corner.

There is a 'click to run' (c2r) version of the beta available, that can run
side by side with older versions, so you can try it. Or wait for RTM this
summer and use a trial.
http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2009/20091215.htm for a link to the C2R
version.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]

Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com/

Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Poll: What version of Outlook do you use?
http://forums.slipstick.com/showthread.php?t=27072
 
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