In fact, there is a very good chance that both Office 2007 and the new "Windows Vista" operating system will show up on dealer's shelves at the same time. Prices are not cheap. Prices for a first-time purchaser of Office 2007 begin at $399, while upgrade prices begin at $239. There are eight different packages of Office 2007 ranging from Office Basic to Office Enterprise...and they can contain up to 14 different software programs.
I won't cover all the changes made to the package, except to highlight the biggest change of them all. They have dropped the file menu and other menus along the top of the screen and changed it to what they call, "The Ribbon." Independent writers and bloggers are calling it a radical change, but one that is intuitive and easy to use. And most agree that it will be a successful change.
If you would like to see some good screen shots of the new interface, head over to a blog I found on the net by Jensen Harris that has lots of good pictures.
For an in-depth look at what is new is Office 2007, Microsoft has put up a terrific series of pages featuring all the new features for each of the Office component on their website. They have also put up a free on-line test drive on their website which is a hands-on look at the product. No downloading required.
PC Magazine's review says that everyone should upgrade to this new version. In fact, they gave it their editor's choice. If you would like to read PC Magazine's rave review, you can do so on their website. I always am a bit wary when magazines give rave reviews to Microsoft products as they receive lots of advertising revenue from the Redmond folks, but there are too many good reviews from independent sources that say they are correct in their appraisal.
Another good in-depth review, perhaps more dispassionate than PC Magazine's review can be found at the ComputerWorld website.
This should give you enough information to be able to make an intelligent decision on whether to upgrade to the new Office 2007.
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