I am with Nick on this one... I don't see a great need for 97. If anyone is
running anything less than 2000 recomend that they upgrade before you start.
97 can be a pain and the object model is a little thin. 2000 is worth while
as lot of people are still using it. 2002/2003 is a must have as the object
model changed again in 2002, but you may as well get 2003 at this point.
There are a few changes in 2003 from 2002 but nothing to write home about.
--
HTH...

Jim Thomlinson


"Nick Hodge" wrote:

William

You are set to go with what you have. I believe XL2000 would have been a
better purchase than XL97 (2000 *is* 97 without some of the bugs)

You have no need for Visual Studio Tools, etc As you grow with VBA you may
wish to push the boundaries with VSTO etc, but you will have a lot of scope
using the tools you have and VBA

In my opinion

--
HTH
Nick Hodge
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Southampton, England
HIS


"William Benson" wrote in message
...
I'm interested in advice without starting a debtate online, so if people
want to just e-mail me answers that's great too. I know most posts are
from users seeking advice and usually that is the case with me but I have
been in the software market on a limited budget and don't know where to
turn so please bear with me. I want to be better equipped to contribute
here and also be adequately equipped to operate as a freelance consultant
building Excel and Access applications, so I am asking about the requisite
"tools of the trade"...

So far I have purchased Office 97 and 2003 Professional, but am missing
2000. Does every self respecting advisor/trainer/developer need 2000?
Also, are the developer toolkits and the Visual Tools (2003) essential if
I am going to build applications for other people? Is an MSDN subscription
worth it if all I plan are the aforementioned? Any responses which help me
sort out my options and neither over-spend not under-prepare are
appreciated.

Bill