In its infinite wisdom, Microsoft decided that dbase (.dbf) files aren't used
very much any more, so they didn't build support into the 2007 product, other
than being able to open a dbase file - but you can't save changes as a dbase
file. I happen to work with dbase files every day, all day long. The company
I work for 'upgraded' to Vista (yuck! clumsiest and ugliest of any windows
version, and a huge waste of resources) and Office 2007, so I am now forced
to use OpenOffice so that I can work with these files. Microsoft claims that
Office 2007 improves productivity, but my experience is that Office 2007 has
reduced my productivity by as much as 30% due to the idiotic arrangement of
tools, addition of keystrokes (I rarely use a mouse) and basic
dysfunctionality of the entire suite. Office 2003 was great, but Office 2007
really stinks. I used to be able to quickly execute commands with two or
three keystrokes, and now those same actions require 5 or even 7 keystrokes.
I guess this garbage might be okay if you only point and click, but it's
still a mess. I only use Vista and Office 2007 because I'm forced to at work,
but I guarantee I will never purchase Vista or Office 2007 for my personal
use. I see absolutely no advantage to using either, and at home I use Linux
anyway. I'm guessing that the people that designed Vista and Office 2007
don't really use the garbage they created either. Maybe the next 'upgrades'
actually will be upgrades, not some frankensteinian clumsy and ugly (those
ribbons, good grief!) cobbled together bloatware that's barely even
compatible with itself.

The ribbon may be one of the greatest reasons why people migrate from MS
Office to Open Office or (gasp) even the 100-row default spreadsheet size of
Google Docs. The sad part about the ribbon is not just that it is an
extraordinary leap from the easy-access menus of 2003, it is that it
requires vast amounts of carpel-tunnel-inducing mouse clicking.


--
Tim Zych
http://www.higherdata.com
Workbook Compare - Excel data comparison utility
Free and Pro versions


"P. U." <P. wrote in message
...
In its infinite wisdom, Microsoft decided that dbase (.dbf) files aren't
used
very much any more, so they didn't build support into the 2007 product,
other
than being able to open a dbase file - but you can't save changes as a
dbase
file. I happen to work with dbase files every day, all day long. The
company
I work for 'upgraded' to Vista (yuck! clumsiest and ugliest of any windows
version, and a huge waste of resources) and Office 2007, so I am now
forced
to use OpenOffice so that I can work with these files. Microsoft claims
that
Office 2007 improves productivity, but my experience is that Office 2007
has
reduced my productivity by as much as 30% due to the idiotic arrangement
of
tools, addition of keystrokes (I rarely use a mouse) and basic
dysfunctionality of the entire suite. Office 2003 was great, but Office
2007
really stinks. I used to be able to quickly execute commands with two or
three keystrokes, and now those same actions require 5 or even 7
keystrokes.
I guess this garbage might be okay if you only point and click, but it's
still a mess. I only use Vista and Office 2007 because I'm forced to at
work,
but I guarantee I will never purchase Vista or Office 2007 for my personal
use. I see absolutely no advantage to using either, and at home I use
Linux
anyway. I'm guessing that the people that designed Vista and Office 2007
don't really use the garbage they created either. Maybe the next
'upgrades'
actually will be upgrades, not some frankensteinian clumsy and ugly (those
ribbons, good grief!) cobbled together bloatware that's barely even
compatible with itself.