Disagree with Nick and Jim on this. 97 is still the most common Office
version in use AFAIK. Also, it is different enough from them to make it
useful (no Split, Instr, Replace etc.)

I think 97 is a good choice. But 200 would be good as well. No need for
2002 if you have 2003 IMO.

--

HTH

RP
(remove nothere from the email address if mailing direct)


"Jim Thomlinson" wrote in message
...
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