We have been using Office 2002 for 4 years, with approxiately 6000 users,
have a large selection of macros used by many of our users.
The question we are interested in is how much difficulty will be experienced
with Excel if we upgrade Office to version 2007.
Thanks

The first question you should ask yourself is what does 2002 not do that you
need it to do, then check if 2007 does do it.

Then take a look at the 2007 spec and see if there is anything that it does
that you hadn't thought of and would be useful,
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ex...487621033.aspx

Read some reviews to get an idea of what the learning curve is (I think it
is not trivial). I have seen a list of the top 10 benefits of Office 2007 as

1. Office Excel 2007 features a new user interface to help you find powerful
tools when you need them
2. Import, organise, and explore massive data sets within significantly
expanded spreadsheets
3. Use the completely redesigned charting engine in Office Excel 2007 to
communicate your analysis in professional-looking charts
4. Enjoy improved and powerful support for working with tables
5. Create and work with interactive PivotTable views with ease
6. "See" important trends and find exceptions in your data
7. Use Office Excel 2007 and Excel Services to help share spreadsheets more
securely with others
8. Remove tracked changes, comments, and hidden text from your documents
9. Reduce the size of spreadsheets and improve damaged file recovery at the
same time
10. Extend your business intelligence investments because Office Excel 2007
provides full support for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services

There are some great improvements, but there are downsides as well, such

1. It is so different it will take a considerable effort to get used to,
some functions don't work as they did (or just don't work now), and it often
takes more click to do something than it did before

3. Jon Peltier has said that ... The new chart formatting is certainly nice,
but the new user interface is awkward.

So weigh up the pros and cons and then decide.--
HTH

Bob

(there's no email, no snail mail, but somewhere should be gmail in my addy)

"PA" wrote in message
...
We have been using Office 2002 for 4 years, with approxiately 6000 users,
have a large selection of macros used by many of our users.
The question we are interested in is how much difficulty will be
experienced
with Excel if we upgrade Office to version 2007.
Thanks

Sun, 3 Jun 2007 08:38:03 -0700 from PA
:
We have been using Office 2002 for 4 years, with approxiately 6000 users,
have a large selection of macros used by many of our users.
The question we are interested in is how much difficulty will be experienced
with Excel if we upgrade Office to version 2007.

Have you been reading this group? That should give you a fair idea of
some issues with transition to Excel 2007.

That said, why are you even considering the change? What does Excel
2002 not do for you that you need? It's usually a bad idea to upgrade
to a newer verson of a product if your *only* reason is "because it's
new".

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/

Thank you very much, a lot to think about,
especially "The first question you should ask yourself is what does 2002
not do that you need it to do, then check if 2007 does do it"


"Bob Phillips" wrote:

The first question you should ask yourself is what does 2002 not do that you
need it to do, then check if 2007 does do it.

Then take a look at the 2007 spec and see if there is anything that it does
that you hadn't thought of and would be useful,
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ex...487621033.aspx

Read some reviews to get an idea of what the learning curve is (I think it
is not trivial). I have seen a list of the top 10 benefits of Office 2007 as

1. Office Excel 2007 features a new user interface to help you find powerful
tools when you need them
2. Import, organise, and explore massive data sets within significantly
expanded spreadsheets
3. Use the completely redesigned charting engine in Office Excel 2007 to
communicate your analysis in professional-looking charts
4. Enjoy improved and powerful support for working with tables
5. Create and work with interactive PivotTable views with ease
6. "See" important trends and find exceptions in your data
7. Use Office Excel 2007 and Excel Services to help share spreadsheets more
securely with others
8. Remove tracked changes, comments, and hidden text from your documents
9. Reduce the size of spreadsheets and improve damaged file recovery at the
same time
10. Extend your business intelligence investments because Office Excel 2007
provides full support for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services

There are some great improvements, but there are downsides as well, such

1. It is so different it will take a considerable effort to get used to,
some functions don't work as they did (or just don't work now), and it often
takes more click to do something than it did before

3. Jon Peltier has said that ... The new chart formatting is certainly nice,
but the new user interface is awkward.

So weigh up the pros and cons and then decide.--
HTH

Bob

(there's no email, no snail mail, but somewhere should be gmail in my addy)

"PA" wrote in message
...
We have been using Office 2002 for 4 years, with approxiately 6000 users,
have a large selection of macros used by many of our users.
The question we are interested in is how much difficulty will be
experienced
with Excel if we upgrade Office to version 2007.
Thanks

"PA" wrote in message
...
We have been using Office 2002 for 4 years, with approxiately 6000 users,
have a large selection of macros used by many of our users.
The question we are interested in is how much difficulty will be
experienced
with Excel if we upgrade Office to version 2007.
Thanks

Others have commented on the technical reasons for and against upgrading. I
think you have already identified a possible (?probable) problem upgrading
macros. Another aspect is assimilation / familiarisation / training of and
support for your 6000 users. That sounds a pretty daunting task. I trust
that, if you go ahead with upgrade to Office 2007, you will also seriously
beef up your support capability for that Monday (or series of Mondays) that
they start work and you are deluged with complaints of "nothing works"
although, hopefully it should be no worse than "nothing works as it did on
Friday".

Bill Ridgeway

Your point is excellent. I remember when I was hired by my current employer
we were switching from Lotus to Excel, and it was "culture shock".
From what I have seen the difficulty will far outweigh any benifits. I am
gathering information to make a case against upgrading and do need as much
data as possible.
Thank you very much for you feedback.

"Stan Brown" wrote:

Sun, 3 Jun 2007 08:38:03 -0700 from PA
:
We have been using Office 2002 for 4 years, with approxiately 6000 users,
have a large selection of macros used by many of our users.
The question we are interested in is how much difficulty will be experienced
with Excel if we upgrade Office to version 2007.

Have you been reading this group? That should give you a fair idea of
some issues with transition to Excel 2007.

That said, why are you even considering the change? What does Excel
2002 not do for you that you need? It's usually a bad idea to upgrade
to a newer verson of a product if your *only* reason is "because it's
new".

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/

Sun, 3 Jun 2007 16:53:25 +0100 from Bob Phillips
:
There are some great improvements, but there are downsides as well, such

1. It is so different it will take a considerable effort to get used to,
some functions don't work as they did (or just don't work now), and it often
takes more click to do something than it did before

3. Jon Peltier has said that ... The new chart formatting is certainly nice,
but the new user interface is awkward.

11. We've seen numerous reports here of slower operation compared to
earlier versions -- particularly in graphics operations.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/

I've been compiling a list of Excel 2007 bugs.
http://www.add-ins.com/Excel%202003%20versus%202007.htm
Wait as long as you can....

Bob Flanagan
Macro Systems
http://www.add-ins.com
Productivity add-ins and downloadable books on VB macros for Excel

"PA" wrote in message
...
We have been using Office 2002 for 4 years, with approxiately 6000 users,
have a large selection of macros used by many of our users.
The question we are interested in is how much difficulty will be
experienced
with Excel if we upgrade Office to version 2007.
Thanks

That probably pertains to point 2 Stan <G

--
HTH

Bob

(there's no email, no snail mail, but somewhere should be gmail in my addy)

"Stan Brown" wrote in message
t...
Sun, 3 Jun 2007 16:53:25 +0100 from Bob Phillips
:
There are some great improvements, but there are downsides as well, such

1. It is so different it will take a considerable effort to get used to,
some functions don't work as they did (or just don't work now), and it
often
takes more click to do something than it did before

3. Jon Peltier has said that ... The new chart formatting is certainly
nice,
but the new user interface is awkward.

11. We've seen numerous reports here of slower operation compared to
earlier versions -- particularly in graphics operations.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/

So you're a big fan of 2007 eh?

--
HTH

Bob

(there's no email, no snail mail, but somewhere should be gmail in my addy)

"Bob Flanagan" wrote in message
. ..
I've been compiling a list of Excel 2007 bugs.
http://www.add-ins.com/Excel%202003%20versus%202007.htm
Wait as long as you can....

Bob Flanagan
Macro Systems
http://www.add-ins.com
Productivity add-ins and downloadable books on VB macros for Excel

"PA" wrote in message
...
We have been using Office 2002 for 4 years, with approxiately 6000 users,
have a large selection of macros used by many of our users.
The question we are interested in is how much difficulty will be
experienced
with Excel if we upgrade Office to version 2007.
Thanks

I went ahead and purchased 2007 thinking that newer versions MUST be
better...right??? WRONG. After a day of frustration with the down-graded user
interface I promptly UNinstalled the upgrade and went back to my 2002.
I cannot believe how SLOW it has become and the absolutely cheesy interface
made my jaw hit the desk when I first saw it! I imagine I COULD eventually
get used to the new interface...but WHY change something that people are
familiar with??? Someone made the comment in this string about people saying
that "nothing works"....well it took me about 5 minutes just to figure out
how to unhide a hidden sheet!!!!

FOR SALE: a like-new-rarely-used Excel 2007

"Bob Phillips" wrote:

So you're a big fan of 2007 eh?

--
HTH

Bob

(there's no email, no snail mail, but somewhere should be gmail in my addy)

"Bob Flanagan" wrote in message
. ..
I've been compiling a list of Excel 2007 bugs.
http://www.add-ins.com/Excel%202003%20versus%202007.htm
Wait as long as you can....

Bob Flanagan
Macro Systems
http://www.add-ins.com
Productivity add-ins and downloadable books on VB macros for Excel

"PA" wrote in message
...
We have been using Office 2002 for 4 years, with approxiately 6000 users,
have a large selection of macros used by many of our users.
The question we are interested in is how much difficulty will be
experienced
with Excel if we upgrade Office to version 2007.
Thanks

Tom wrote <<I went ahead and purchased 2007 thinking that newer versions
MUST be better...right??? WRONG. After a day of frustration with the
down-graded user interface I promptly UNinstalled the upgrade and went back
to my 2002. I cannot believe how SLOW it has become and the absolutely
cheesy interface made my jaw hit the desk when I first saw it! I imagine I
COULD eventually get used to the new interface...but WHY change something
that people are familiar with??? Someone made the comment in this string
about people saying that "nothing works"....well it took me about 5 minutes
just to figure out how to unhide a hidden sheet!!!!

On the assumption that thousands of others have had the same experience with
Office 2007 that must be a reasonably conclusive argument for NOT
upgrading!! There is only one possible justification (advantages outweigh
the disadvantages) for upgrading and that is IF it includes something which
isn't available in the previous version AND it is an operational requirement
(not a 'nice to have').

The only flaw in that argument is how do you know what you haven't got until
you go and get it?

Bill Ridgeway

The only flaw in that argument is how do you know what you haven't got until
you go and get it?"

Hmmm...you wait until you post a question and someone replies with "You need
2007" in order to be able to do that" ??? :)
I understand what you are saying...and you are RIGHT when you say that only
IF the upgrade has something/features that you require.



"Bill Ridgeway" wrote:

Tom wrote <<I went ahead and purchased 2007 thinking that newer versions
MUST be better...right??? WRONG. After a day of frustration with the
down-graded user interface I promptly UNinstalled the upgrade and went back
to my 2002. I cannot believe how SLOW it has become and the absolutely
cheesy interface made my jaw hit the desk when I first saw it! I imagine I
COULD eventually get used to the new interface...but WHY change something
that people are familiar with??? Someone made the comment in this string
about people saying that "nothing works"....well it took me about 5 minutes
just to figure out how to unhide a hidden sheet!!!!

On the assumption that thousands of others have had the same experience with
Office 2007 that must be a reasonably conclusive argument for NOT
upgrading!! There is only one possible justification (advantages outweigh
the disadvantages) for upgrading and that is IF it includes something which
isn't available in the previous version AND it is an operational requirement
(not a 'nice to have').

The only flaw in that argument is how do you know what you haven't got until
you go and get it?

Bill Ridgeway

"Tom" wrote in message
...
I went ahead and purchased 2007 thinking that newer versions MUST be
better...right??? WRONG. After a day of frustration with the down-graded
user
interface I promptly UNinstalled the upgrade and went back to my 2002.
I cannot believe how SLOW it has become and the absolutely cheesy
interface
made my jaw hit the desk when I first saw it! I imagine I COULD eventually
get used to the new interface...but WHY change something that people are
familiar with??? Someone made the comment in this string about people
saying
that "nothing works"....well it took me about 5 minutes just to figure out
how to unhide a hidden sheet!!!!

But you are ignoring a huge market slice, those that are not
experienced/avid/power Excel user, maybe never having used it, who, accoding
to MS, find the current interface difficult to manage. These people will get
2007 with their new computers, and be none the wiser as to whther this is a
step backwards or a step forwards.

And of course, when you next buy a PC, Excel 2003 or earlier will not be on
sale.



FOR SALE: a like-new-rarely-used Excel 2007


How much?

"Bill Ridgeway" wrote in message
...

The only flaw in that argument is how do you know what you haven't got
until you go and get it?


You do your research.

Do you buy a new Panasonic TV just because you currently have Panasonic, and
they brought out a new one? Why treat a software purchase any differently?

I view using Excel 2007 like visiting the relatives. Something to avoid as
much as possible...


Bob

"Bob Phillips" wrote in message
...
So you're a big fan of 2007 eh?

--
HTH

Bob

(there's no email, no snail mail, but somewhere should be gmail in my
addy)

"Bob Flanagan" wrote in message
. ..
I've been compiling a list of Excel 2007 bugs.
http://www.add-ins.com/Excel%202003%20versus%202007.htm
Wait as long as you can....

Bob Flanagan
Macro Systems
http://www.add-ins.com
Productivity add-ins and downloadable books on VB macros for Excel

"PA" wrote in message
...
We have been using Office 2002 for 4 years, with approxiately 6000
users,
have a large selection of macros used by many of our users.
The question we are interested in is how much difficulty will be
experienced
with Excel if we upgrade Office to version 2007.
Thanks

Mon, 4 Jun 2007 03:46:01 -0700 from Tom
:
I went ahead and purchased 2007 thinking that newer versions MUST be
better...right??? WRONG.

You've learned a painful but important lesson.

NEVER upgrade to a newer version of any software unless you know of
specific reasons why you need it.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/

Mon, 4 Jun 2007 12:05:02 +0100 from Bill Ridgeway <info@
1001solutions.co.uk:
The only flaw in that argument is how do you know what you haven't got until
you go and get it?

Read a product review

Google

Ask in a newsgroup (after trying he first two methods)

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/