Microsoft Office 2007 codebase finalized
Published November 6th, 2006 in TechnologyMicrosoft has finalized the codebase for Office 2007. And with a release to manufacturing date for both it and Windows Vista looming at November 30th, the timing couldn’t be any better. The release sports new file formats (which I hate, being an OpenOffice.org user, the last thing I need is another hurdle thrown into OOo’s Microsoft Office compatibility) and a new interface (which I’ll probably also hate, I like the idea of the menu bar, and one of the things that I really hated about IE 7 is the lack of a menu bar by default, and even if you do turn it on it appears in the wrong position).
As an aside, could anyone who has actually used the new ribbon interface comment on how it stacks up against the previous menu-driven interface?
Microsoft wraps up work on new Office [CNET News.com]
well ive been using the beta version of office 07 for ages now and the new i do prefer the new menu style it gives the whole page pretty much to focus on your document the menu can be shrunk even more into tabs along the top. It sports a relaxing blue and orange colour scheme witht he high gloss finish that seems to be so popular nowadays. It also gives you the option to save under old formats i.e word 98 or whateever year it is. Sure it takes getting used to but overall a marked improvement i say
Interesting. I guess I’ll have to wait and see with regards to the interface, as I haven’t had the opportunity to use it yet.
With regard to the file formats, it’s not so much the fact that you can’t save under the old formats as that most people won’t, and it’s pretty likely that for a while the Office 2007 format won’t be compatible with alternative Office applications such as OpenOffice.org (I’m a Linux user, so using Microsoft Office isn’t really an option). That said I suppose it’s only a matter of time before someone adds compatibility for whatever new file format Microsoft comes out with, all legalities aside.