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 Software : Microsoft Office XP Professional Upgrade [Old Version] |
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Rating:  - Not a good deal
If everyone were still churning out stock options in their sleep and making money every time they went to the coffee machine, it wouldn't be so much of an issue. And if the licensing were less draconian, it wouldn't be so much of an issue.
But since we actually need to work to make a profit these days, it's not really smart to spew all this money at software that you're not even using, most of the time, to create your product.
Have your office sysadmin or techwriter or something try out StarOffice or OpenOffice.org for a couple weeks, then train the rest of the company on how to switch. Using the same software all your professional life isn't in the bill of rights and the smart decision is to switch to something that works, that you can actually afford.
If your employees or co-workers are smart enough to make whatever they're making, they're smart enough to switch to a different spreadsheet.
Rating:  - Excellent
All I can say is I have had Win 3.1, Win 95 and Win 98 then went to this upgrade. This is the best Windows yet....very stable and well very stable...it handles crashing programs very well and Windows does NOT crash, I have had WIN XP 2 months now and had it crash 1 time, ok let me repeat 1 time, where it could not recover. I HIGHLY recommend this item and I am very glad I upgraded to it. The most stable Windows ever. Sure I had to pay for it, but still, it is very stable... I highly recommend it, for the home or the professional version. Best windows eve.
Rating:  - Another Day, Another Release
BOTTOM LINE:
If your Office is quite old (95, 97), you should upgrade.
If you are an Office expert, stretching your projects to use every ounce of capability, or your team makes big collaborative projects with Office, you should upgrade.
If you are in the other 95% of Office 2000 users, keep what you have, save your money, and enjoy.
DETAILS:
Office XP is fine, usually. Works OK, usually. Doesn't have major bugs, seems a little more solid, but still occasionally crashes or has other problems.
Office XP does all the same things as Office 2000, plus has the theoretical capability for voice & handwriting inputs. For most of us, with desktops PCs, that won't matter.
Smart Tags will be occasionally helpful, but will always block off the cell you're about to edit, with unnecessary options for the cell you've just changed.
A most confusing thing in Office XP is still its abuse of Microsoft's own Windows programming standards (published for others only?) in how it represents multiple open documents. Excel and Word act differently, both in violation of the rules, with multiple icons in your task bar for documents open in the same Word or Excel window. This confusion can hurt both inexperienced and power users alike: for example, when closing one document you may accidently close a second one with the same click.
Finally, as usual, most of the changes are not in user-helping functionality, but are "under the hood", partially re-tooling Office to support Bill Gates' future software architecture visions and, in the long run, helping Microsoft.
Rating: - Industry standard but over featured and too buggy
Chocked full of features. More features than anybody will ever need, such as the dreadful team-cooperation feature set (probably copied from IBMs horribly buggy Lotus SmartSuite, which crashed all the time). Office too is still buggy after all these years. Ironically, this version seems more buggy than the previous version, Office 97, which was pretty stable in the end. Office is still not particularly user friendly either -- the excess of fluff-features complicates navigation. The horrible paper-clip "office assistant" is still around, despite what the press say. So, disappointing -- but the competition is much worse so you might as well succumb and buy it.
Rating:  - Be Careful What You Wish For
Microsoft XP Pro, is remarkably amazing. The features on it, are so delightful to the modern consumer. Microsoft accomplished its mission in making a Windows package that is 100% user friendly.
Sounds great doesn't it?
Yes, and no. I am a huge fan of Microsoft XP Pro, I love being able to navigate through Windows with ease, and I like how everything is no longer complex, but really really easy.
What I don't like is the security issues. Not, that I believe that it's wrong or right, but the digital security on Windows XP Pro is strict. Everything you install has to be digitally signed by Windows, meaning you the user will have endless nightmares trying to find drivers upon drivers, that match the Windows XP Logo. Even then, there still seems to be conflicts with Windows.
My recommendation is that Windows XP Professional, is just that, keep it to the Pros. If you want to buy Windows XP, save money and time by investing in Windows XP Home Edition, even then there are digital signature problems, but less than you would have with XP Pro.
On a larger scale, if all else fails stick with Windows 2000. Windows ME was rushed, and was a huge flop for the consumer; it was rushed onto the market leaving holes and flaws within itself. Windows XP had more time invested than ME, but for PC gamers, this purchase can result in massive headaches.
Just be careful what you wish for.
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