Office 2003 - Is it worth upgrading?

sci0x · 13-10-2003 11:12pm #1

The Office 2003 suite seems to me to do exactly the same as it did in office 2002. Theres no completely major changes, maybe a nicer interface.

Is it worth forking out €574.75 for Office 2003 Professional Edition for such small changes? Or is there major differences that i am missing.

Tivoli · 13-10-2003 11:17pm

sorry mate don't know much about office 2003 but..........

are you mad, you could go for a foreign holiday for that kinda money

rob1891 · 13-10-2003 11:22pm

upgrade to openoffice for free!

mneylon · 13-10-2003 11:43pm

I've been playing with the Beta for the last few months and like a lot of its features.
Outlook still dies when the pst reaches a couple of Gigs, but my email usage is far from typical.
Whether any software product is worth the MS style pricetag is a different issue...

sceptre · 14-10-2003 2:19am

Originally posted by sci0x
Is it worth forking out €574.75 for Office 2003 Professional Edition for such small changes?

No it isn't.

To be fair, the upgrade product will be rather cheaper.

To be realistic, it still isn't worth it based on what I've seen from the beta.

Yesterday I shut down windows and booted into linux just to use OpenOffice instead of Word. Obviously I've turned to the side of light (of course I could just use the windows OpenOffice but well, that would be just bein organised)

longword · 14-10-2003 2:23am

If it wasn't for the damned treadmill ("What do you mean I can't read this .doc I got in my mail") I doubt anyone would ever want anything beyond Office 95.

BigEejit · 14-10-2003 1:40pm

Originally posted by longword
If it wasn't for the damned treadmill ("What do you mean I can't read this .doc I got in my mail") I doubt anyone would ever want anything beyond Office 95.

Thats why Micro$haft have a free word VIEWER available for download

sci0x · 14-10-2003 8:07pm

Originally posted by sceptre
No it isn't.

How much is it then?

I thought it as €526.35 for MS Office standard Edition, €641.30 for the Small Business Edition and €574.75 for the Professional Edition.

sceptre · 14-10-2003 11:15pm

Originally posted by sci0x
I thought it as €526.35 for MS Office standard Edition, €641.30 for the Small Business Edition and €574.75 for the Professional Edition.

Oh you're probably right, sounds about right. I didn't contradict you (you said "Is it worth forking out...." and I answered "No it isn't (worth forking out that much)". Just as well I didn't use language my granny wouldn't appreciate then:)). There are a few gimmicky features in O2K3, some useful but certainly not worth the extra money.

Another question is whether it's worth paying that much if you've never had Office before and aren't getting a cheaper upgrade. My answer to that would also be mostly no, but that may well be for another thread.

ixoy · 15-10-2003 12:21am

No, it's not. I've been working closely with Word 2003 and Excel 2003 for the last couple of months and there's little difference between the two. The extras are mostly gizmos which you're unlikely to make use of. Some things have been reorganised, a few toolbar buttons changed, but it's all pretty minimal.

sci0x · 15-10-2003 9:06pm

Originally posted by ixoy
No, it's not. I've been working closely with Word 2003 and Excel 2003 for the last couple of months and there's little difference between the two. The extras are mostly gizmos which you're unlikely to make use of. Some things have been reorganised, a few toolbar buttons changed, but it's all pretty minimal.

Ok, i guess I wont be investing then.

Zascar · 05-11-2003 9:54pm

just find a student and get them to buy it for you... a lot cheaper...

Capt'n Midnight · 05-11-2003 10:03pm

AFAIK
Word/Excel/Powerpoint still use the same file formats they did in office 97. And for later versions of Word - tools - options - disable freatures not supported by office 97..

The things not in openoffice
Not sure about Access file format changes though.
If you have an Excahnge server you can install Outlook using the Exchange CAL's

sci0x · 05-11-2003 10:42pm

Originally posted by Zascar
just find a student and get them to buy it for you... a lot cheaper...

Im a student. How much cheaper?

unkel · 06-11-2003 1:32am

Outlook is very nice - have it for about a fortnight now

ozt9vdujny3srf · 06-11-2003 1:38am

Originally posted by sci0x
Im a student. How much cheaper?

I bought my copy of office 2002 for 170€ on student edition afaicr

It doesnt come with access though you get excel, outlook, word and powerpoint. THe licnecs lasts for as long as you are in full time education.

Capt'n Midnight · 06-11-2003 2:05am

Yeah it's about €195 for the pro version (ie with access) (can't remember if that's with VAT or not) if you have a student card from a recognised institure - ask the vendor.

But how long will you be a student ?

sci0x · 06-11-2003 10:16pm

Originally posted by Capt'n Midnight
Yeah it's about €195 for the pro version (ie with access) (can't remember if that's with VAT or not) if you have a student card from a recognised institure - ask the vendor.

But how long will you be a student ?

Well im in 5th year at the moment.

Stephen · 07-11-2003 12:06am

I think they may only cater for 3rd level students, though I may be wrong. They do have educational licenses for secondary schools and the like as well.

sci0x · 07-11-2003 12:59am

Originally posted by Stephen
I think they may only cater for 3rd level students, though I may be wrong. They do have educational licenses for secondary schools and the like as well.

ok thanks, i'll check it out.

sceptre · 07-11-2003 1:29am

Eligibility (US only but useful as an indication)

Office 2003 - Is it worth upgrading?

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