Microsoft Office 2003 or 2010?

O.P.H

Getting a new laptop for college.

I have Microsoft Office 2003 at home but should I spend the 110 euro on the 2010 version?

Most of our lecturer's ask us to use the 2003 version for presentations but should I just move with the times and get the new version?

Biggins

The 2010 version will by the way, allow you to save your files in earlier version formats - just something to keep in mind.

What about the 2007 version instead?

jeffk

O.P.H wrote: »

Getting a new laptop for college.

I have Microsoft Office 2003 at home but should I spend the 110 euro on the 2010 version?

Most of our lecturer's ask us to use the 2003 version for presentations but should I just move with the times and get the new version?

No, because as you said your being asked to use 2003 version.
I know the ECDLs being done this year are only starting to use 2007. Its FAR to expensive to keep up with the office releases on a large scale, so most places don't bother trying.

Naikon

Lets put it this way. You have a hammer that can hammer nails perfectly fine. One day, the maker of that said hammer claims you need a "new" hammer because your old hammer is incompatible with the nails produced by same the company. Assuming all other nail makers follow the rules and don't break standards, it's safe to say that Microsoft is just taking you for a ride. .doc does not stand as an "industry standard" through merit alone. There is nothing a Student needs with office 2010, that 2003 can't do. It's a word processor ffs, how complex does it need to be? Infact, I would go even further. Get OpenOffice or a professional typesetting system such as LaTeX and forget Microshaft Word alltogether. You don't "need" Office 2010 imo. Spend your college money on something worthwhile OP.

O.P.H

Apparently the 2010 version has some "end note" fucntion, so when you are writting biblographies for scientific papers it will do the referencing for you in the proper harvard reference system which would save alot of time, i dunno

Naikon

O.P.H wrote: »

Apparently the 2010 version has some "end note" fucntion, so when you are writting biblographies for scientific papers it will do the referencing for you in the proper harvard reference system which would save alot of time, i dunno

Not sure if it justifies 100-200 euro though. I am sure plugins exist for 2003 to get the same function. I may be very critical of word, but there really is no need for throwing away money on "newer" versions. Donate it to charity if you are that stuck, but imo Office 2010 is an exceptionally poor investment from both a moral and financial perspective. I use LaTeX for my papers, and it wipes word off the floor with referencing schemes. Hard to get used to at first, but a far better product for a student imo. Look into Lyx OP. http://www.lyx.org/

MunsterCycling

http://www.software4students.ie/

but as said just download OpenOffice and use it for free, saves into M$ Word format anyway

Skerries

as others have said there is nothing in 2010 that justifies paying that kind of money when you already have 2003
it will do the same thing as 2010 but without the flashy bells and whistles
if you do want to get it it is cheaper here for students
http://www.software4students.ie/Microsoft_Office_2010_Professional_Plus-details.aspx
or
http://www.studentsoftware.ie/3544pd.html

Naikon

MunsterCycling wrote: »

http://www.software4students.ie/

but as said just download OpenOffice and use it for free, saves into M$ Word format anyway

Am I dreaming, or did I just see Microsoft Project having a retail price of over 1200 euro? Sigh, it's a shame colleges don't actually teach people how to resource tools that suit the individual, as oppossed to sheepishly informing all prospective students that they "need office".
I thought the whole point of Higher Education was to instill critical thought?:pac: It's the same in my college. Students are informed of the amazingly low prices of word whatever. It's a bit like the dealer giving a free sample and getting people hooked for future revenue. Captive audience == lazy product development. Without sounding like a total prick OP, You need to evaluate all your options and decide which suits you best. To think that other word processors/systems available for use. ***shock,horror***

mikemac

I've used both

2010 is very flashy and looks well.
It's a bit of an adjustment to use it but after a a while it's fine

But for a student, if you're doing basic work like typing documents and doing spreadsheets then 2003 is fine.
You already have it so keep your money

If you didn't have it then I'd also go along with Openoffice and on a mac there is Neoffice
Both free, very simple and can handle just about any everyday task.

Naikon

feelingstressed wrote: »

I've used both

2010 is very flashy and looks well.
It's a bit of an adjustment to use it but after a a while it's fine

This just adds fuel to my fire. Was there any sort of objective reasoning for replacing a well known UI template for a piece of crap "ribbon" interface that does nothing else but just piss off the user? How are less technically inclined people supposed to cope when I can't even navigate the UI? Making it "prettier" does not negate the clearly obvious lack of new features. How do these decisions make it into so called "production" software? /rant

Shiny

For the sake of those that are going to have to correct your assignments
and reports, use 2007 or 2010. Please.

Herbal Deity

Naikon wrote: »

This just adds fuel to my fire. Was there any sort of objective reasoning for replacing a well known UI template for a piece of crap "ribbon" interface that does nothing else but just piss off the user? How are less technically inclined people supposed to cope when I can't even navigate the UI? Making it "prettier" does not negate the clearly obvious lack of new features. How do these decisions make it into so called "production" software? /rant

The ribbon interface is much better and looks much more modern IMO.

Lots of your points are valid, but there's no need to be so vitriolic. You seem to foam at the mouth any time Microsoft is mentioned.

MunsterCycling

The ribbon is the son of satan, a money spinner with no extra features, its a fail in my book, lots to dislike over a stable GUI

Wolfe Tone

I got open office the other day and I am very happy with it. Wont be shelling out money again on a word processor.

Herbal Deity

MunsterCycling wrote: »

The ribbon is the son of satan, a money spinner with no extra features, its a fail in my book, lots to dislike over a stable GUI

I think it makes a lot of stuff much quicker and easier.

Each to their own though. I'm pretty sure you can disable it.

Honestly though, if the only Office program you'll use is Word, then Open Office is fine. Excel blows the Open Office clone out of the water and Power Point is a lot better than the Open Office presentation app, although it's fine really.

Shiny

Herbal Deity wrote: »

I think it makes a lot of stuff much quicker and easier.

+1.

I thought the ribbon addition was generally well received by the community ?

MunsterCycling

Excel blowing anything out of the water is a new one on me.

Nah when you have to deal with the number of users and clients I do that are utterly confused when they see the ribbon you'll learn not to mess with a winning combination.

Herbal Deity

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Excel blowing anything out of the water is a new one on me.

The Open Office spreadsheet app is awful.

-Trek-

I hate word 2010 (it was fine the way it was!), but their teaching us office 2010 in college so I ended up joining the queue of sheep and just bought it off software4students. Well at least I didn't have to pay full whack for it which is the only good thing about it.