Burning Office 2007 ... Questions

If you're considering paying the bucks for Office 2007, read this Top 10 article before you make the plunge. And put more in the budget if you want at least half of the features Microsoft advertises.

During dinner last night, a friend in the support business detailed his frustration at helping a client navigate through Office 2007. "He said he had trouble printing. How hard is it to print, I thought, then I sat down to help. I couldn't find the *&%$#@#*( print menu. Why in &^%@$ did Microsoft hide the print menu?"

My Ubuntu 7.10 (Gassy Gibbon, er, Gutsy Gibbon) installation I'm testing included OpenOffice 2.3. Biggest surprise to me so far? It opened an Office 2007 DOCX file someone sent. OpenOffice 2.3 doesn't offer that format in thei "Save As" menu, but it opened the file with no problem. Interestingly, and widely reported, is the fact Microsoft Office 2003 can't open a DOCX file without upgrading and adding a special utility.

Before you pay the big bucks for Office 2007, check out OpenOffice 2.3. The money you save will be your own.

• SMB
• Microsoft
• Office 2007
• OpenOffice