Another VISTA O/S question

YerDugliness

This high $$ computer came with a 60 day free trial to Microsoft Office, but now I need to decide what to do regarding an office software package.

My previous employer has a licensing agreement with Microsoft and before I retired I purchased some software, including Microsoft Office Professional, Enterprise Edition 2003. Also included are three "applications" discs, one from July 2005 that has "Microsoft Office Professional (microsoft Office Outlook, 2003 with Business Contact Manager Update)" on on the CD label, and also a January 2006 two-CED "service pack" that relates to Microsoft Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003.

I'm hoping these will be adequate for my limited "office" software needs, but I have a couple of questions before I try to install them:

1. Will this software, which I must assume was developed to run using the XP Professional O/S, be compatible with the Vista O/S? Right after I got the computer, I was having the issue discussed in my "Very Frustrated Vista O/S user" thread and approached the B & M where I purchased the system. They told me the IE issues were realted to installation of incompatible software, so I uninstalled everything, but as we all know the IE issue continued until an HP service rep managed to find the right box for a check mark on the IE options tab.....so, obviously it was not the result of incompatible software as the tech department of the B & M told me. Still, I don't really want to even attempt to install it if it won't work with the Vista O/S, would rather buy a Vista compatible office package if that is an issue. Can anyone tell me anything about this compatibility issue?

2. Should there be no incompatibility issue with the Office Pro software, why might I need to "install" the three service pack CD's, they all say "Applications Student Media/work at home media". Even the June 2004 disc that seems to be the Office Pro software says "Applications Student Media" on it. As I understand it, the service packs might be necessary if I wanted to work from home and interface with the business's website "interactive" services, but would all those "work at home" service packs be necessary if I don't want to do that, just work (primarily in Microsoft Word) on my own computer at home?

Thanks in advance for whatever information you can provide....I haven't priced a specific Vista compatible office package yet, just wanted to see if I could save a few $$ without creating massive problems for myself by using these already in-hand products.

Dugly

poppameth

From what I've heard Office 2003 should run fine on Vista. I don't currently have a Vista rig and the only ones I've worked on have had the latest Office package installed so I can't comment from personal experience. I'd try it and see. If it doesn't work you can try a free alternative before buying more software from MS. One of the best on the market is OpenOffice.org.

nayslayer

Office pro 03 came with i think at least 5 disks. You only need the first one for anything you may want. You will have to uninstall the trial of 07 first, at least this is the best course. I'd make sure you have sp1 for vista, really makes the os stable. The latest version of open office has gotten some great reviews and it's FREE

YerDugliness

This sounds like my kind of deal.....FREE where?

TIA!!

Dugly

nayslayer

Get open office here > http://www.openoffice.org/index.html

YerDugliness

Thanks for that, nayslayer....will certainly get on board with that one!

Dugly

YerDugliness

OK, folks, before I go the openoffice.org route, I thought I might look through my library of program CD's, and I found a few that I'd like to ask about.

The first is "Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007". This sure sounds like an office group program to me, what do any of you know about this? I know I could Google it, I just would rather have some opportunity for interaction and questions compared to something to simply read.

The second is "Microsoft Office Sharepoint Designer 2007". Anyone know what this is about? Any and all information would most assuredly be welcomed, as I haven't a clue!

The third is "Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007". I'm hoping this is some sort of video editing program, as I'm starting to post on YouTube and would like that sort of capabilities, but again, just like the "Sharepoint" program, I'm clueless.

So, there's progress happening here, I found newer discs than the older 2005 and 2006 stuff, and if nothing there will suffice I can always go the openoffice.org route....just investigating options here!

Thanks again for whatever information you guys and gals can offer as I attempt to make this Vista "powered" computer more user friendly!

Dugly

AustinREDevelop

Open Office rocks! I use it all the time. One thing you need to do is make sure that you set the default file format to something that your coworkers/clients have. they most likely will not have open office and won't be able to open it's native format.

Joe

crawdoogie

Heck if you own a legal copy of MS Office and have the CD key I'd use that. As for Vista compatability for Office 2003 you will need the SP3 update which you have.
I also use Open Office but recently came across some .doc files from a friend that it didn't read correctly. OO bugtracker says something to do with "old" MS Office file formats (.doc, .xls, ...). All other MS files have worked fine. The .doc files open fine in MS Office 2003 and 2007.

++For video editing Vista and XP both include Windows Movie Maker. It's very easy to use and it's free.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...e57e21033.mspx

Kap

I've been using Office 03 since I got my Vista computer over a year ago. Before SP1 even, I believe.

fierysun

I've been using Office 2003 on a Vista laptop for a couple of months without any issues. By the way Office 2007 takes a little getting used to. Microsoft started using a ribbon design instead of traditional menu items like File, Edit, View.....

cmittle

I have been using openoffice for quite some time as well. There are a few minor differences, but nothing you can't figure out the first time and remember pretty easily. On a side note it is not 100% compatible with M$ Office, that being said I have only run into one problem in the last 3 years of use. There was some really elaborate snowball spreadsheet. I was able to make it work by changing a couple of small things.

That being said, if you've got a key for M$ Office 2003, go ahead and use it. Just remember, when you want to "upgrade" to whatever the new office suites have to offer in a couple years, that OpenOffice.org is an option.