I came across some interesting articles about Microsoft Office 2010 and thought it might be useful to someone Is anyone planning to upgrade?

Office 2010: The Pros and Cons for Businesses
From the article: Office 2010, set to launch in June, has handy new features for businesses and is more Web-friendly, but will come with a potentially clunky merging of new technologies and upgrade headaches. Is it worth it? A Forrester research report weighs the good and the bad.

Microsoft Office 2010: a Simple FAQ
From the article: Microsoft is expanding its horizons with its newly revealed Office 2010 software suite. The updated Office will be available in two separate formats: a traditional PC-based edition and a completely Web-based version. Both products are expected to be released in the first half of 2010.

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As a general rule I usually wait at least 6 months before I upgrade to a new Microsoft product. This gives me time to read reviews and Microsoft a chance to fix the major bugs. (I have never seen a new MS product that didn't need patches released almost immediately to fix bugs.)

Microsoft's new products seem to be hit or miss. (Either they are great or they are a bomb.)

As VAF members upgrade I would love to know what they think of Office 2010.

Best Wishes,
Julie

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Julie | Virtual Resource Services, Inc (VRSI)
http://www.vrsioffice.com

I currently use Office 2003 and was contemplating an upgrade to 2007 but with 2010 right around the corner I will wait. I agree with Julie that waiting for bugs to be corrected and updates to be done is usually the best way to go so it may be awhile before I do anything.

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Sylvia Mesaros
The Alliances

I've been using Office 2010 Beta for a couple of months and haven't found any problems. The programs launch really fast - the biggest improvement I've seen over 2007 or any previous version. I feel like I save lots of time when Word docs open fast and save fast...not sure if it adds up to much time but it is a noticeable difference!

You can use 2010 Beta free until Halloween if you'd like to play with it.

I've heard there are no upgrades from prior versions and everyone that wants 2010 will need to buy a full version. I would say skip 2007 and go straight to 2010 but I believe I saw that if you buy 2007 now you can get 2010 for free when it launches.

This is a good site for info on Office from Office Watch: http://news.office-watch.com/?

Here is their 2010 Office pricing info: http://news.office-watch.com/t/n.asp...1360&zoneid=10

I just switched to 2003 a year ago and plan on keeping that as long as feasible. (My friend, who is also a VA, I believe is still running 97!) As long as it's doing what I need for it to do and there are no compatibility issues with clients, I don't see a need to switch, especially with the cost.

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Pam Deyerle - Transcriptionist in the Richmond, Virginia area
The Perfect Word Transcription Services

I haven't begun researching the 2010 version yet - but will upgrade 6months- a year after release. Thanks for these links - this will give me a good start!

I have clients and talk to a large number of people who never even upgraded to 2007 yet, so I don't feel a huge pressure to "keep up".

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Crystal Coleman, The Northern Edge

Tess, Great articles! Its good to see others feel the same as myself. I like to wait at least a year before purchasing a MS product. I'm excited about the new stuff in 2010, but the desire to upgrade quickly isn't there.

Another thing I take into account is my computer is almost 5 yrs old and no plans to get a new one until next year. I would be afraid to purchase MS 2010 and have it slow down my system because it is geared towards newer technology. This is why Win 7 will not be installed on my computer either.

So for now I will stay with MS 2007 and once I do purchase that new computer then MS 2010 will be right around the corner.

Once again, thanks for the articles!

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Leona Martin
A Plus Admin Services