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Butt still, as with Netbooks vs Fullsize Notebook or Win XP vs Vista, who on earth needs Office 2007 ? If I may buy today Office 2003 I would as it fits much better to the small netbook screens. Office 2007 is simply no gain for my needs. KISS – keep it simple & stupid is all we need.

Read all about it for yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenFormula

Regarding Microsoft-sponsored ISO standards, this much (from the article above) is true:

“The Office Open XML spreadsheet formula language is now part of the international standard ISO/IEC IS 29500:2008″.

What it doesn't tell you is that no software application … none at all … produces documents in that ISO/IEC IS 29500:2008 format.

Even Microsoft Office doesn't comply to the Microsoft-sponsored ISO/IEC IS 29500:2008 “standard”. No software program on earth does.

BTW … I can't really see how it can be called a “standard” if nothing at all implements it.

I will say this: Microsoft has the most seamless office productivity software from a workflow standpoint, especially with the integration between Exchange, Sharepoint, Groove, and the other Office 2007 programs. While others have attempted to replicate pieces of this functionality, I haven't seen anyone match it. Microsoft is huge, so it understands huge. [=^)

However, only large organizations really NEED that kind of integration. But any of the smaller shops who want to do business with them will often need to be familiar with the same tools. Or, at least pretend to be. And that's why Microsoft makes so much money.

organisations assuming people know how to use software? bane of my life but have you tried to convince them otherwise? they will always skimp on training. when you buy hardware or software you have a shiny phusical box somewhere but when you buy training there is no visible tangible thing and some are worried that if they train staff the staff may leave taking their training with them. i thought it was best summed up with the comment. 'what if we train people and they leave? to which the response is what if you don't train them and they stay?'

i do think ms has a problem. office 2007 isn't much different than office 95. some new features but not many, it's mostly cosmetic changes. but they have to be seen to show added value to justify the cost of upgrades. so it's a whizz bang new interface and brand new incompatible file layouts. in the various upgrades from 95 to 2003 most accepted the file layout differences. 2007 is the first time i've heard so many complaints from average non technical people about file layout changes _and_ ui changes.

thinking of it as similar to the vista revolt were people are going out of their way to avoid vista. with office 2007 they will upgrade but quite a few are now looking towards alternatives.

not a fan of ms. have most family and friends on mac linux now as it drastically reducees the amount of time i spend supporting tech outside work.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HA10149…

I hope that helps!

Perhaps your accountants are the oddballs of the universe, but I'm willing to bet it's the standard attitude I face every day. It's the same kind of people who hated the transition from DOS to Windows. Give me three hours with 'em, and see what they say. [=^D

Unfortunately, a lot of organizations assume people “just know” how to use software, or they can “just figure it out” on their own. This isn't true for most people.

i avoid office like the plague myself. i stick with vim for all my documentation/notes. it has a fantastic outliner. bit of a learning curve though.

OOXML was rushed through ISO, with a lot of controversy, bribing (say “Norway”), and pressure on the ISO national bodies. My MS. So it was MS that was rushing it. There was no working implementation of their pseudo-standard at the time the standard was going through ISO. Their standard is bloated and confusing for the sore reason of making it impossible for other developers to create a compatible implementation. But hey Mr. Troll, that's why OOo is not 100% compatible w/ .doc. It's all reverse engineered from the MS implementation… 'cause they haven't really published .doc as a standard.

Well, anyway, that's the crash course in MS way of doing business… but hey, I guss you're all for it, so why not bend over,, grab your ankles and say 'uncle'?

Cheerios