• Office 2003 Upgrade (Office XP Pro)

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    #394443

    I like Office XP pro, and have been using it since it came out. I have heard that there are not many major changes in Office 2003 for a home user like myself. Although I like to have the latest and greatest Office so I can do what I need to do should I choose to do it, the upgrade price is way out of my league right now. I have heard varying opinions on upgrading, and would like to hear some opinions from you guys out there in the forum. The most common thing that I have heard, is that if you do want to upgrade right now, just upgrade Outlook because it has the most revisions. Your thoughts? shrug

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    • #723465

      Kahy–

      I contacted people familiar with Office setup with two scenarios:

      1) Someone has Office XP Pro and they want to install Office 2003 over it.
      2) They have Office XP Pro and want to install Outlook 2003 over it.

      The answer I got was that in both cases uninstallation is not required, because Office 2003 setup will handle it appropriately asking you which version you would like to keep and remove.

      SMBP

    • #723466

      Kahy–

      I contacted people familiar with Office setup with two scenarios:

      1) Someone has Office XP Pro and they want to install Office 2003 over it.
      2) They have Office XP Pro and want to install Outlook 2003 over it.

      The answer I got was that in both cases uninstallation is not required, because Office 2003 setup will handle it appropriately asking you which version you would like to keep and remove.

      SMBP

    • #723507

      If I were you, I’d wait until the first service pack comes out anyway. By then, the many reviewers will have boiled down the key differences and we can see (1)

      • #724318

        Also note that if you buy the “Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003*” None of these products are eligible for future upgrades. You will have to pay the FULL price NOT upgrade price if and when version 200? comes out.

        DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
        Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

        • #725229

          That’s a very good point to consider that I had overlooked not having had those before.

          SMBP

        • #725230

          That’s a very good point to consider that I had overlooked not having had those before.

          SMBP

      • #724319

        Also note that if you buy the “Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003*” None of these products are eligible for future upgrades. You will have to pay the FULL price NOT upgrade price if and when version 200? comes out.

        DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
        Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

    • #723508

      If I were you, I’d wait until the first service pack comes out anyway. By then, the many reviewers will have boiled down the key differences and we can see (1)

    • #722926

      Kathy–

      I have the latest Beta–I think you’ve summed it up correctly. You’re looking at about $280 for an upgrade from XP but you can subtract another close to $50 because every launch they flood the web and stores with coupons. If you can qualify for a student price then there will be discounts there also.

      There is not going to be any Outlook upgrade–I think the main reason there, is that it’s so widely used and it is the one day to day component that has significant changes that they are betting it will be in demand. So the price for Outlook straight up is going to be $110–again there could be discount coupons or a student price.

      I’m linking David Pogue’s review in The Times last week, and Paul Thurott’s review with screenshots, and two threads we’ve had with a number of links you may or may not have seen. There is one thing you can do if you want to get a feel for it–you can get it in your hands for $8 for the cost of shipping here:

      Office 2003 Preview Trial Site

      Here are some additional links and references that may help you make up your mind:

      Paul Thurott’s Preview of Office 2003 Screenshots Included

      Outlook 2003 Overview from Microsoft’s Site

      Office 2003 Beta Thread Lounge

      SMBP

      • #723079

        Thanks for the information! If I get the Student edition, am I going to missing much functionality if I have Windows XP Pro? I know I won’t get Publisher or Access (which is OK, as long as those remain). Can I install the Student addition over my XP? Are there any differences in the versions of Excel, Word, PPT, or Outlook, or will I get all of the functionality?

        Thanks again! thankyou

        • #723396

          Kathy–

          Whatever functionality you get is not impacted by your Operating system being Windows XP Pro. It’s impacted by which version of Office you choose so long as you have the basic system requirements to run Office 2003. Those are literally identical to the ones on Office’s sites to run Office XP:

          System Requirements to Run Office 2003

          Office 2003 Pro will have 4 components that Student/Standard don’t have which are 1) Access 2) Publisher 3) OL BCM 4) XML and IRM To get Infopath you’d have to have the enterprise edition. My understanding is that One Note will be sold at a special studnet price for $49 as a stand alone. The last comes from Microsoft Watch quoting Microsoft.

          If you get a Student Edition, you’re getting the same 4 most used Office components as the [/i]Office Standard edition Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook.[/i] See:

          Office 2003 Editions Compared

          Office 2003 Editions Pricing Compared

          Microsoft Reveals Office 2003 Prices, Release PC World

          Microsoft’s List of Office 2003 Editions with Hyperlinks

          As to whether you should as best practice install Office 2003 (student edition or any other) [/i]over Office XP[/i] I would like to leave that to people on the lounge with considerably more experience in this type of thing. I know that Microsoft’s FAQ’s said they could run simultaneously, people have installed Office XP over Office SBE. I and others have been able to run the Office 2003 beta fine on the same hard drive as Office XP, although preference is to have separate hard drives, but the issues of Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2002 and whether to uninstall should be answered by someone with years more experience with the innerworkings of Office setups.

          I would tend to want to install it cleanly:

          Customizing How setup Runs

          SMBP

          • #723424

            Ok, the bottom line I got out of this. Excel, Word, PPT, and Outlook should be the exact same versions as included in the Office 2003 Pro package. And, I am inferring from your post, that it would be best to do a uninstall of those 4 applications (the XP version) and then install the new 2003 versions.

            • #723430

              Kathy–

              One adjustment to what you said, and if you take a look at the 3 different comparison charts from Paul Thurott, PC World, and the Microsoft Office 2003 site I linked for you, you’ll see that Office Standard and Office Student edition, are the same with the big 4 (Word, Excel, PP, Outlook) Office programs as far as sales and use–and there is about a $200 price break for the student edition that is the exact same software–and that’s before the coupons that were widely circulated around and after the Office XP launch which will give pricebreaks–usually $50 rebates for the purchase of most office versions–I don’t think they’d go much lower than the already considerable discount on student editions.

              If you got Pro you would get the added components I named in the thread above. I don’t know your situation–you would have to decide if you really needed 1) Access 2) Publisher 3) OL BCM 4) XML and IRM. I’ve read a lot about IRM and talked to people to educate me there, but I wish I could tell you in clear terms how the full complement of XML functionality will affect you. The initials OL BCM they are using stand for Outlook 2003 Enhanced With On Line Business Contact Manager.

              I’m not familiar with using BCM–but I have already seen comparisons with ACT 6.0 and know people using them both–some like ACT’s organization and functionality a lot better than Outlook–and are very happy with it to organize business contacts
              .
              As to install scenarios, I want to leave that to people here with considerably more experience in installing Office over previous versions or not who understand the nuances of the Office setup better than I do, and also hope someone will speak to the situation you indicated you might use which would be that if you put off Office’s whole version you sprung $110 to buy Outlook (which is going to sell at that set price as a stand-alone and is not going to have a separate upgrade version of Outlook 2003). I will go after some info here, but nothing competes with hands on experience.

              You might want to go back and read Woody’s Office Watch 2003. Woody’s Office 2003 with Ed Bott is out on and he will be digging into the programs as it launches October 21. See back issues and this one:

              Woody’s Office Watch 5 March 2003 and Woody’s Office 2003 and back issues.

              SMBP

            • #723431

              Kathy–

              One adjustment to what you said, and if you take a look at the 3 different comparison charts from Paul Thurott, PC World, and the Microsoft Office 2003 site I linked for you, you’ll see that Office Standard and Office Student edition, are the same with the big 4 (Word, Excel, PP, Outlook) Office programs as far as sales and use–and there is about a $200 price break for the student edition that is the exact same software–and that’s before the coupons that were widely circulated around and after the Office XP launch which will give pricebreaks–usually $50 rebates for the purchase of most office versions–I don’t think they’d go much lower than the already considerable discount on student editions.

              If you got Pro you would get the added components I named in the thread above. I don’t know your situation–you would have to decide if you really needed 1) Access 2) Publisher 3) OL BCM 4) XML and IRM. I’ve read a lot about IRM and talked to people to educate me there, but I wish I could tell you in clear terms how the full complement of XML functionality will affect you. The initials OL BCM they are using stand for Outlook 2003 Enhanced With On Line Business Contact Manager.

              I’m not familiar with using BCM–but I have already seen comparisons with ACT 6.0 and know people using them both–some like ACT’s organization and functionality a lot better than Outlook–and are very happy with it to organize business contacts
              .
              As to install scenarios, I want to leave that to people here with considerably more experience in installing Office over previous versions or not who understand the nuances of the Office setup better than I do, and also hope someone will speak to the situation you indicated you might use which would be that if you put off Office’s whole version you sprung $110 to buy Outlook (which is going to sell at that set price as a stand-alone and is not going to have a separate upgrade version of Outlook 2003). I will go after some info here, but nothing competes with hands on experience.

              You might want to go back and read Woody’s Office Watch 2003. Woody’s Office 2003 with Ed Bott is out on and he will be digging into the programs as it launches October 21. See back issues and this one:

              Woody’s Office Watch 5 March 2003 and Woody’s Office 2003 and back issues.

              SMBP

            • #723566

              I ran across this Web Cast and with your interest in Outlook 2003’s changes you might want to see. I get anxious to try out the newest versions of Windows and Office, but there is a lot of wisdom in Jefferson’s approach to waiting until things settle–bugs get discovered and worked out, and some add-ins and 3rd party modifications come out–and helpful tips get written and developed. Microsoft says they are going to make an effort to significantly beef up tutorials on using their Office components and post them like a mini go-to library on their site Office site–so you might drill it and check it from time to time or just google for what you want and stick “microsoft office site” in the google Kathy:

              823889: Support WebCast: Productivity Innovations in Microsoft Outlook 2003

              SMBP

            • #723567

              I ran across this Web Cast and with your interest in Outlook 2003’s changes you might want to see. I get anxious to try out the newest versions of Windows and Office, but there is a lot of wisdom in Jefferson’s approach to waiting until things settle–bugs get discovered and worked out, and some add-ins and 3rd party modifications come out–and helpful tips get written and developed. Microsoft says they are going to make an effort to significantly beef up tutorials on using their Office components and post them like a mini go-to library on their site Office site–so you might drill it and check it from time to time or just google for what you want and stick “microsoft office site” in the google Kathy:

              823889: Support WebCast: Productivity Innovations in Microsoft Outlook 2003

              SMBP

          • #723425

            Ok, the bottom line I got out of this. Excel, Word, PPT, and Outlook should be the exact same versions as included in the Office 2003 Pro package. And, I am inferring from your post, that it would be best to do a uninstall of those 4 applications (the XP version) and then install the new 2003 versions.

          • #733386

            I want to thank you for all of your helpful information. As far as getting the Student Edition, I realize I will not be able to upgrade it to the next version. However, would it not be better to get it, and get the new Outlook, rather than paying for just the new Outlook version alone. And won’t I have to uninstall Office XP (except for Front Page, Publisher, Access, etc, that don’t come with the student edition)?

            Again, thanks for helping me out with all of the information.

            • #733822

              Kathy–

              Do some price comparing on the web to get the best price–CNET best price–Pricegrabber.com–Priceline.com–places like that on the web. Just google for “best price Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003.” Also do you need Powerpoint? Is Powerpoint a must for college students? I have no idea. I guess it depends on your courses and their demands. Keep in mind that Infopath has the ability to allow you to write on a Tablet (you need a writing device to scribble with it and have your handwriting translated into type–I’ve done it with a Mouse and a Tablet and you need the device) and it can record a lecture and translate it into type and go on for hours. Some students may find this very helpful in lectures. There is student pricing of One Note down to $49!

              One Note has rebate to $100 for “Non-Students”

              One Note for Students

              MS Press Pass Academic Pricing One Note Students at $49

              Yes–instead of buying Outlook 2003 as a stand alone–there isn’t going to be that much price difference in Outlook 2003 and Student Edition. I think you’re going to be better off getting a good price on the student discount–we’re talkin’ $149 for the student edition and $84 best Outlook 2003 stand-alone price. Keep your eyes open because all these discount stores are giving away rebates on top of some of these pricepoints–because then with the exception of Access— and some of the XML and soon to be released DRM functionality (Digital rights management that allows companies or universities to control how email, Word, Excel docs are copied and distributed –you will have the basic Office tools that I only wish I could have taken to school with a notebook. Things would have been much different with all the papers I had to write and the way I studied. I could have probably accessed things faster than google than using a chemistry text book to look them up.

              You can’t upgrade, but the next version called Office Longhorn is going to have a student edition anyway, and by then in around 2006 your needs may be different and it’s features will be also.

              I believe you can install Office 2003 over the Office XP (which edition do you have?) and be fine there–but there are many people in the Lounge with more expertise and years of doing this than I have. I think also that the installer of Office 2003 (any edition has been designed so that it will leave your Publisher 2002 and Front Page 2002 intact.

              CNET Price Comparisons of Outlook 2003

              Do You Qualify for Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003

              Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003

              Inside Office 2003

              SMBP

            • #733823

              Kathy–

              Do some price comparing on the web to get the best price–CNET best price–Pricegrabber.com–Priceline.com–places like that on the web. Just google for “best price Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003.” Also do you need Powerpoint? Is Powerpoint a must for college students? I have no idea. I guess it depends on your courses and their demands. Keep in mind that Infopath has the ability to allow you to write on a Tablet (you need a writing device to scribble with it and have your handwriting translated into type–I’ve done it with a Mouse and a Tablet and you need the device) and it can record a lecture and translate it into type and go on for hours. Some students may find this very helpful in lectures. There is student pricing of One Note down to $49!

              One Note has rebate to $100 for “Non-Students”

              One Note for Students

              MS Press Pass Academic Pricing One Note Students at $49

              Yes–instead of buying Outlook 2003 as a stand alone–there isn’t going to be that much price difference in Outlook 2003 and Student Edition. I think you’re going to be better off getting a good price on the student discount–we’re talkin’ $149 for the student edition and $84 best Outlook 2003 stand-alone price. Keep your eyes open because all these discount stores are giving away rebates on top of some of these pricepoints–because then with the exception of Access— and some of the XML and soon to be released DRM functionality (Digital rights management that allows companies or universities to control how email, Word, Excel docs are copied and distributed –you will have the basic Office tools that I only wish I could have taken to school with a notebook. Things would have been much different with all the papers I had to write and the way I studied. I could have probably accessed things faster than google than using a chemistry text book to look them up.

              You can’t upgrade, but the next version called Office Longhorn is going to have a student edition anyway, and by then in around 2006 your needs may be different and it’s features will be also.

              I believe you can install Office 2003 over the Office XP (which edition do you have?) and be fine there–but there are many people in the Lounge with more expertise and years of doing this than I have. I think also that the installer of Office 2003 (any edition has been designed so that it will leave your Publisher 2002 and Front Page 2002 intact.

              CNET Price Comparisons of Outlook 2003

              Do You Qualify for Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003

              Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003

              Inside Office 2003

              SMBP

            • #733882

              Previously, new releases of Office didn’t require you to uninstall the previous version. However, if you tried to install into the same folder, that probably would be the result, and if you tried to have them coexist side-by-side, they often seemed to step on one another’s toes. I think I’d wait to see the next issue of WO2003 (or whatever it’s called), which I believe will talk about installation issues.

            • #733883

              Previously, new releases of Office didn’t require you to uninstall the previous version. However, if you tried to install into the same folder, that probably would be the result, and if you tried to have them coexist side-by-side, they often seemed to step on one another’s toes. I think I’d wait to see the next issue of WO2003 (or whatever it’s called), which I believe will talk about installation issues.

            • #733896

              I would install it into a different folder. That’s been Kaplinb’s advice and the advice here more than once. MS says you can install over if you call Office 2003 Activation right now.

              SMBP

            • #733897

              I would install it into a different folder. That’s been Kaplinb’s advice and the advice here more than once. MS says you can install over if you call Office 2003 Activation right now.

              SMBP

            • #733978

              This paragraph and chart may make some points for you and give you another comparison look Cathy:

              Microsoft Office System 2003

              SMBP

            • #733979

              This paragraph and chart may make some points for you and give you another comparison look Cathy:

              Microsoft Office System 2003

              SMBP

            • #735585

              I have Office XP now, but I rarely use Access. Publisher XP should be fine for me. So I think that the upgrade to the Student edition would be fine since it has the 4 apps that I use the most. And if I want to upgrade to FP 2003 later, I can do that. Thanks everyone. All of your feedback has been extremely helpful! When I upgrade, I will probably let it overwrite the XP apps that are being replaced. However, Access, Publisher, and FP should be untouched by the upgrade, correct?

            • #735597

              Kathy–

              On retaining Access and Publisher or any previous version components from Office XP or an older version when you’re going to install MOS 2003 S&T or other edition that doesn’t have them in it–if the default setup won’t show you a custom window that shows it is allowing you to retain it by doing a custom install–I see 2 safe ways to go— because at the launch they said that the default is going to wipe out all components of previous Office, the registry keys, the shortcuts, the setup files, and anything else I left out here).

              1) Take the very sound advice previously from Jefferson and Kaplinb and others with a lot of Office installations under their belts to install them into another folder to avoid conflict. Also Jefferson stressed that the older version and edition’s components–i.e. your old Access and Publisher should be installed first and you would have that situation.

              2) You can download a Custom Installation Wizard which is a tool from the MOS 2003 Resource Kit which will put up a list of all your old components from Office XP and let you save the ones you want–i.e. Access and Publisher. I know this exists and will work because it was done right in front of me on a very large screen–I can’t find a screenshot to show you but basically you get a window that has Access and Publisher with a checkmark to retain them.

              Please take a look at this thread which would give you these two safe ways to do this–I have included the link to download the Custom Installation Wizard (comes with the resource kit as well as a link to get it alone) and the install in another folder advice is on the thread as well:

              Updating Office to 2003 Lounge October 22, 2003

              I have Office XP Pro and had the Beta of 2003 but I don’t have the final edition yet so I can’t test this. I won’t have any old versions to retain though. Woody has made clear why you don’t want to retain an the Beta version components–they have common .dlls and it would mess things up. See his newsletter in the thread linked but that’s not your situation.

              Maybe someone who has had the situation they want to retain the old components will relate their install experience. Some of the Office and Word MVP’s are checking to verify whether the Resource Kit’s Custom Installation Wizard is necessary by default to do what you want, but I was told 3 times by two presenters it is.

              What’s coming up is that many people who had Office XP and an Access that hasn’t changed significantly and they feel they have a recent enough version of Access and Publisher so they opt for a S&T or Standard edition to upgrade and they can upgrade if they don’t have standard to begin with.

              SMBP

            • #735598

              Kathy–

              On retaining Access and Publisher or any previous version components from Office XP or an older version when you’re going to install MOS 2003 S&T or other edition that doesn’t have them in it–if the default setup won’t show you a custom window that shows it is allowing you to retain it by doing a custom install–I see 2 safe ways to go— because at the launch they said that the default is going to wipe out all components of previous Office, the registry keys, the shortcuts, the setup files, and anything else I left out here).

              1) Take the very sound advice previously from Jefferson and Kaplinb and others with a lot of Office installations under their belts to install them into another folder to avoid conflict. Also Jefferson stressed that the older version and edition’s components–i.e. your old Access and Publisher should be installed first and you would have that situation.

              2) You can download a Custom Installation Wizard which is a tool from the MOS 2003 Resource Kit which will put up a list of all your old components from Office XP and let you save the ones you want–i.e. Access and Publisher. I know this exists and will work because it was done right in front of me on a very large screen–I can’t find a screenshot to show you but basically you get a window that has Access and Publisher with a checkmark to retain them.

              Please take a look at this thread which would give you these two safe ways to do this–I have included the link to download the Custom Installation Wizard (comes with the resource kit as well as a link to get it alone) and the install in another folder advice is on the thread as well:

              Updating Office to 2003 Lounge October 22, 2003

              I have Office XP Pro and had the Beta of 2003 but I don’t have the final edition yet so I can’t test this. I won’t have any old versions to retain though. Woody has made clear why you don’t want to retain an the Beta version components–they have common .dlls and it would mess things up. See his newsletter in the thread linked but that’s not your situation.

              Maybe someone who has had the situation they want to retain the old components will relate their install experience. Some of the Office and Word MVP’s are checking to verify whether the Resource Kit’s Custom Installation Wizard is necessary by default to do what you want, but I was told 3 times by two presenters it is.

              What’s coming up is that many people who had Office XP and an Access that hasn’t changed significantly and they feel they have a recent enough version of Access and Publisher so they opt for a S&T or Standard edition to upgrade and they can upgrade if they don’t have standard to begin with.

              SMBP

            • #735851

              Kathy–

              Someone tested this for me using MOS2K3 Student Edition and found that you apparently don’t need to download the resource kit, to keep Access and Publisher from a prior edition because you get an option to custom install and by choosing it you’ll get a screen with the option to

              Remove All Previous Versions
              Keep All Previous Versions
              Remove only the following apps (lists found/installed previous versions)
              Also, there is a summary/review screen before any changes are made.

              SMBP

            • #735852

              Kathy–

              Someone tested this for me using MOS2K3 Student Edition and found that you apparently don’t need to download the resource kit, to keep Access and Publisher from a prior edition because you get an option to custom install and by choosing it you’ll get a screen with the option to

              Remove All Previous Versions
              Keep All Previous Versions
              Remove only the following apps (lists found/installed previous versions)
              Also, there is a summary/review screen before any changes are made.

              SMBP

            • #735586

              I have Office XP now, but I rarely use Access. Publisher XP should be fine for me. So I think that the upgrade to the Student edition would be fine since it has the 4 apps that I use the most. And if I want to upgrade to FP 2003 later, I can do that. Thanks everyone. All of your feedback has been extremely helpful! When I upgrade, I will probably let it overwrite the XP apps that are being replaced. However, Access, Publisher, and FP should be untouched by the upgrade, correct?

          • #733387

            I want to thank you for all of your helpful information. As far as getting the Student Edition, I realize I will not be able to upgrade it to the next version. However, would it not be better to get it, and get the new Outlook, rather than paying for just the new Outlook version alone. And won’t I have to uninstall Office XP (except for Front Page, Publisher, Access, etc, that don’t come with the student edition)?

            Again, thanks for helping me out with all of the information.

        • #723397

          Kathy–

          Whatever functionality you get is not impacted by your Operating system being Windows XP Pro. It’s impacted by which version of Office you choose so long as you have the basic system requirements to run Office 2003. Those are literally identical to the ones on Office’s sites to run Office XP:

          System Requirements to Run Office 2003

          Office 2003 Pro will have 4 components that Student/Standard don’t have which are 1) Access 2) Publisher 3) OL BCM 4) XML and IRM To get Infopath you’d have to have the enterprise edition. My understanding is that One Note will be sold at a special studnet price for $49 as a stand alone. The last comes from Microsoft Watch quoting Microsoft.

          If you get a Student Edition, you’re getting the same 4 most used Office components as the [/i]Office Standard edition Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook.[/i] See:

          Office 2003 Editions Compared

          Office 2003 Editions Pricing Compared

          Microsoft Reveals Office 2003 Prices, Release PC World

          Microsoft’s List of Office 2003 Editions with Hyperlinks

          As to whether you should as best practice install Office 2003 (student edition or any other) [/i]over Office XP[/i] I would like to leave that to people on the lounge with considerably more experience in this type of thing. I know that Microsoft’s FAQ’s said they could run simultaneously, people have installed Office XP over Office SBE. I and others have been able to run the Office 2003 beta fine on the same hard drive as Office XP, although preference is to have separate hard drives, but the issues of Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2002 and whether to uninstall should be answered by someone with years more experience with the innerworkings of Office setups.

          I would tend to want to install it cleanly:

          Customizing How setup Runs

          SMBP

      • #723080

        Thanks for the information! If I get the Student edition, am I going to missing much functionality if I have Windows XP Pro? I know I won’t get Publisher or Access (which is OK, as long as those remain). Can I install the Student addition over my XP? Are there any differences in the versions of Excel, Word, PPT, or Outlook, or will I get all of the functionality?

        Thanks again! thankyou

    • #722927

      Kathy–

      I have the latest Beta–I think you’ve summed it up correctly. You’re looking at about $280 for an upgrade from XP but you can subtract another close to $50 because every launch they flood the web and stores with coupons. If you can qualify for a student price then there will be discounts there also.

      There is not going to be any Outlook upgrade–I think the main reason there, is that it’s so widely used and it is the one day to day component that has significant changes that they are betting it will be in demand. So the price for Outlook straight up is going to be $110–again there could be discount coupons or a student price.

      I’m linking David Pogue’s review in The Times last week, and Paul Thurott’s review with screenshots, and two threads we’ve had with a number of links you may or may not have seen. There is one thing you can do if you want to get a feel for it–you can get it in your hands for $8 for the cost of shipping here:

      Office 2003 Preview Trial Site

      Here are some additional links and references that may help you make up your mind:

      Paul Thurott’s Preview of Office 2003 Screenshots Included

      Outlook 2003 Overview from Microsoft’s Site

      Office 2003 Beta Thread Lounge

      SMBP

    • #727916

      You might find these reviews of Office 2003 from the NY Times and Info World helpful:

      Microsoft Office 2003 Reviewed by David Pogue

      Microsoft Reboots Office by John Udell Infoworld

      SMBP

    • #727918

      You might find these reviews of Office 2003 from the NY Times and Info World helpful:

      Microsoft Office 2003 Reviewed by David Pogue

      Microsoft Reboots Office by John Udell Infoworld

      SMBP

    • #730998

      Here’s are reviews of Microsoft Office Systems 2003 and One Note by Andrew Hawn, Director of Tech TV’s labs. Tech TV is owned by Paul Allen, (Vulcan Entertainmnment) the co-founder of Microsoft.

      Microsoft Office Systems 2003

      Microsoft OneNote

      SMBP

    • #730999

      Here’s are reviews of Microsoft Office Systems 2003 and One Note by Andrew Hawn, Director of Tech TV’s labs. Tech TV is owned by Paul Allen, (Vulcan Entertainmnment) the co-founder of Microsoft.

      Microsoft Office Systems 2003

      Microsoft OneNote

      SMBP

    • #732425

      Kathy–

      MS has put a number of clip demos you can watch through WMP to preview Office Systems 2003 including Outlook 2003 with some of the server interaction at this site:

      Great Moments At Work: Introducing the New Microsoft Office System

      Ed. SMBP You can access the demos (video clips shown in WMP) of the various Office components or what Bill Gates called “modules” at the NY launch here:

      Office 2003 Demos Showcase

      SMBP

    • #732426

      Kathy–

      MS has put a number of clip demos you can watch through WMP to preview Office Systems 2003 including Outlook 2003 with some of the server interaction at this site:

      Great Moments At Work: Introducing the New Microsoft Office System

      Ed. SMBP You can access the demos (video clips shown in WMP) of the various Office components or what Bill Gates called “modules” at the NY launch here:

      Office 2003 Demos Showcase

      SMBP

    • #733954

      If you use word mail or any feature like mail merge, don’t upgrade just Outlook. Get the student version if you qualify as long as you don’t intend to use it for commercial work…

      FWIW, I hate it when i need to work on a machine with office xp now and would only have both installed if i needed it for development work. (if you do, you don’t qualify for student version)

      • #733976

        MJ–

        Are you saying you hate it when you work on an Office XP machine now because of differences that you much prefer in Office 2003–or some of the things it can accomplish with various servers or xml features–or other particular things you can get done with it?

        SMBP

      • #733977

        MJ–

        Are you saying you hate it when you work on an Office XP machine now because of differences that you much prefer in Office 2003–or some of the things it can accomplish with various servers or xml features–or other particular things you can get done with it?

        SMBP

    • #733955

      If you use word mail or any feature like mail merge, don’t upgrade just Outlook. Get the student version if you qualify as long as you don’t intend to use it for commercial work…

      FWIW, I hate it when i need to work on a machine with office xp now and would only have both installed if i needed it for development work. (if you do, you don’t qualify for student version)

    • #735174
    • #735175
    • #735233

      Ijust installed Office 2003 yesterday.

      I cannot ,ake a ceteris paribus comprison with Office XP because I have installed thm in different Win 2000 systems on a multiboot PC.

      My first impression is that both Word and Excel start up more quick;ly and the mpuse seems more respomsive.

      • #735285

        Thanks for driving home the revelation that if I had known about Google, I would definitely not have taken 4 years of Latin in high school, besides the fact that I could find out that Ceteris Paribus is a literary magazine. What is mpuse?

        SMBP

      • #735286

        Thanks for driving home the revelation that if I had known about Google, I would definitely not have taken 4 years of Latin in high school, besides the fact that I could find out that Ceteris Paribus is a literary magazine. What is mpuse?

        SMBP

    • #735234

      Ijust installed Office 2003 yesterday.

      I cannot ,ake a ceteris paribus comprison with Office XP because I have installed thm in different Win 2000 systems on a multiboot PC.

      My first impression is that both Word and Excel start up more quick;ly and the mpuse seems more respomsive.

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    Reply To: Office 2003 Upgrade (Office XP Pro)

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