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  4. Don't Understand why I should move from Office 2007

Don't Understand why I should move from Office 2007

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csharpcomlearning
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  • C Clifford Nelson

    I just wanted to see why I should go to Office 2016 and found this: 13+ Reasons You Should Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2016[^]. Looking at it I just could not see any justification. I would love it if they would allow you to use C# or Visual Basic instead of vba for macro programming. I recently did some coding and it was such a pain because vba now has very little in common with even Visual Basic. I would like to have a more reasonable listing for addresses, phone numbers, email address, etc. You cannot have an arbitrary number and no custom labels. Also the display is just as rigid as it was in 1997. The location on the appointments has no flexibility, such as being able to use web lookups for things like restaurants, or local lookups for items in your address book. What the hell has Microsoft Office group been doing for the last 20 years. Not much from what I can tell.

    R Offline
    R Offline
    Rick York
    wrote on last edited by
    #3

    This is why Office365 is sold on a subscription basis. They have made so few real enhancements to Office over the years many people just don't update it. I have an old version, about that age actually, that works just fine for me and it will not be updated.

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    • R Rick York

      This is why Office365 is sold on a subscription basis. They have made so few real enhancements to Office over the years many people just don't update it. I have an old version, about that age actually, that works just fine for me and it will not be updated.

      C Offline
      C Offline
      Clifford Nelson
      wrote on last edited by
      #4

      The only reason to go as high as 2007 in my mind is that is when they started using XAML for storage. Sure to have compatibility with programs that access the files. I upvoted you.

      1 Reply Last reply
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      • C Clifford Nelson

        I just wanted to see why I should go to Office 2016 and found this: 13+ Reasons You Should Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2016[^]. Looking at it I just could not see any justification. I would love it if they would allow you to use C# or Visual Basic instead of vba for macro programming. I recently did some coding and it was such a pain because vba now has very little in common with even Visual Basic. I would like to have a more reasonable listing for addresses, phone numbers, email address, etc. You cannot have an arbitrary number and no custom labels. Also the display is just as rigid as it was in 1997. The location on the appointments has no flexibility, such as being able to use web lookups for things like restaurants, or local lookups for items in your address book. What the hell has Microsoft Office group been doing for the last 20 years. Not much from what I can tell.

        J Offline
        J Offline
        jsc42
        wrote on last edited by
        #5

        I'm still on Office 2007. It's paid for. I don't see why I should pay repeatedly for 'features' that I'll never use. Also (and I hate to admit it but), all of my 'home' applications (media library, contacts list, accounts, etc) are written in MS-Access because it has a reasonable database for single user usage, good front-end, and adequate programmability - or at least it was in 2000 when I originally wrote them (in Office 97). I can get a free database engine and write everything in a free language e.g. C#; but what is the point of rewriting something that has work well for nearly two decades and any mods can be done directly in one place without needing compilers etc; especially just so I can pay for unwanted features. So, I agree with the others who say stick with Office 2007- I'm beginning to get used to the new (in 2003) ribbon UI as the old menu short cuts still work.

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        • J jsc42

          I'm still on Office 2007. It's paid for. I don't see why I should pay repeatedly for 'features' that I'll never use. Also (and I hate to admit it but), all of my 'home' applications (media library, contacts list, accounts, etc) are written in MS-Access because it has a reasonable database for single user usage, good front-end, and adequate programmability - or at least it was in 2000 when I originally wrote them (in Office 97). I can get a free database engine and write everything in a free language e.g. C#; but what is the point of rewriting something that has work well for nearly two decades and any mods can be done directly in one place without needing compilers etc; especially just so I can pay for unwanted features. So, I agree with the others who say stick with Office 2007- I'm beginning to get used to the new (in 2003) ribbon UI as the old menu short cuts still work.

          C Offline
          C Offline
          Clifford Nelson
          wrote on last edited by
          #6

          Actually I am on 2016, but that is only because I basically got it for free. Was on 2010 for the longest time. Ribbon was the stupidest thing that Microsoft ever came up with. Basically just a fancy toolbar, and when originally implemented did not even have the ability to customize which absolutely sucked since they got rid of the menus and the only way to get to things was the Ribbon. Ribbon is fine for simple programs, but for complex ones it just has its limitations. Funny is that you see menus all the time in web apps including this one (codeproject). I also use access. It does what it needs to do in one nice compact file which includes the macros. My problem is that, as stated, VBA is so different from anything current and struggled significantly with the syntax.

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          • J jsc42

            I'm still on Office 2007. It's paid for. I don't see why I should pay repeatedly for 'features' that I'll never use. Also (and I hate to admit it but), all of my 'home' applications (media library, contacts list, accounts, etc) are written in MS-Access because it has a reasonable database for single user usage, good front-end, and adequate programmability - or at least it was in 2000 when I originally wrote them (in Office 97). I can get a free database engine and write everything in a free language e.g. C#; but what is the point of rewriting something that has work well for nearly two decades and any mods can be done directly in one place without needing compilers etc; especially just so I can pay for unwanted features. So, I agree with the others who say stick with Office 2007- I'm beginning to get used to the new (in 2003) ribbon UI as the old menu short cuts still work.

            K Offline
            K Offline
            kmoorevs
            wrote on last edited by
            #7

            jsc42 wrote:

            and I hate to admit it but

            It's a real pity that Access gets such a bad reputation around here when, as you mention, it works quite well for single-user apps...especially as just a simple datastore, without the VBA. Since we're confessing, my company still offers Access (v. 2002) as a database option for smaller customers. In fact, I'm aware of one company that still uses access 97 for a commercial inventory system. :)

            "Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse

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            • C Clifford Nelson

              I just wanted to see why I should go to Office 2016 and found this: 13+ Reasons You Should Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2016[^]. Looking at it I just could not see any justification. I would love it if they would allow you to use C# or Visual Basic instead of vba for macro programming. I recently did some coding and it was such a pain because vba now has very little in common with even Visual Basic. I would like to have a more reasonable listing for addresses, phone numbers, email address, etc. You cannot have an arbitrary number and no custom labels. Also the display is just as rigid as it was in 1997. The location on the appointments has no flexibility, such as being able to use web lookups for things like restaurants, or local lookups for items in your address book. What the hell has Microsoft Office group been doing for the last 20 years. Not much from what I can tell.

              P Offline
              P Offline
              PIEBALDconsult
              wrote on last edited by
              #8

              Office 2003 FTW.

              C 1 Reply Last reply
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              • P PIEBALDconsult

                Office 2003 FTW.

                C Offline
                C Offline
                Clifford Nelson
                wrote on last edited by
                #9

                15 years old now LOL. And I am not happy since I have to work with Visual Studio 2013. LOL. Actually I was not too big on this upgrade and thought 2010 was about as good, but really like what was added to Visual Studio 2015.

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                • C Clifford Nelson

                  15 years old now LOL. And I am not happy since I have to work with Visual Studio 2013. LOL. Actually I was not too big on this upgrade and thought 2010 was about as good, but really like what was added to Visual Studio 2015.

                  P Offline
                  P Offline
                  PIEBALDconsult
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #10

                  VS 2010 was the peak.

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                  • K kmoorevs

                    jsc42 wrote:

                    and I hate to admit it but

                    It's a real pity that Access gets such a bad reputation around here when, as you mention, it works quite well for single-user apps...especially as just a simple datastore, without the VBA. Since we're confessing, my company still offers Access (v. 2002) as a database option for smaller customers. In fact, I'm aware of one company that still uses access 97 for a commercial inventory system. :)

                    "Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse

                    N Offline
                    N Offline
                    Nelek
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #11

                    The first company I worked for, had the whole personal management for worked hours / holidays and so on in Access for all 20+ workers. It worked quite fine, I had only one problem in the over 2 years I worked there.

                    M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.

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                    • P PIEBALDconsult

                      VS 2010 was the peak.

                      C Offline
                      C Offline
                      Clifford Nelson
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #12

                      No question in my mind that 2012 and 2013 were a waste. Did think that 2015 added some really good stuff to C#.

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                      • P PIEBALDconsult

                        VS 2010 was the peak.

                        K Offline
                        K Offline
                        kmoorevs
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #13

                        PIEBALDconsult wrote:

                        VS 2010 was the peak.

                        Agreed! :thumbsup: which is why I still use it when I can...still does almost everything I need and starts fast. I can have multiple projects open without the crippling my main workstation...not so with 2015 which seems to have a lot more overhead. I've started using 2017 occasionally and it seems much better than 2015 as far as resource usage. As for Office, I switched around 5 years ago to Office 365...works for me as all 5 licenses are being used. I only keep two older Office products around...Access 2002/3 and Photo Editor. I really can't stand the UI in Access 2007+, however I've just found the tab view option that might just convince me to drop the older version. (WU always has issues with it anyhow)

                        "Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse

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                        • C Clifford Nelson

                          I just wanted to see why I should go to Office 2016 and found this: 13+ Reasons You Should Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2016[^]. Looking at it I just could not see any justification. I would love it if they would allow you to use C# or Visual Basic instead of vba for macro programming. I recently did some coding and it was such a pain because vba now has very little in common with even Visual Basic. I would like to have a more reasonable listing for addresses, phone numbers, email address, etc. You cannot have an arbitrary number and no custom labels. Also the display is just as rigid as it was in 1997. The location on the appointments has no flexibility, such as being able to use web lookups for things like restaurants, or local lookups for items in your address book. What the hell has Microsoft Office group been doing for the last 20 years. Not much from what I can tell.

                          M Offline
                          M Offline
                          Mycroft Holmes
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #14

                          Only 1 reason I can think of - everything is synched across all platforms. Not sure if this was ever achieved in earlier versions. And yes it pisses me off having to buy it every year for no benefit. When I have time I may well look for an alternative platform.

                          Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

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                          • C Clifford Nelson

                            I just wanted to see why I should go to Office 2016 and found this: 13+ Reasons You Should Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2016[^]. Looking at it I just could not see any justification. I would love it if they would allow you to use C# or Visual Basic instead of vba for macro programming. I recently did some coding and it was such a pain because vba now has very little in common with even Visual Basic. I would like to have a more reasonable listing for addresses, phone numbers, email address, etc. You cannot have an arbitrary number and no custom labels. Also the display is just as rigid as it was in 1997. The location on the appointments has no flexibility, such as being able to use web lookups for things like restaurants, or local lookups for items in your address book. What the hell has Microsoft Office group been doing for the last 20 years. Not much from what I can tell.

                            P Offline
                            P Offline
                            PeejayAdams
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #15

                            Well, yes, as many have pointed out the basic functionality has been there for a great many years. Form a user's point of view, there's really a limit to how much genuinely useful stuff you can add to a spreadsheet or a word processor. From a developer's point of view, there's a gaping hole where a good API should be.

                            98.4% of statistics are made up on the spot.

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                            • P PeejayAdams

                              Well, yes, as many have pointed out the basic functionality has been there for a great many years. Form a user's point of view, there's really a limit to how much genuinely useful stuff you can add to a spreadsheet or a word processor. From a developer's point of view, there's a gaping hole where a good API should be.

                              98.4% of statistics are made up on the spot.

                              C Offline
                              C Offline
                              Clifford Nelson
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #16

                              Very true, and you can see that they have not upgraded VBA, nor added security features so that you can have different levels of risk. Still you cannot add a background to Excel, which really sucks since you could scan an form, and then put the input fields in the foreground. Also I find the search in Excel to not be very good. In word they still have the same horrible format box from 20 years ago. Lots of things they could do. The one I think is horrible are the improvements they could make in Outlook. Not really fond of their focused emails.

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                              • C Clifford Nelson

                                Very true, and you can see that they have not upgraded VBA, nor added security features so that you can have different levels of risk. Still you cannot add a background to Excel, which really sucks since you could scan an form, and then put the input fields in the foreground. Also I find the search in Excel to not be very good. In word they still have the same horrible format box from 20 years ago. Lots of things they could do. The one I think is horrible are the improvements they could make in Outlook. Not really fond of their focused emails.

                                P Offline
                                P Offline
                                PeejayAdams
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #17

                                Yes, the search in Excel is ghastly! As far as VBA goes, it has clearly been abandoned but it can't be formally deprecated as it hasn't been replaced. Yes, there's lots of stuff that has been effectively replaced by VSTO/VSTA, but the Visual Studio approach doesn't cater for the kind of power-user who used to chuck a bit of automation at their spreadsheets directly through Excel. As such, there's a whole heap of VBA/VB6 out there which is now completely insecure but still alive because people haven't really figured out how to replace it.

                                98.4% of statistics are made up on the spot.

                                C D 2 Replies Last reply
                                0
                                • P PeejayAdams

                                  Yes, the search in Excel is ghastly! As far as VBA goes, it has clearly been abandoned but it can't be formally deprecated as it hasn't been replaced. Yes, there's lots of stuff that has been effectively replaced by VSTO/VSTA, but the Visual Studio approach doesn't cater for the kind of power-user who used to chuck a bit of automation at their spreadsheets directly through Excel. As such, there's a whole heap of VBA/VB6 out there which is now completely insecure but still alive because people haven't really figured out how to replace it.

                                  98.4% of statistics are made up on the spot.

                                  C Offline
                                  C Offline
                                  Clifford Nelson
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #18

                                  Also, the nice thing about VBA is that it goes with the file, and is not something separate. Lot easier also just to throw a simple macro together, and Excel and Word have recorders making it even easier

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                                  • P PeejayAdams

                                    Yes, the search in Excel is ghastly! As far as VBA goes, it has clearly been abandoned but it can't be formally deprecated as it hasn't been replaced. Yes, there's lots of stuff that has been effectively replaced by VSTO/VSTA, but the Visual Studio approach doesn't cater for the kind of power-user who used to chuck a bit of automation at their spreadsheets directly through Excel. As such, there's a whole heap of VBA/VB6 out there which is now completely insecure but still alive because people haven't really figured out how to replace it.

                                    98.4% of statistics are made up on the spot.

                                    D Offline
                                    D Offline
                                    David A Gray
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #19

                                    PeejayAdams wrote:

                                    Visual Studio approach doesn't cater for the kind of power-user who used to chuck a bit of automation at their spreadsheets directly through Excel.

                                    Having done some of both, I must concur that VSTO doesn't fully replace VBA. OTOH, there is relatively little that can't be accomplished fairly readily with VBA as it is today. Conversely, if security is an important consideration, as well it should be, a seasoned VBA programmer can work the same kinds of magic with VSTO, and it isn't really all that hard. Once you add a reference to the correct object model, IntelliSense helps immeasurably with the interactions with Excel, and the rest is plain old C# or VB.NET. More significantly, it's comparatively easier, IMO, to construct C# applications that talk to two or more Office products.

                                    David A. Gray Delivering Solutions for the Ages, One Problem at a Time Interpreting the Fundamental Principle of Tabular Reporting

                                    1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • C Clifford Nelson

                                      I just wanted to see why I should go to Office 2016 and found this: 13+ Reasons You Should Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2016[^]. Looking at it I just could not see any justification. I would love it if they would allow you to use C# or Visual Basic instead of vba for macro programming. I recently did some coding and it was such a pain because vba now has very little in common with even Visual Basic. I would like to have a more reasonable listing for addresses, phone numbers, email address, etc. You cannot have an arbitrary number and no custom labels. Also the display is just as rigid as it was in 1997. The location on the appointments has no flexibility, such as being able to use web lookups for things like restaurants, or local lookups for items in your address book. What the hell has Microsoft Office group been doing for the last 20 years. Not much from what I can tell.

                                      D Offline
                                      D Offline
                                      Dr Walt Fair PE
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #20

                                      Clifford Nelson wrote:

                                      What the hell has Microsoft Office group been doing for the last 20 years. Not much from what I can tell.

                                      That's why they're still ptofitable!

                                      CQ de W5ALT

                                      Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software

                                      C 1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • D Dr Walt Fair PE

                                        Clifford Nelson wrote:

                                        What the hell has Microsoft Office group been doing for the last 20 years. Not much from what I can tell.

                                        That's why they're still ptofitable!

                                        CQ de W5ALT

                                        Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software

                                        C Offline
                                        C Offline
                                        Clifford Nelson
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #21

                                        Which is the reason that Microsoft wants to sell subscriptions and not products

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