Entered CNET Catalog: 07/08/2009
SKU: CNETMicrosoftOffice10
Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38out of 38 user reviews
Still no "back" key!
Pros: Not sure yet. Little different to Word 2007 on first blush.
Cons: No back key. Paragraph formatting still unstable.
out of 38 user reviews
i love it... recommend best buy... must be w/the disc
Pros: easy to use... beautiful appearance
Cons: none... well made product
out of 38 user reviews
why does microsoft make their products worse?
Pros: Outlook does run faster, but still slow
Cons: It is no longer possible to attach or link a contact to an appointment or meeting or any other entry. The only way to do so is to invite the contact as an attendee! And if the contact does not have an email address that is not possible!
I wish I never upgraded!
out of 38 user reviews
office 2010 is just cooooool....
Pros: Easy to use application that makes my work easir and faster. I what really impresses me is that the ribbon is present across all office applications. One note, my favorite has become better, organising ideas has become even easier.
Cons: that office 2007 products are labelled as 'compatibility mode' - that worries me coz most of my documents are in 2007 and i wouldnt want to have to reformat old documents when printing them out
out of 38 user reviews
I completely agree with magavara's assessment
Pros: none of it
Cons: The Ribbon is a disaster for efficiency and optimization, and it's difficult to imagine why they didn't at least make it optional, with the other option being an Office 2003-styie menu.
out of 38 user reviews
Office, Preschool, It's all the same to Microsoft
Pros: Some excellent new features in Excel, insert snapshot of desktop, copy and paste as transposed, customizable ribbon, 64 bit (major plus), Outlook sends and receives email and now has a ribbon. (Well honestly I was hoping the ribbon would be a plus)
Cons: The ribbon takes up yet even more space, The UI is starting to look more and more like a TV setup menu. As far as Outlook itself, don't even get me started. It is the worst email client I have ever used which is about a dozen.
I do prefer the ribbon over drop down menus. But one advantage that menus have is the ability to mouse over them for them to drop instead of clicking back and forth between ribbons. Furthermore, in order for the ribbon to be useful they need to include all the items that the drop down menus had which I think Excel 2007 accomplishes, not so with Outhook. Outlook 2010's UI makes everything looked greyed out and the default ribbon is about as useless as a 10 meg hard dirve. Finding the account settings was a real nightmare requiring 3 times the mouse travel and twice the clicks. In fact you have to switch to a different ribbon just to send and recive. In Excel 2010 opening a new spreadsheet involves going to the cornermost menu then click on new and then decide which type of spreadsheet you want to open with the most popular one, "blank", being in the opposite corner of your screen, this will make you miss the good ol' days of the menubar. What I really miss about the menu bar was the ability to create toolbars with custom icons and titles which you could drag off the main bar and use as a toolbox closer to your working area, a feature that the ribbon still doesn't have.
Both the menubar and the ribbon allow single click access to popular tools but the ribbon does a much better job of grouping them together making them eaiser to find. The ribbon in 2007 has nearly everything you need without having to click through a bunch of windows in search for it. Of course you do have to know which ribbon a tool is on but the same is true for menus. I think finding items in ribbons is easier because menus all tend to look the same. Office 2010's ribbon goes beyond 2007 by adding the ability to customize it, major plus. You can create your own ribbon or even add a tab to an existing ribbon. But the ribbon in 2010 has put on a few pounds, the tabs and icons are huge, major negative. In Excel an additional 3 data rows are used up by the ribbon and thick borders. I'm sure some users like this but others prefer more working space and as far as I could tell, putting the ribbon on a diet is not an option. Useless popup windows and thick info bars rob even more of your workspace. Overall, I think constantly changing the UI is absurd. I don't have to remodel my physical office every 3 years, why does my software? Keeping the ribbon from Office 2007 and making it customizable would have been the better choice.
Functionality:
Being an IT Admin part of my job is to quickly become familiar with the latest in computer technology. I've never even thought of going backwards until now, in particular with Outlook. Being so disappointed with it I decided to revert back to using Outlook 2007 which I feel has a good balance between functionality and appeal. When I tried using VBA in Outlook 2010 it crashes and restarts every single time although it works fine in Excel. Incrediblity Outlook doesn't even sync with the Mobile Office on my HTC Touch Pro 2 updated to the lastest OS, Windows Mobile 6.5.3.
Does Microsoft not tell Microsoft what they're doing so that Microsoft can make the rest of Microsoft's products compatible with the changes that Microsoft is making?
Excel 2010 has some sweet new features but there's a few small changes that were unwelcome such as the conditional formating options. They changed the tempature colors from blue yellow red to blue white red, these colors tend to clash with the traditional white background. The other with this same feature pertains to the data bars which no longer fade into the cell, instead they have a border around them which make them look tacky. Pasting as values and even transposed data is a snap once you learn how to tranlate the hieroglyphics in the paste menu. The small negative changes offset the small positive changes. The increased size of the ribbon offsets it customizability. That leaves us with only one big improvement over Excel 2007, it can process 64bits.
Other than the 64bit capabilities of Excel, Office 2010 was a major disapointment.
For you to decide how crediable my opinions may be, here's an overview of my experience:
I've used versions 2000 and up and have beta tested both 2007 and 2010. Regarding Word and Power Point I have limited experience. I have moderate experience with Access (MSSQL is more my speciality) and feel that version 2003 is the best release. I've extensively used Excel and Outlook for about 10 years and feel that 2007 is the best release for these. I've done some rather wild projects utilizing the VBA functionality in Excel & Outlook, including a barcode generator in Excel and the ability to group and sort email by sender's domain name in Outlook. I'm the DBA and IT Admin for about 30 workstations and have answered all kinds of questions about office.
out of 38 user reviews
Stick to Office 2003, or whatever you currently own
Pros: 64-bit support
Cons: Less value and choice; worse programs and suites; Ribbon (see below); pretty much everything else
1. Worse programs. The Ribbon is my main beef with it all. Now, it's in all of the programs. To be fair, it could be seen as a good thing, because now they're consistent (as opposed to 2007, where some applications had it but others kept the "old" system). On the other hand, it could be seen as a bad thing, if you're familiar with Office 2003 or earlier (like me), because now all of the programs are unfamiliar, as opposed to just a few. I personally am of the latter opinion; the very presence of the ribbon is a minus. Yes, it's customizable now, but I still prefer the "old" UI and it's too bad that MS couldn't bring it back even as an option. In some ways, the UI of 2010 is even more backwards than 2007!
2. Less value. Microsoft took the marketing strategy of various other companies; we're too "stupid" now to figure out what we need, so they just "simplified" it all for us. But there's a catch--no reduced-price "upgrade" versions. Even if you already have Office XP or 2003, you're out of luck--you have to buy the full version of whatever program/suite you need. Office 2007, however, allowed you to get a reduced-price upgrade as long as you had a qualifying previous version of Office (in 2007's case, 2000, XP or 2003 would do). So did all previous versions of Office, and all versions of Windows. But not Office 2010, because, evidently, we're too stupid to figure things out ourselves. Increasing prices is how Microsoft expects to get more customers!
3. Microsoft totally dropped the ball with the suites themselves--particularly for business. First, Basic (a suite seen in the 2003 and 2007 versions which included Word, Excel and Outlook, and could only be obtained preinstalled) has been replaced with Starter. The latter, however, gives you only Word and Excel, and even then only limited, "starter" editions that include advertising (!). It's supposedly free (but I don't know for certain), but if so, that's actually a bad thing because it encourages extra software (aka junkware/trialware) which no one really wants or needs on their new PCs. And, to add to my second point on less value--you can "upgrade" Starter to a "full" suite either by buying the full boxed version (for Professional, $499) or a "key card" (for Professional, $349). There's a catch there again, though--the key card is meant as an OEM product just like Starter, and as such can be used only on 1 PC, and is "locked" to it, whereas with the boxed version, you can use it on 2 PCs as before, and may transfer it from 1 PC to another.
And for the other suites, Microsoft has taken away choices and value, and has added confusion (and prices are too high, in some cases).
Home and Student, as with 2007, includes OneNote but not Outlook. Now, the confusion kicks in. To get Outlook, you must buy Home and Business (which, despite the "Business" title, is actually the successor to 2007 Standard). Like 2007 Standard, it has Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. But 2010 adds OneNote and reduces the price from $399 to $279 (!). The question must be asked, then: why does the next step up, Professional, stay at $499? To be fair, it too adds OneNote, but then, it takes away Business Contact Manager for Outlook. That brings me to the next step: less value and choice, particularly for business. First, 2007 had a "Small Business" edition. Not so for 2010. The 2010 equivalent (which is actually called "Standard") is only available via volume licensing. So, if you want a suite w/Publisher, you will have to go for Professional and pay $499. Further, no Ultimate; the 2010 equivalent (Professional Plus) can again be obtained only with volume licensing. Finally, what happened to Business Contact Manager? If I were to buy a "business" version of Office 2003 or 2007 (like 2003 Professional), I would get BCM for Outlook, but now to get it, you have to go with volume licensing.
4. Operating system support. 2010 no longer supports Windows Server 2003, only Windows Server 2003 R2. If you don't have R2, well, you're out of luck. Windows XP x64 is also no longer supported. Now, I get XP x64; it's not frequently seen, and it doesn't have a lot of hardware support, but I don't get why they ditched 2003 (especially with XP x86, an earlier OS, still being supported).
Finally, pretty much the only "pro" I can think of: they have introduced a 64-bit version (like Windows Vista and 7, both the 32 and 64 bit versions will be included in the same retail box). However, that doesn't really change anything, because even Microsoft themselves recommend that you stick to 32-bit for now.
The summary, then, is that Office 2010 offers less value and choice, the programs are worse, and may not even work with your OS. As far as the actual programs go, they still have much of the problems of 2007 (and some problems are even worse now). So, stick to 2003.
out of 38 user reviews
Pricing out to lunch; 64 bit add-ins not available
Pros: Still the most powerful suite of tools available. Best spreadsheet, satisfactory WP, rest of it is fine.
Cons: As a long term user I am totally bummed over the lack of upgrade pricing. The more important add-ins for Excel do not work in the 64 bit configuration.
I further learn when reading the fine print that Excel add-ins such as Data Mining and Data Analysis are not available for use in the 64 bit configuration of Excel.
This leaves me in a truly odd place; I can pay $500 to "upgrade" for a tool that does not allow me to do what I need in 64 bit. Since I can't run in 64 bit and MUST stay with 32 bit, I can't see why I should spend $500 and may as well stay with 2007. In fact I have already begun looking at alternatives for Data Mining and Analysis in 64 bit applications other than MS. I really did not want to get back into writing code but in this instance, MS Office is not a worthwhile venture. Methinks MS has done themselves injury here.
out of 38 user reviews
In-accurate reviews
Pros: I have (well had) a microsoft email account (known as hotmail) and they offered me to test office 2010. Many people may have gotten it but I was one of those people. It was a beta version so they were just looking for feedback.
Cons: I don't know. I didn't run into anything yet.
out of 38 user reviews
There is no comparison b/w 2003 and 2010. 2010 is great
Pros: Its quick access menus are great help to work easily.
Cons: cannot change maths font
out of 38 user reviews
It's excellent.
Pros: Customizabilty. Improved cross-functionality. Sleeker, more visually appealing UI. Quick install (compared to older versions of Office). Integrates well. Works GREAT with Windows 7! A very powerful tool just got more powerful and useful!
Cons: Haven't had it long enough to really notice anything that would hinder my usage of it. I'm sure there are a lot of things people don't like (based on the reviews). It's working FLAWLESSLY for me so far. Stay tuned...
I typically don't like Microsoft products (with the exception of my Xbox 360 and OFFICE!). It's a great suite of programs and I recommend upgrading to it, or buying it if you don't have Office already.
out of 38 user reviews
beta testing packaged software and no support
Pros: It's a beta in fake shipped packaging. there are no positives!
Cons: with the Office 2007 product there were numerous bugs and no support. Why installing office removed all dictionaries from my system. Microsoft failed to post any notice and it took over 8 months to get a reply from support.
out of 38 user reviews
Ribbon Trouble
Pros: None compared to 2003
Cons: Ribbon still the only option
out of 38 user reviews
Microsoft is Microsoft?s greatest competitor
Pros: Does everything most users could ever ask of an office suite.
(My 2 star rating is to understood as a comparison to office 2003)
Cons: The ribbon is a stifling factor to user friendliness, intuitiveness and flexibility with respect to customization
out of 38 user reviews
Consistancy between Applications is a beautiful thing!
Pros: Ribbon is now consistant between all applications, including Outlook.
Ribbons much more customizable
Outlook (to me) is much easier, more intuitive to use than 2007. I'm using features I never tried before (same for Word and Excel)
Cons: I've only had the release a few hous and so far, nothing that is earth-shattering!
out of 38 user reviews
more bloated - less f(ull)filling
Pros: haven't found anything yet
Cons: the "ribbon" hides all the common functions, making it slow to find what you need
all the simplifications seem to take away functionality that I used to use (advanced find in Outlook, customizing charts in Excel, controlling formatting in Word...)
Not *quite* as compatible with MS utilities, but much faster.
In all seriousness - I work in a large enterprise within IT and am seriously considering installing OpenOffice on a test device to see if I could do without the "new and improved" version from Microsoft.
out of 38 user reviews
access 2003 still better
Pros: its new and it will make more money for MS
Cons: Looks like MS is afraid to admit they have made a mistake using the ribbon with Access. if you are productive with 2003 avoid this product.
out of 38 user reviews
Runs faster Seems a lot cleaner Love the new menus.
Pros: I think it runs faster, Seems a lot cleaner but will require some users to have to learn how to use the toolbar and tabs. I love the social network interface. Overall I see the improvements
Cons: If your coming from an much older version of office, you re going to have a very hard time finding your way around because of the new layout and tapes and tools and tabs, You will learn fast as its still fundamentally the basic rules
out of 38 user reviews
GReat improvement with only one real issue.
Pros: - Excelent new graphical features
- Excel has new data analysis features which make it almost as good as some stadistical software suites.
- It basically helps you in your work
Cons: - Performance is not as good as with 2007 despite of having just a few visual differences.
out of 38 user reviews
Improved over 2007, but not over 2003
Pros: Some formulas in Excel are easier to use and PowerPoint has some positive aspects. That's it.
Cons: You have to make three or four times many mouse clicks to accomplish the same task as you would in 2003. Not very well thought through. Stick with OpenOffice or the Corel office suite, they are cheaper and better in many ways, or just stick with 2003
out of 38 user reviews
Menus and Moving Macro Bar to Desktop
Pros: I have not been able to review a live version and do not want it on my computer until I get to play with it.
Cons: Trying to be Mr Clean and provide only more bells and whistles without giving flexible pull off Ribbon and Menu Display.
out of 38 user reviews
"Why couldn't Microsoft repeat the magic of Win7?"
Pros: None compared to 2003
Cons: It is useless and timeconsuming for day to day work, and cumbersome with all those menus and pictures. I am sticking with Office 2003 - The best out there
out of 38 user reviews
new improvement
Pros: very good looking and power point got some new transition
Cons: no problem at all
out of 38 user reviews
I love the foreign language, webpage creation capacity
Pros: I was amazed when copyediting a bilingual text, most of the time the software could correctly recognize the language and apply the appropriate dictionary to it. So, it switched easily between Spanish and English, correcting both.
Cons: I haven't yet seen any cons, but I LOVE the webpage generation ability. I can simply type a page of text and save as a webpage. Then simply upload it to my website and view it. I used this function to publish my mom's book on kindle.
Great product. I'll buy it. I'll recommend my friends and family buy it.
out of 38 user reviews
A Visual Headache!
Pros: "Under the hood".....Microsoft did a good job making Office 2010 fresh.
Cons: The moment you look at any application you say to yourself, "Oh dear God what did they do? I didn't enjoy the "new" Outlook 2010 and its setup.
out of 38 user reviews
Totally new navigation from earlier versions. Arghh!
Pros: It is backward compatible, so documents in earlier vrsions(Word, Excel, PowerPoint) can be opened in the new version.
Cons: The commands and menu bars are so different I need to invest a lot of time doing what used to second nature, whether it be simply clicking on print preview or copying a spreadsheet within a workbook.
out of 38 user reviews
Sleeping @ microsoft cooperation
Pros: 1. They added the ribbon to every product (I don't like it, but I'm glad to see they worked on the weird differences between their products)
2. Added some fun new tools.
Cons: 1. Looks very messy, way to many buttons crammed in too little space.
2. When you press the 'file' button, your entire screen pops away, and you get an entire screen of buttons and pictures.
3. Some of the new tools are making no sense.
out of 38 user reviews
It sounds like they've simplified Office 2007.
Pros: It will make the Office system easier to maneuver.
Cons: Unforeseen glitches.
out of 38 user reviews
Looks good...acts badly.
Pros: The general appearance appears familiar with some new, very helpful, additions. "Conversations" can/could be helpful. Word and Excel seemed to be improved and work well..
Cons: Wasted an entire day after downloading and installing I never could get the @##??!!@* program to find my Inbox in Outlook. It found junk mail and other poo but no inbox. The online help is about as helpful as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick..
Wait until MS has worked out the bugs before spending money for MS Office 2010 Professional..
out of 38 user reviews
Ms Office 2010
Pros: only good looks
Cons: The worst part is explained below
out of 38 user reviews
Impressive!
Pros: Cosmetically appealling, paste preview is a god-send, and the access to the ribbon across all programs within the suite is a plus.
Cons: Another new file format and Decreased Ease-of-Use.
out of 38 user reviews
Great for a Beta
Pros: excellent performance and great new features. 64 bit!
Cons: a few beta bugs
out of 38 user reviews
Microsoft Office keeps getting better and better
Pros: Excellent new interface, speedier, better online integration, better document management
Cons: none that I can think of
out of 38 user reviews
Waste of money, the ribbon is horrendous.
Pros: Nothing except maybe that it does actually allow you to save in the old (and much more commonly used) .doc format.
Cons: Almost everything. New file format introduces collaboration difficulties, for little to no gain for the average user. The Office Ribbon is an appalling user interface invention.
out of 38 user reviews
Continual Improvement, Little Innovation
Pros: Fresh, Looks Different
Cons: Nothing original
out of 38 user reviews
3 years for NOTHING -no business reason for Office 2010
Pros: If you only have office works it would be an upgrade
Cons: No real improvement over Office 2007 - 3 years and this is all they could do? Why don't they find out what people who work on computers need - not just those with lots of pictures of cats in tehir cubicles.
Like Vista - all bling - no function.
If they wanted to improve Office they SHOULD have -
1. Made outlook open multiple e-mail accounts as full exchange -not an additional mailbox with some functionality or pop/imap with very limited functionality but two seperate exchange profiles simultaneously from multiple exchange servers.
2. Full OLE support for pictures in access - umm wasn't that functional with Office XP - why take that out? Why should someone have to code to add pictures to a personal database? Might was well use oracle or a real database if you are going to have to use code. Adding Office XP photo editor is the work around but why not just add photo editor back into office if that is the solution?
3. Offer the old menu bar for people (most of my clients) who don't want to learn the new menu bar. You can finally modify the ribbon to some extent in 2010 however my clients just want their old ribbon bar. Frankly I have no issue with the new menu bar but I'm one person and most of my clients don't like it so prefer to stick with office 2003. MS could make money selling the new version if they just offered the old menu as a choice with the new ribbon.
out of 38 user reviews
Nice Review!
Pros: This does have some thoughtful enhancements that would be expected from an Office upgrade.
Cons: Couple major changes like BackOffice that the average user will "hate" until they get used to it.
out of 38 user reviews
I got invite, Thanks if I can download the thing
Pros: I like the idea of it been an update as such instead of a fresh install in 32 bit
Looks a hell of a change from 2007
Cons: Its gonna take me ages to download on a 512k connection from Australia to either Asia or America
Updated on Aug 11, 2009I downloaded it last night. I can now say that it is light as a feather on resources and requires only 256mb of memory, it comes as an upgrade to Office 2007 and gives an option to keep the old version while trying the new. I like the backstage it gives us an idea of what we can do next. I have already sent 20 messages to Microsoft on what they need to improve but I can say that it probably half a jump forward compared to when 2007 was released. I now am just waiting for the online version that is due to hit Windows Live Workspace later this year.
