Microsoft Office - to upgrade or not to upgrade?

[kram 2.0]

Hey,

I have a desktop (an HP Win98SE), that is pretty much revived from the dead. I upgraded its memory, AntiVirus (McAfee --> NOD32), and installed a wireless receiver to get internet on it. The other day, I went onto Microsoft Word (Office 97), and thought...can I upgrade this? Actually, it probably should have been stated "should I upgrade this?" I was wondering whether an HP Intel Celeron 500, 368 SDRAM, 10.2 GB HDD (5k RPM) may handle either OfficeXP or Office2003 - is it worth going into Office2003? I have OfficeXP on this computer and it seems to be great. I'm a bit reluctant to go with OpenOffice, though.



Thanks,
kram

[bailey]

O would not upgrade it untill you get a better and faster system that is running xp. then maybe a upgrade would be good

[GhostRecon]

I don't think Office 2003 is worth it. Overpriced and just has some improvements! Just stick with officeXP if it gets the job done? I don't really use anything other than word.

[kram 2.0]

Originally posted by GhostRecon I don't think Office 2003 is worth it. Overpriced and just has some improvements! Just stick with officeXP if it gets the job done? I don't really use anything other than word.

I have Office97 on the one I'm running that is of question (though OfficeXP works nicely on my laptop here). I might do as bailey recommended - wait up until a new system can happen, or upgrading it massively (likely not worth it). Any more suggestions are appreciated .

Thanks,
kram

[Panama Red]

Unless you are aware of some feature the new Office versions offer and you need it, I agree with the recommendation to use it as is. I have 97, 2000, and XP Office editions on different machines and see no difference in basic uses.

[HAL9000]

Why upgrade if it works fine... I'm still running Office 97 on my XP System.

[sdkfz]

If you need the new features of the newer versions of office then upgrade. The only reason I have the new office is that I went to the MS launch event and they handed them out to everyone. Since I am never taking all my vacation time this single day off to go to the launch event is a great way to use up a little more vacation and get paid - free office software and get paid from work too. This time we got the full professional version plus One Note. One Note is cool, but you need a laptop or other mobile PC to make it really usefull.

The only reason I got XP was that I needed it for work for a single database we get from a partner. Everything else at work is still 97 (and this is a major corp in the citi - not a typo!).

Of course if bragging rights are included in the equation then of course get the newest....

One note: The upgrade path fro 2003 only goes back to office 97 so the next version that comes out may or may not include 97 as an 'upgrade from' qualifier, but you can always get the full version OEM from newegg for close to the retail upgrade price.

MS price for the upgrade pro version is 329 (also the same price at CompUSA) and OEM pro at newegg is 299 - err well that makes that an easy choice......I thought is was more for OEM.....

[glc]

There is absolutely NO reason to upgrade from Office 97 unless you want or need the big improvements in Outlook and you are prepared to deal with more and more bloat as you go up the line. The other modules have just been cosmetically improved. Not only that, Office 2003 requires Win2K or XP, it will not install on 98 or ME.

[kram 2.0]

Originally posted by glc There is absolutely NO reason to upgrade from Office 97 unless you want or need the big improvements in Outlook and you are prepared to deal with more and more bloat as you go up the line. The other modules have just been cosmetically improved. Not only that, Office 2003 requires Win2K or XP, it will not install on 98 or ME.

You have a very good point there - I guess my desktop will stay as it is, then. My next objective will probably be Win2000 upgrade, since Win98SE, though still very usable, is becoming increasingly obselte.


Thanks,
kram

[bailey]

I would recommend that you go with xp rather than w2k.
no real reason except xp is a bit better when it comes to drivers and some extra features.
there both great and stable systems.

[RJ]

Yes, Windows XP would be a far better investment than a new Office suite.
I too have still Office 97 on my PC. Never liked the successors. No MDI, new bugs. . Office 97 is just nice

RJ

[kram 2.0]

Originally posted by bailey I would recommend that you go with xp rather than w2k. no real reason except xp is a bit better when it comes to drivers and some extra features. there both great and stable systems.

Now, my concern there, would be whether my system will run WinXP stable...WinXP Home. I'm starting to think that 10.2 GB of harddrive is barely sufficient (I know it does meet minimal requirements), but I'm quite concern with speed.

Originally posted by kram8806 HP Intel Celeron 500, 368 SDRAM, 10.2 GB HDD (5k RPM)

I am even concerned that the startup is pretty slow as it is right now! I might covince myself that a fresh reformatting of harddrive to XP Home (full edition, not upgrade) would help...any thoughts?


Thanks,
kram

[glc]

The machines that I've worked on with similar specs generally run better with Win2K than with XP. The only thing that will be faster with XP will be the bootup, 2K is a slow booter no matter what you do. If it's gonna be a general use office type machine, 2K is just as good as XP, the only real reason to go with XP is for gaming. 2K should have most, if not all, drivers for that machine native - and XP may have issues with an older bios such as that probably has.

Now - if you put 2K on it, you *can* put Office 2k3 on it - but it's gonna run a lot slower than 97.