Office XP Pro vs Office 2003 Pro??

[ssVBAdev]

This may seem like a question for another forum but I want to opinion of other VBA people on this one...

My ofice has about 7 stations all running Microsoft Office 2000 with Windows 2000. I am thinking of upgrading these machines to a newer version of Office (but remaining on Windows 2000).

What is the opinions out there on Office XP and Office 2003?
Has anyone used both and willing to comment on the pro's and con's?
Is it worth going from 2000 to XP or 2003?
Is 2003 an actual "upgrade" from XP or are they simply just different versions geared for different OS's?

Any opinion, or otherwise, would be great.

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[Nelviticus]

We run Office XP on Windows 2000 - you don't need to match your Office version to your OS version, there's no advantage in doing so. They're just different names for different versions of the software, so Office XP is really Office 10 with a nicer name.

I would strongly recommend that you don't upgrade unless you need to, simply because the best that can happen is a smooth transition. The worst is a load of compatibility problems and a bunch of confused users who don't like the new 'features'. We had issues with the code behind several of our templates having to be re-written when we moved from Office 2000 to XP.

XP or 2003 will have some features that you don't have at the moment, but unless you particularly want them stick with what you have. XP certainly has loads of things that annoy me - start-up task panes, 'smart' tags, broken VBA help files - and I haven't come across anything new that I would need.

Nelviticus

 

[ssVBAdev]

Nelviticus:
Thanks for the perspective!! Very interesting.

I've had a 'flavour' of the task panes. I also use AutoCAD and having upgraded to the 2004 version, I have notice that they are using much the same objects, windows, panes (and whatever else people may call them) that Microsoft is sporting.

Interesting that you had to do some re-coding going from 2000 to XP though. hmmm...
Sounds like the VBA version is different as well then. Or is that an incorrect assumption? Are the objects, methods and properties essentially the same?

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[Nelviticus]

The VBA version is expanded a bit and should be backwards-compatible so no code should break - but note the 'should'!

There were only a few things that broke with the new version and several of those were ancient templates where the code was written in WordBasic. Even so, it highlights the fact that things can still go wrong.

The most annoying thing for me was the VBA help files. I frequently use these by selecting a keyword in the VBE and hitting F1, but I've come across a few instances where this doesn't work, returning an 'entry not found' page. I've also found several entries that don't show up when you use help's search functions, although the entries are definitely there because they are linked to from other help pages.

That's minor though and shouldn't affect your decision. The question you should ask yourself is "will the financial cost, investment in time and (small) potential for problems be balanced out by any gains?" If Office 2000 already does everything you need it to, why upgrade?

Nelviticus

 

[ssVBAdev]

Nelviticus:
Good point. But, that is why I am trying to get peoples opinions on the products. To try to see if it is worth my while to go to the new versions. I try to go by the cliche "If it isn't broken, then don't fix it."

So far, it sounds like you are recommending "stay put." Thanks for your insight.

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[bronc]

my personal expereinece is that the OS change from 2000 to XP is more worthwhile - much faster.

 

[ssVBAdev]

bronc:
I am getting 3 new machines; they will have XP. Sounds good though... I love to hear about speed improvements!
Have you any experience with the Office Suites though?

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[bronc]

yes i have office xp but it was the Windows XP which was very noticably quicker. But when i think about it, i rather think it was more that the Windows 2000 was painfully slow.

 

[ssVBAdev]

Bronc:
I'm running Windows 2000 here at work now. I don't really notice it being 'painfully' slow. Then again, I've got a 2.4G P4 with 512M of RAM.

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[KenWright]

Excel has it's own internal memory limits, quite aside from any physical memory considerations the systems may have. These can cramp power users on Excel, but seem to have doubled with each iteration, and are much much bigger in 2003:-

http://www.decisionmodels.com/memlimitsc.htm

Regards
Ken..............

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It's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission

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[Hap007]

Dear ssVBAdev,

It is my understanding that Microsoft is no longer selling MS Office 2000 and at least Part of MS Office XP. If this is indeed true, you will only be able to buy those products from resellers who still have copies. But beware of illegal copies.

If this is true and you are to upgrade, your only option from MS will be to MS Office 2003.

Here is an Announcement from the Microsoft MSDN Web site:

[blue]"Announcements
MSDN Subscription Content Retired as of December 2003
Due to a settlement agreement reached in January 2001, Microsoft is phasing out the Microsoft Virtual Machine from its products. As of 12:01 AM Pacific Time December 23rd, 2003, we have phased out several product families, and remove the Microsoft Virtual Machine from others. The major product families that will no longer be available are:

BackOffice Server 2000
MapPoint 2002
Office 2000 Suite and Products
Office XP Developer
SQL Server 7.0
Windows 98

Although these products will no longer be available for distribution from Microsoft, they can still be used in accordance with the terms of your MSDN Subscription license agreement."
[black]
Hope This Helps your Decision Making,
Hap...


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[bronc]

since i'm running on half your specs, i may be better to judge!
ps: don't quite follow Ken's
"seem to have doubled with each iteration, and are much much bigger in 2003:-"

 

[Nelviticus]

No matter how much memory you have in your PC, Excel can only use a certain amount of it for certain things - there's a limit on how much can be used for variables, another limit for formulae and so on. I can't remember what the exact limits are but we've hit some of them at least once with a couple of our 'power' spreadsheets. In Office XP the limit was quite a bit higher than that in Office 2000, and the last thing I read on the subject was that in Office 2003 (before it came out) the limit was going to be loads higher.

However if you've never hit the limit or don't use enormous Excel spreadsheets that need large amounts of memory this isn't really relevant for you. All versions of Excel can certainly use enough memory for most people's needs.

So, yes, there are things in each new version of Office that are improved, but do you need them? As far as I can tell, the only reason we upgraded was because the powers that be felt the need to keep up with the latest version without quite knowing why.

It sounds like I'm trying to talk you out of upgrading, ssVBAdev!

Nelviticus

 

[ssVBAdev]

Nelviticus:
No, I don't feel you are trying to talk me out of it. I see it as you giving me your experience and that is exactly what I am looking for. You input is quite valuable and your points are very well taken.

Hap:
Thanks for the MSDN info. Of course that would be a great source of information! I forgot about that (*Doh*).

Everyone:
So, aside from all of this speed and performance talk, what benefits, if any, have you found in the functions, operations, and general overall 'usablilty' (if I may call it that) of the Office Suite itself (not just Excel (although it is my forte))?

I am especially interested in any key advances in the VBA or integration between the programs - such as between Excel and Access? SQL? etc...

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