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SP1 for Office 2K7 ahead of schedule

by on06 December 2007

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Targeted for release December 11?


According to various sources, Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Office 2007 is, in fact, ahead of schedule and due to be delivered on December 11th.

With all of the focus clearly on Service Pack 1 for Vista and Service Pack 3 for Windows XP, it is easy to forget about Microsoft Office 2007. According to reports, most of what is contained within Service Pack 1 for Office 2007 is in direct response to customer feedback, which is different from many previous Office Service Packs.

While SP 1 for Office also features a number of fixes, exactly what is contained within SP1 is still some what a mystery. According to ZDNET in August, some of the enhancements within Office 2K7 SP1 will include: Improved support for VSTO v3, Improved support for .NET version 3.5, Better Object Model documentation for coding, Compatibility issues with previous Office file formats has been addressed and resolved, PowerPoint animated text has been upgraded, and Changes made to the DirectX video overlay.

Microsoft has opted not to push Service Pack 1 for Office 2007 out using Automatic Updates due to concerns from IT corporate users due to changes to the file format compatibility with previous versions of Office. This will give corporate IT users a chance to test Service Pack 1 for Office 2007 prior to a company-wide deployment.

Office 2007 was the first major overhaul to Office that was visible to consumers right out of the box and it has been rather well received by consumers, IT Professionals and the media. While some have complained that the new Office 2007 interface takes a little bit of work to get used to, most users agree that the change is positive once they are familiar with it.

The biggest complaint regarding Office 2007 is the introduction of the new XML DOCx file format that is different from the document format used in previous versions of Office. While Office 2007 can support the older DOC format, understanding this has been a challenge for some users, and minor problems with compatibility of the older file format are said to be a big featured fix of Service Pack 1 for Office 2007.

Last modified on 06 December 2007
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