Office 2010 coming soon

[Stuart]

The beta takes an absolute age to open. I hope they've sorted this out in the final release.

[Screeper]

Our office was all given Office 2010 Pro Plus to play with a couple of weeks ago. A few people have stayed with 2007, the majority have gone over to 2010.
Seems nice enough, not sure I'd pay for it though.
Open Office at home for me

[Cupis]

Well, I am running the trial version at work, and it takes an instant to open. I was commenting to my co-workers about how much faster it opens compared to 2007 i think its an absolute dream so far

I just bought it for myself at home. I tried using Open Office, and personally i grew up with Office, and then 2007 new layout is awesome, so i thought i would just get the new version, cause i been meaning to hop over to office again for a while.

[Stuart]

Okay, so I got the full version, and upgraded from the Beta. First you're told that you must uninstall the beta, which I duly did. It specifically asks if you want to keep all the settings and stuff, to which I said yes, at which point it promptly ignored my answer and proceeded to delete all settings, etc. (including about three days worth of emails).

[Stuart]

Aaaaaaand . . .

Tried activating my shiny new Office 2010, but it says it cannot validate it. So I called the MS activation number, and the friendly automated lady led me through a process only to tell me the same thing, and then not offer me the option to speak to a real person.

I eventually called the regular MS help line, who transferred me to an activation agent, who asked me for the first six number of my Installation ID, only to tell me--shock and horror--that it wasn't activating. She very helpfully gave me a link to validate my license, but when I followed the link (after saying goodbye to her)--shock and horror--it still didn't work.

So I called the help line back, and told the guy I bought the downloadable version, at which point he asked which shop I bought it from. I repeated that I had the downloadable version, to which he asked if I received a license sticker with the CDs. I again--this time very slowly--repeated that I have the DOWNLOADABLE version, and he asked if my discs had arrived yet. I sighed, told him that I in fact hadn't selected the option to have discs sent to me, at which point he asked if I had in fact purchased the downloadable version.

He asked me for my product key, and came back with the astounding news that it is in fact a genuine product key. He told me he would transfer me to technical support, but then came back and said, because they are currently so busy (presumably sorting out Office activation issues) they will have to call me back.

I now eagerly await MS's call.

[Stuart]

Aaaaaand . . .

MS tech support just called back and told me that I need to have the physical discs to solve my problem. So I explained again that it was the downloadable version I bought and they said then I must copy it to a disc so I have the original disc. I explained to the guy that it was just a single exe file, not an ISO or anything, and I have it on a flash drive and on a separate hard drive. He told me that it won't work like that, because when you run it off a flash drive it doesn't copy all the files. So I have to burn the single exe file to a CD and then call the tech support back so they can assist me.

[Cupis]

Wow, you know its amazing how these things happen to some and not others. I bought office a week ago, it activated and runs perfectly. Mind you, I did buy it from a supplier because it was cheaper... I paid R1650 for my Office and small business.

things i have noticed

-Opens almost instantly now
-I find it a lot smoother in general.
-Printing menu, is new!

Keep in mind i am running the 64x version. Well i hope anyway, it did not ask me when i was installing, and i assume it installs which ever version according to your Operating System. I also would like to point out that I do not really like the printing menu, well at least just not yet.

[Stuart]

Okay, so "there are only two possible reasons it could be giving you this error":

1) Using incorrect media; or
2) Typing in the incorrect product key.

BUT . . .

When you buy it from the MS site, it gives you a direct download link to your UNIQUE exe, which INCLUDES your product key in it, so you don't actually enter your product key during installation.

So either MS issued me the incorrect product key (which is not the case, because the activation centre has verified that it's a valid product key) or they gave me the wrong downloadable product. Which I also doubt is the case since it installed the correct version of Office just fine. It just won't activate.

[Stuart]

After explaining to the MS tech support lady the difference between Windows 7 X86 and X64, and that there are in fact TWO Program Files folders in X64, I ran some scripts she told me to run and . . .

ERROR CODE: 0xC004C003
ERROR DESCRIPTION: The activation server determined the specified product key has been blocked.

Yay!



Edit: This is some SERIOUSLY aggressive classical music that MS plays while you are on hold. Doesn't put me in a friendly mood at all.

[Stuart]

Aha! So evidently this product has been installed on two computers. It was installed on one computer on 24 June (last Thursday) and then one today. I installed it today. I bought it last Friday. So the day before I bought it, I foolishly installed it on another computer thinking that it would somehow allow me to installed in on two PCs. How could I be so stupid!

*hangs head in shame*

[Cupis]

Sorry if this is old news guys.

Here some new features in Office 2010

Photo editing in Word

How many times have you received a Word document with a picture embedded in it? Probably more times than you care to remember. According to Microsoft, pictures in Word documents are so popular that the company has now included an image editor in the application. So while you won't escape Word-embedded images at least you can now expect better quality images. The built-in editor makes it possible to embed pictures, apply basic editing to them and add visual effects.

Outlook Social Connector

Love it or hate it, social networking is here to stay. More and more users are getting involved in networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and others. The new version of Outlook, Microsoft's email client, now includes the ability to link social networking profiles to email contacts. So users can see the latest status updates from their closest contacts as well as email.

Video in PowerPoint

Another tool that users of Office either love or hate is PowerPoint. The presentation tool is a standard in any work-related environment. Now it has a handful of new features including the ability to easily embed video content in slides. Not only that, users can add effects to the videos embedded in the slides. This is good news for skilled PowerPoint users but could also encourage others to jump on the PowerPoint bandwagon.

Office Web Apps

Microsoft's Web-based version of Office - called Office Web Apps - is a key part of this release. The attempt by Microsoft to challenge Google's growing web-based application suite, will allow users to work on documents from anywhere. Users can edit documents and store them online anywhere that they have access to the Internet. Office Web Apps is not a full replacement for the desktop-installed Office but is a supplement to it.

Linked notes in OneNote

OneNote is a note-taking application which can be used to store text, video, audio and other content in a digital notebook. It's not as well-known as many of the other Office applications but is growing in popularity. With this release OneNote adds a powerful new feature in the ability to link notes to applications such as presentations and text documents. So users can take notes on what they are doing and store those together with the application.

[Stuart]

So evidently my order was processed for a refund . . . on the same day on which I purchased it. I have received no email confirmation from MS to this effect, and no indication on my credit card of this yet, though I understand that that will take some time if it is in fact true. Thing is, I never requested any refund, and I cannot see anything on my credit card statement which indicates a problem with the payment. I guess it's time to give Absa a call to double check with them.

The final email from M$ was quite a laugh:

Hi Stuart,

It was my pleasure to work with you on the service request 1134238532. I hope that the solution we provided to you is to your great satisfaction. I am providing you with a summary of key points of the case for your records.

Action: You wanted to activate Office 2010

Result: Product was blocked for activations

Cause: The order was cancelled or there was a transaction error. It appears as a refund

Resolution: The order was cancelled or there was a transaction error. It appears as a refund. Should the issue reoccur please do not hesitate to drop me an email or contact me on the number below

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Customer Services and Support.

I suppose I should write a glowing lette expressing my "great satisfaction" about this ordeal.

On the other hand should the "should the issue [refund] reoccur" I don't see myself dropping M$ an email in a great hurry.

[Cupis]

Stuart,

Can i ask why you decided to go with the Downloadable content instead of actual disk etc?

[Stuart]

I prefer downloadable stuff. That way, I just download the installation files and keep them on my hard drive (plus various other hard drives as backup) and they're always at hand when I need them wherever I might be.

[rustypup]

Video in PowerPoint
it has a handful of new features including the ability to easily embed video content in slides.

all the rest of the marketing BS aside, my office 2003 install was apparently some sort of time-travelling mutant....