Office 2007 

From Dec 2009 all our machines have Office 2007. The two main differences with Office2003 are the user interface and the file format.

Office 2007 User Interface

The striking difference is that all the menus have disappeared, and all functions are accessible through a dynamic set of icons called "ribbon". To quickly learn how to use it effectively I strongly suggest reading this short guide.

Office 2007 File format

Office 2007 uses by default a new file format (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx), completely different from the one used before. In order to open office2007 documents with previous versions, a converter has to be installed. This converter has been deployed to all SSRU computers, however, in some cases the converter is not working properly, so if it does not work for you, let Sergio know about it. The workaround is a simple manual installation, that will require 10-20 minutes.
For Home Computers: the converter is easy to install, and will not require any configuration, it can be downloaded here. To install, execute the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions.
For security reasons, it is strongly suggested to apply some high-priority updates:
1)    Download the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack service pack 1 (here) and install it as before,
2)    From Internet Explorer (not Firefox!) navigate to Microsoft Update and follow on-screen instructions to get high-priority updates.
Depending on the speed of your computer, the whole procedure might take up to 20 minutes.

How to turn off the "Reading Layout" when opening a Word attachment from Outlook

When you open a Word attachment from within Outlook, the Office default is to open it in "Full Screen Reading View". Here's how to turn it off if you don't like it:
When Office opens a document in the reading layout it will show the following dialog:

If you tick both options and press “OK” Word will turn off the unwanted feature once and for all.
In case you have ticked only “Don’t show this message again” or you have just pressed OK, but still want to get rid of the annoying view, click on “View Options” and select “Don’t Open Attachments in Full Screen”. This will turn the feature off from now on. Clicking on “X Close” will close the Full Screen view and revert to normal Word layout for the current document.

(Last updated: Dec 2009)