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| Microsoft Office Professional 2003 [OLD VERSION] | ![Microsoft Office Professional 2003 [OLD VERSION]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MKGY964ML._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | From: Microsoft Software
Category: Software
List Price: $499.99
Buy New: $185.00
You Save: $314.99 (63%)
New (13) Used (2) from $185.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 41
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Windows 2000, Windows Xp
Media: CD-ROM
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 11.2 x 9.8 x 2
MPN: 269-06738
Model: 269-06738
UPC: 805529627529
EAN: 0805529627529
ASIN: B0000AZJVC
Release Date: October 21, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Not the utilitarian option June 3, 2006
29 out of 39 found this review helpful
Microsoft Office can be handy to have. The files you can open, edit and create with it (most notably .doc, .xls, and .ppt) are probably the closest to universal compatibility among all your high quality options. It's (relatively) intuitive. It has a pretty broad array of useful functions.
It's also obscenely expensive, considering the fact that you can get all of these things -- .doc, .xls, and .ppt; intuitive interface; and functionality -- for free.
I hunted up OpenOffice two years ago when I decided several hundred dollars was an insane price to pay for the ability to write papers, make basic presentations, or put together spreadsheets. I was looking for basic functionality, but I was pleasantly surprised; OpenOffice does most of the neat tricks, too. (Actually, it has a neat trick Microsoft can never replicate: it's open source, so it can respond to the needs of individual users. You just say "Add this neat trick!" and someone will likely be able to do it for you.)
It is possible that Microsoft Office has some killer feature you absolutely must have that OpenOffice doesn't. But considering the price differential, I wouldn't splurge on this before checking.
It's been some time since '97... May 3, 2006
33 out of 40 found this review helpful
Office 97 was a pretty good product. The programs were powerful, had a decent interface (maybe not as good as the Claris products of the early 1990s, but not bad), and came with a ton of features all on one disc. The Office 98 release for Mac was pretty much the same thing. The only thing that really got annoying for me was the office assistant (paperclip) but it is easy enough to turn off.
Office 2000 was a bit of a disappointment for me. I felt that the improvements were minimal (aside from a bit more stability in Word--anyone who has ever used Word 97 on a regular basis knows it's prone to crashing) and in fact detracted from the ease of use. One example is the clip gallery, which went from being one of the best organizers ever created to becoming a program that wouldn't have received decent reviews in 1988. Another is PowerPoint's outline feature. I always turned this off because it ate up monitor space and therefore made the actual slide smaller. When you use smaller displays like I often do this is a problem. The menus, which hide some functions until you go to the bottom of them, were also an annoyance. The manual went from being a nice thick book to one half the size.
Office 2003 continues making the program uglier. Now there are many tasks crammed onto one little panel on the right of the screen. Again, this eats into the workspace. The clip art system is even more cumbersome, and many of the clips are online only now. The help feature tries to point too much in the online direction as well. Now some people may not complain, but what if you're using a laptop in the middle of the country?
I feel that the program is basically an uglier version of the same thing that was first seen in 1997. In fact, the 1997 version was more pleasant to work with and almost as powerful. On my Macs, I've switched to Keynote for presentations and Pages for some of my word processing because the new Office versions on that platform are similar.
Some of the templates also look very 1997. Apple's programs are updated on a regular basis, and their templates look very modern. Now I know Microsoft adds some new ones now and then, but they should consider redesigning many of them--such as replacing the overused Arial and Times New Roman fonts with something a little more classy.
The program is bloated way too heavily. I can run Office 2000 comfortably on a 486 with sub-1GB hard drive, but can't even get 2003 on it.
A final gripe is that Access is not user friendly at all. File Maker is a better alternative, as it is easier to use and friendlier.
 Pro OFFICE PRO March 2, 2006
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
I've been using Word for more than 20 years,
and Office for as long as it has been around.
It just gets better and better.
All of modules integrate nicely.
Excel spreadsheet is created easily from Access database,
and sending mailmerge letters to a selected Access group
is a piece of cake. Mail merge even works with Publisher.
This is not a political view of Microsoft; I just like this product.
BNB ><>
 Great Product but... January 29, 2006
37 out of 42 found this review helpful
Microsoft makes the best office suite - period. However, I still do believe that the price is a bit of a rip-off. I have been using Open Office (...) which is developed by Sun Microsystems and is FREE. It is also compatible with MS Office - you can save the files in Word, PowerPoint etc. format. The more I use it, the more I wish I had it during my undergrad days. If money is not your concern - MS Office is definitely the best productivity suite out there. However, if you are a student and wish to make presentations or documents for school/university work I would definitely recommend Open Office as you simply cannot get anything better for free and it shall suit all your needs. I mean at the end of the day - you are graded on your work now how the slides come flying in. But Open has the flying slides too - thought the MS ones still look cooler:) I particularly liked exporting Word Files to PDF format within Open Office. For the record I am not anti-Microsoft - they have some good products - I just wish they would make them more affordable. I hope this helps.
Open Office is better and it's free! January 8, 2006
20 out of 35 found this review helpful
Microsoft is simply sloppy with their programming!
"Open Office" is a better program, is open-source (meaning if you don't want some paperclip's help, you simply don't download that part of it) AND OPEN OFFICE is FREE! It is also compatible with most of the functions that MS Office uses (and is upgraded with new features faster than MS's product, which is a rip-off!)
MS's Office 97 was the best of the Office suites, even though it did have it's problems, Spending the money to supposedly "upgrade" to this (or any other Microsoft product for that matter) is simply burning your money!)
OPen-source software is FREE, it's perfectly legal, it is open t anyone decompiling it, so if you want to make your own custom goodies, you can, but then there are so many written by so many people willing to share, you don't have to develop your own, as there are already *SO* many freebie ones (and some low-cost additions by some places, but most are free) that if you want whistles and bells, or even a Christmas theme in February, you can get it for OPEN OFFICE! (Not so with this or ANY Microsoft product for that matter)
Simply sloppy programming - nothing more, AND you can get a fully functioning and compatable office suite for free legally!
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