Strengths:Extensively debugged during beta testing.
Full, complete (not scaled-down) versions of the programs
New Ribbon feature eliminates endless dropdown menus.
Has most features needed by the home user.
Weaknesses:VBA can’t get data from Web sites. Need 3rd party macro to interface between VBA and Web. Word lacks right click context menu to count text block’s chars--needed to fill out this box with char limit.
Posted May 26, 2007 - I was a Beta Testers for Microsoft Office 2007, and submitted about 150 problem reports for this product during Beta testing. I will be reviewing Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007. I had a particular project in mind for Microsoft Office but was wondering whether it was legitimate under the license agreement. I called the Microsoft Anti-Piracy Hotline at 1-800-RU-LEGIT, and asked the customer service person who answered the phone if my proposed use Microsoft Office Home and Student was legitimate. I was shocked when she said that Microsoft cannot advise me as to the legal uses of this product. She suggested that I have an attorney interpret the licensing agreement. I recommended that Microsoft develop a list of valid and invalid uses of this product. She said she would forward my recommendation to management. This is poor. Microsoft should not expect users of Home and Student to contact their attorneys to see if a proposed use violates the licensing agreement.
The project I developed using Microsoft Excel VBA and a third party Macro Program involves visiting two web sites, gathering data, pasting this data into an Excel worksheet, analyzing the data, reporting the results, and making recommendations based on the results. The project comprises 19 Excel macros having 5209 lines of code. With a project this large, it is essential that code show the line numbers of the code. Unfortunately in Excel VBE, line numbers are not shown. One has to click on a line of code to see its line number.
The only major bug I found in this product occurs when one attempts to print a large Excel spreadsheet in landscape mode. Although the spreadsheet appears correct on the screen, when one attempts to print it in landscape mode, the sections of the spreadsheet which would be outside the normal portrait area are jumbled. I have forwarded this problem on to Microsoft tech support. Large spreadsheets print perfectly in portrait mode.
A major defect in the understandability of the Excel VBA code required to be used in R1C1 format formulas having nested IF statements is readily seen when one attempts to understand or later modify the following correct code which propagates the specified formula throughout the specified range:
Range("W2:W" & LstRowData).FormulaR1C1 = _
"=IF(RC[-20]=""Co name: "",0, " & _
"IF(RC[-12]"" Acquisition "",R[-1]C, " & _
"IF(AND(RC[3]=""SR"",RC[-11]> 0,RC[-13]=""Direct :""),R[-1]C+RC[-11]*RC[-10]*(1 + RC[-11]/RC[-8]), " & _
"IF(AND(RC[3]=""SR"",RC[-11]> 0),R[-1]C+R4C12*RC[-11]*RC[-10]*(1 + RC[-11]/RC[-8]), " & _
"IF(AND(RC[3]=""SR"",RC[-13]=""Direct :""),R[-1]C+RC[-11]*RC[-10]*(1 - RC[-11]/(RC[-8] - RC[-11])), " & _
"IF(RC[3]=""SR"",R[-1]C+R4C12*RC[-11]*RC[-10]*(1 - RC[-11]/(RC[-8] - RC[-11])), " & _
"IF(AND(RC[3]=""DR"",RC[-11]> 0,RC[-13]=""Direct:""),R[-1]C+0.5*RC[-11]*RC[-10]*(1 + RC[-11]/RC[-8]), " & _
"IF(AND(RC[3]=""DR"",RC[-11]> 0),R[-1]C+0.5*R4C12*RC[-11]*RC[-10]*(1 + RC[-11]/RC[-8]), " & _
"IF(AND(RC[3]=""DR"",RC[-13]=""Direct:""),R[-1]C+0.5*RC[-11]*RC[-10]*(1 - RC[-11]/(RC[-8] - RC[-11])), " & _
"IF(RC[3]=""DR"",R[-1]C+0.5*R4C12*RC[-11]*RC[-10]*(1 - RC[-11]/(RC[-8] - RC[-11])),R[-1]C))))))))))"
RC indicates the active or base cell, which starts off as W2. R[-1]C indicates the previous row and the same column (W1). Likewise, RC[+1] would indicate the same row and the next column(X2). And R[+1]C[-1] indicates the next row and the previous column (V3). Unfortunately, Microsoft provides very little documentation on how such R1C1 format formulas having nested IFs are to be constructed, or how they are to be interpreted. Neither Excel help nor the Microsoft Knowledge Base gives any examples of R1C1 format formulas having nested If statements. Through trial and error, for example, I discovered that the number of parentheses to use at the end of the formula is exactly the number of IF statements used. During Beta testing I complained to Microsoft about how difficult it is to develop, understand, and maintain such code. Due to time constraints, they were unwilling or unable to come up with an interpreter or translater to allow one to write the formula code using structured logic. The interpreter would then convert to the required code in R1C1 format. A reverse interpreter would then convert formulas in the R1C1 format back to structured programming format. By the way, if the last row containing data (LstRowData) is 1000, for example, the above formula propagates itself through the range W2 through W1000. Then whenever the data in one of the referenced cells changes, Excel recomputes the formulas throughout the range W2:W1000.
But when all is said and done, I could not have completed my project if Microsoft Excel did not work as well as it does. Overall, I am very happy with my purchase of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007.
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Rated 
Office 2007 -- Careful
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