Bit of a technological post this... Mike Nolan'esque!

While laid up after my accident I took the time to install myself a copy of office 2007. I've always used the Microsoft Office series, and when I bought this computer was the main reason I didn't go for a MAC as I, at the time wouldn't of been able to run Office applications on there.

A number of people had warned me about how it wasn't as backward compatible as other versions and that I'd have problems viewing older files, but after reading some reviews and specifactions I decided it was worth the risk and installed it. Instalation went like a dream, no hassle at all. Installed all the programs (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Groove, Access & OneNote) some of them such as Access and Groove I won't be using in the near future however, Groove is a pretty cool program by the looks f things allowing you to instantly create workspaces with documents in online and allow them to altered and viewed by colleagues across the globe. Is affectively the same as e-mailing the data back and forward but a lot faster and more secure, it even has a built in messenger type program so you can discuss what to change.

The core 3 (Word, PowerPoint & Excel) all seem really cool, re-invigorated with a new toolbar design called the ribbon. I wasn't too sure about this being used to using the old system but is in fact much easier to use but also incorporates a lot more advanced features. The coolest thing is the instant previews in now gives you, if you highlight some text and then go to change the font as you scroll over the font it gives you a live preview of what it will look like, you can then make you decision and click it to change it in the document. This seems to speed things up immensely.

The other program of the set which I use loads is Outlook, its not changed massively in the mail sense from 2003 but the Calender seems to have come on in leaps and bounds and now looks very similar to Apple's iCal which is very good. It still synchronises which my phone just the same without any problems and is working just fine with my POP3 gmail account.

So, so far so good, if your thinking of getting a copy go for it in my opinon!