Microsoft Office 2010: Will It Be Worth The Upgrade?

Next to Windows, Microsoft's most ubiquitous product is Microsoft Office. This last week, Office 2010 beta was made available for public download, and I've been test driving the software. As expected for a beta release, there are bugs, but my primary reason for test driving wasn't to report on hiccups, but rather the new stuff that matters. Is Office 2010 better than Office 2007? It sure is. Will it be worth the money to upgrade? Probably not.

What's New?

Access your data anywhere. If you have SharePoint Foundation services or a Windows Live account, you can save your Office 2010 documents, presentations, and spreadsheets online and access them from nearly any computer or from a Windows Mobile smartphone. Handy, but I'll never use that feature, not because I don't see the value, but because I don't trust online storage—otherwise known as cloud computing. Trusting a faceless corporate entity to safely store my data is out of the realm of possibility for me. There is a risk of data loss, hackers gaining access to the cloud, or a disgruntled employee reeking havoc on the system. Basically, the potential hazards of cloud storage outweigh any benefits. For more, read this article that my colleague wrote about the possible dangers of cloud computing.

Visual effects. You can give your text, images, and shapes some effects such as shadow, bevel, glow, and reflection. These effects do give documents a pop, but It's old hat for users of Apple's iWork suite.

Work with others. Office 2010 enables more convenient co-authoring of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. According to Microsoft (if your system meets the requirements):

The co-authoring experience for Microsoft® Word 2010, Microsoft PowerPoint 2010, Microsoft® Excel Web App and Microsoft OneNote shared notebooks let you work on a file with several people at once - even from different locations.

That's pretty much about it for major features. The ugly blueish tint of 2007 isn't present in Office 2010, instead, there is a basic off-white gray tint. PowerPoint comes more in-line with Apple's feature-packed Keynote, but not anywhere near as simple.

Like Office 2007, Office 2010 has the controversial Ribbon interface that dispenses of the traditional menus. You have no choice in the matter. If you hate the Ribbon, you are stuck with it. If you love the Ribbon, then I would really like to know why.

Why It Won't Be Worth The Upgrade

If Office 2010 will be priced in the typical Microsoft price-window of $120 to $150, it won't be worth upgrading for home users. Many of the new features found in Office 2010 will definitely bring some convenience for businesses, but most of the fancy bells and whistles will be lost on the average consumer. At home, I have no need to simultaneously create a document with my wife from two different computers. And although the added visual effects are eye-catching, I wonder if they will justify the price.

I've always felt that Microsoft Office is a good suite of applications and feature rich, but I've never felt it has justified the price. I honestly wonder how many people use the features they are paying for, or if they even know the features exist. For this reason, I always recommend giving OpenOffice a go. It's a powerful suite, and likely has more than enough features to meet your needs, it can open and save in Microsoft Office file format, and it's free. It's worth giving it a shot before dropping a load for a proprietary package such as Microsoft Office or Apple's iWork.

If you are interested in test driving Office 2010 beta and have a spare computer that you don't mind having bugs on, you can download Microsoft Office 2010 for free by clicking here. Microsoft plans on officially releasing Office 2010 in the first half of next year.