After experiencing a glitch that I can only ascribe to a shortcoming in Word 2003 (https://www.msofficeforums.com/word-...html#post27182), I'm again considering upgrading to Word 2007 (or maybe 2010).

I've been a loyal MS Word user for nearly two decades, and had never been hesitant to adopt the next Word upgrade. Until 2007. I'm not going to elaborate on how lukewarm the reception to Word 2007 was by the Word community here. I tried it out too and didn't like it. Especially the abandonment of the toolbars was a non-starter for me. I think the 2007 update involved the most drastic user interface change in the entire Word lineage. Yet, I ended up purchasing Microsoft Office Suite 2007 nonetheless. I can't quite remember why, but I think it had to do with One Note 2007. There was one crucial feature in One Note 2007 that was missing in One Note 2003 that made me by the upgrade. But I didn't install any other Office applications.

That was a long-winded intro, but what I'm trying to say is that I face no cost for upgrading to Word 2007 at this point. If it's worth it, I'm perfectly willing to pay for Microsoft Suite 2010 as well, as I always have paid for numerous upgrades in the past.

What I cannot afford is loss of productivity by switching to Word 2007 EVEN AFTER I reach the plateau in the learning curve. Do I stand to gain productivity overall by switching to Word 2007 or 2010? Do long-time users miss 2003 and want to go back to 2003 for productivity reasons?

I can only speak from personal experience. I'm a profesisonal DTP/Word document specialist among several in the office where I work. We all found the switch challenging at first, and I spent significant time researching the keyboard shortcuts and recording some new macros to get my prodcutivity up to speed. (I work fast.) Once there, however, I have been generally pleased with the change, and think 2010 an improvement over 2007, though the difference is not funamental.

If you wish to actively master the new interface, you can probably do so in a few weeks; there are lots of resources on the web. Those who just pine for the old can buy 3rd-party tools to get back the old look -- but, remember that Office 2013 is now upon us, and Microsoft is, at least for now, commiting heavily to even newer types of tools.

Best,
Ulodesk

I think your answer will depend on what your productivity is. If it is simply typing text then no, you will likely not increase productivity by making the switch and you will certainly lose productivity until you master the new (and significantly improved) UI.

Think of a cowboy and driving cattle. The cowboy lost productivity (wasn't driving cattle) when he became a teamster and learned to drive a truck. After he did though, he was able to deliver a heck of a lot more cattle to the stock yard by driving a truck.

There are lots of things that you can do to prepare documents with Word 2010/2007 that you can't do with Word 2003. I don't know of anything that you can't do with Word 2010 that you can with Word 2003.

In your place. I would make the switch and like Ulodesk, once you have, you probably won't be disappointed.

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Greg Maxey
Please visit my web site at http://www.gregmaxey.com/

FWIW, I use both Office 2003 & Office 2010 (often with apps from both versions running at the same time). Each version has its own strengths. With Word, 2003 does some things more easily than 2010, and vice-versa. Word 2010, though, does more than Word 2003 is capable of.

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Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]