Office 2007

Author's Rating:

Pros: backwards compatibile, popular

Cons: somewhat pricey

The Bottom Line: 
Worth a purchase if you don't have any software, not worth an upgrade - primarly due to cost.

Author's Review
Having used office for many years, I found the change in interface in Office 2007 to be somewhat jarring. It took some time, but I did eventually get used to it.

Feature wise, I do not see too many increases in features from previous versions.

From what I can tell - from a home user perspective - if you already have a version of office made within the last decade - such as Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003 - I see no pressing reason to upgrade, especially since Microsoft makes a compatibility pack to allow these earlier versions of office to open files made by the newer versions.

Additionally, with the rise of free alternatives to Office, there just doesn't seem to be any logical reason for a home user to actually purchase this version of Office.

From a business perspective, however, I find that the availabilty of official support from the developers to be an actual valid reason to purchase the new version of Office - because business need a well defined support structure and the level of support that is available to businesses who purchase a bulk license for use in their business is indeed a good sell.

All told, if you do not already have office editing software, it may be worth a purchase, but there are certianly some free alternatives to consider. If you already have office editing software, there is no pressing reason to upgrade, unless you are a business who purchases in bulk and need the official support.