Office applications Toolkit

PowerPoint 2007 review

7.4

Editors' Rating

Setup & interface		8.0
Service & support		7.0
Features		7.0

Elsa Wenzel CNET

Published: 14 Feb 2007

Service and support

Boxed editions of Microsoft Office 2007 include a decent 174-page Getting Started guide. During the first 90 days, you can contact technical support for free, and help at any time with any security-related or virus problems also costs nothing. Beyond that, paid support costs a painfully high £40 (ex. VAT) per telephone or email incident. Luckily, Microsoft's online help is excellent, although we're displeased that Microsoft and other software makers are increasingly promoting do-it-yourself assistance. We especially like the Command Reference Guide for PowerPoint, which walks you through where commands have moved since Office 2003. You can also pose questions to the large community of Microsoft Office users via free support forums and chats. Microsoft Office Diagnostics tool, included with the Office 2007 suite, is also designed to detect and repair problems if something goes haywire.

Conclusion

Is PowerPoint 2007 worth the upgrade? Probably not, if you rarely use the program. Other than the new graphical styles and dynamic galleries, there's not much new here. At the same time, PowerPoint's live graphical previews, SmartArt, and easy-to-pick design templates could make the difference between a sales pitch and a sales contract for some professionals. If you don't want your older PowerPoint presentations to be overshadowed by more up-do-date-looking ones crafted by someone who has already upgraded, then the 2007 edition will be worth your while.

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