Running Office 2003 and Office 2007

[mrforgetful]

The Head of ICT wants Office 2007 on the Staff whiteboard machines but also needs to keep Office 2003.

The problem is if you load one version of a program, close it, and then load the other version, it goes through a little install thing each time.

Is there any way to prevent this and still have both versions installed?

If not I'll make it so they get the Office 2003 install bit because that's a quicker one and you can just cancel the boxes anyway.

Just thought for User-Friendliness not having either happen woul dbe best. I know and I've argued that having two different versions isn't supported, and will have problems but the ICT teachers say they are willing to put up with that to have both versions.

[Mr_T]

Originally Posted by mrforgetful

The Head of ICT wants Office 2007 on the Staff whiteboard machines but also needs to keep Office 2003.

The problem is if you load one version of a program, close it, and then load the other version, it goes through a little install thing each time.

Is there any way to prevent this and still have both versions installed?

If not I'll make it so they get the Office 2003 install bit because that's a quicker one and you can just cancel the boxes anyway.

Just thought for User-Friendliness not having either happen woul dbe best. I know and I've argued that having two different versions isn't supported, and will have problems but the ICT teachers say they are willing to put up with that to have both versions.

I'm having the same trouble at the moment. I deployed office 2007 through AD with the Config XML. I set it to not install Outlook but the weird thing is it seems to install it then the first time you run office it removes it. All seems a bit arse about tit to me but hey ho!

[tarquel]

Just tell them that it isn't possible

I see the only real options you have is one of the following:

a) only install 2007 on the staff machines and 2003 elsewhere
b) If 2003 is needed on the staff machines [presumably for SIMS] then its just gonna have to stay as 2003 on those machines until the reason for it to stay as 2003 is gone

I do try to accomodate most odd/unusual/PITA requests, but sometimes the answer just has to be "No, sorry" [I hear that enough from others so people will have to learn to hear it from me kinda thing ]

Cheers
Nath

[CyberNerd]

Sounds like a very badly planned migration.
Best to get the training done first for all staff, then migrate existing important documents to the new format, then upgrade all in one go. (interesting that OOO migration is now easier than office2007 migration - doc migration scripts are available and the interface is near identical to 2003)

If you really need two instances of the same software then Citrix is the way forward.

[localzuk]

We are not migrating to Office 2007 until our LEA says it is ok and that they support it. Until then we are officially running 2003.

[mrforgetful]

Again I know it's not a good thing, I've said that to them, I've emphasised that it will cause massive head trauma, but at the end of the day if the boss says do it, I do it.

I just like to try make it work too lol.

[Ric_]

It's only one person (Head of ICT) that wants it so tell them that it cannot be done.

[maniac]

We're testing office 2007 at the moment, ,may consider rolling out to staff after through testing. Students will stay at 2003 until the staff are familure with it, and have had time to adjust their teaching resources to suit the new software. That's the way it will most probably happen.

Running 2 versions is going to be very troublesome, as it's really not designed to be done I don't think. Also documents saved from word 2007 save in the new DOCX format, which isn't compatible with word 2003, so could cause problems if a member of staff is using a machine with only word 2003 installed, and needs to access documents done in word 2007. You have to force compatibility mode at save to make them work in both versions. OK there may be a way of setting this permanently, but it's still a PITA.

Mike.

[adent]

My question is WHY?

Why do you need to keep both? Is it the change of interface or because Office 2007 has a different file format?

If it is the file format - it is possible to set Office 2007 to DEFAULT to saving in Office 2003 format. There is also a plug in for Office 2003 to allow it to read Office 2007 files.

Generally speaking having two versions of the same product is problematical anyway unless you spend a lot of time 'making it work' - regardless of manufacturer.

[mattx]

Been asked to move to both Vista and Office 2007. Answer was 'No', wait till SP1 of Vista, then I may consider doing both together. Most probably image Office 2007 with Vista. By the time SP1 arrives of Vista I think USB pen drives will be even cheaper for 8 gig or more so a nice image on one of those would not take too long to deploy.....

[Norphy]

Originally Posted by maniac

Also documents saved from word 2007 save in the new DOCX format, which isn't compatible with word 2003, so could cause problems if a member of staff is using a machine with only word 2003 installed, and needs to access documents done in word 2007. You have to force compatibility mode at save to make them work in both versions. OK there may be a way of setting this permanently, but it's still a PITA.

Mike.

Mike, if you install the Office 2007 Compatibility Pack on your workstations with Office 2000/XP/2003, you can open Office 2007 documents in the older versions of Office. There will be certain features in Office 2007 documents which won't render in the older versions of Office but stick to the basics and you'll be fine.

There is an MSI included in the compatibility pack, deployment is quick and easy. We don't have any Office 2007 installations in the school at present but I've deployed the compatibility pack across the school to be on the safe side.

[ind13]

have a look at

svs juice

had a play with it a while back, it lets you install software to its own virtual layer.

so you should be able to install both versions of office, and they should both act as if the other one is not there,

[noser]

Originally Posted by mrforgetful

The Head of ICT wants Office 2007 on the Staff whiteboard machines but also needs to keep Office 2003.

The problem is if you load one version of a program, close it, and then load the other version, it goes through a little install thing each time.

Is there any way to prevent this and still have both versions installed?

I've got the same problem,
When we've got office 2007 and 2003 installed on the same PC, we want to give users both versions for a Year with 2003 being default before switching totally to 2007.

Having problems when you load word 2007 after you have loaded 2003, Word 2007 wants to reconfigure itself which takes up to 2 minutes.

[sparkeh]

If you want to stick with 2003, you could try the line "Becta is recommending not to migrate yet", you could even hand over the report as to why

Plus, its a bit of a waste of money having to own two Office licences per machine?

[noser]

Thanks for your reply, The BECTA report is Jan 08. Anyone know when Becta is recommending mirgrating? We want to have both versions running from Sept. Got the Schools agreement so don't think licencing is and issue. Correct me if anyone thinks I'm wrong.