Quick notes on my Office 2003b2 testing...

I finally installed EVERYTHING from Office 2003 on my Win2k3 system, and began testing...right away I noticed a few annoyances...

  • Outlook
    • "Business Contact Manager" sets up its own SQL Server named instance (named "MICROSOFTBCM") instead of using the Default instance.  There seems to be no way to override this behavior.
    • Outlook "Notes" do not use OneNote.  :(
    • "Forms" do not use InfoPath.
  • Windows Sharepoint Services (formerly Sharepoint Team Services)
    • Creates a new MSDE instance (named "SHAREPOINT") by default, eventhough SQL Server is installed and available.
    • Converts default website on Port 80 to Sharepoint site, without asking. (I would prefer to configure another site on a different IP, Port, or HostHeader)
    • "Add User" function fails due to permissions errors on Win2k3 (more of the usual restrictiveness of Win2k3 than anything, but it implies that testing is on Win2k or a wide-open Win2k3 security policy)


This may sound really negative, but in fact, I truly like the new UI, and the fresh approach and innovations in Office 2k3.

The Good stuff...

  • The new UI is a nice change, with some very nifty shading and rounding effects.
  • OneNote!  This is an excellent note-taking device that I fully plan to try out in my next meeting. (now if I can only get my work to buy me a tablet-PC)
  • InfoPath... after some nudges from various people, including Don Box, I finally poked and prodded this app until I "got it"....admin of XSD Schema instances in a mouse clicks, consuming web-services without programmer-intervention is awesome, in addition to providing a common tool for DB, XML, and WebService interaction.  I'm still waiting on the "Killer App" created with it, but for now, I am quite satisfied with what I have seen so far.
  • Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, etc....all feel streamlined, and very XML-aware.

I plan to post a more comprehensive analysis when I am done with my testing and prodding, but for now, its an overall "thumbs-up" especially considering that its a Beta product.  Gut feeling says, I would like to see another 6-months work on tightening up the overall suite of products.

1 Comment

  • Interesting comments.... i was just trying to find out why i suddenly had an sql server running on my machine... using 50 meg of memory and 150meg of virtual memory ! the light is back on.

    I agree with your comments, Outlook 2003 beta is great... it really seems to have control of junk mail too. I still found no way to reduce the number of attachments it won't allow me to see !

    I'm looking for a tablet pc too...

    have fun

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