Microsoft on Tuesday launched
the second service pack for Office 2007, which fine-tunes the stability, performance and security features of the desktop and server components of the suite.
On the desktop side, Office 2007 SP2 makes it possible to open, edit and save documents in version 1.1 of the OpenDocument Format for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The ability to save Office files as PDF and XPS files has been enhanced in Office 2007 SP2, obviating the need for users to download and install what had previously been a separate add-on.
Office files with large amounts of graphics have been tweaked for better performance, and Microsoft Outlook users will see better start-up and shutdown times as well as improved view rendering and folder- switching functionality.
On the server side, Microsoft says SP2 represents the groundwork for future SharePoint releases, and comes with support for a wider range of Web browsers. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP2 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server SP2 have also been revamped for better performance, availability and stability in server farms.
Office 2007 SP2 has been cleared for compatibility with Internet Explorer 8, and will also work with Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows 7 and Windows Server R2 when they're released, according to Microsoft.
When Microsoft released Office 2007 SP1 in December 2007, many users were still grappling with the overhauled Ribbon user interface, and some organizations avoided upgrading as a result of the learning curve involved in getting their employees up to speed.
However, solution providers are seeing more companies making the switch, and some even profess to prefer the Ribbon interface.
