There were 10+ bugs reported on the Office 2007 SP2 right after its release. Ever since then Microsoft has been busy in fixing them. The latest update on MS Office 2007 SP2 can be downloaded free, and it is expected to fix major flaws and improve performance. But, let’s see how much it really helps.
Overview
There are several Office 2007 Service Pack 2 problems that you might have come across, but these minor issues don’t put an end to the ever increasing popularity of the legendary product of Microsoft. So, let us briefly discuss what’s good about the Office 2007 SP2 before moving on to its problems, major issues, and fixes.
Something to Cheer About
Several major issues have been fixed in the latest release of the MS Office 2007 SP2 Update , and Microsoft has announced the list of issues fixed with great pride. The major attraction of Office 2007 SP2 lies in additional non-Microsoft file formats. The suite can read and write Open Document Format files and helps the Office users in sharing the files which are at times not appealing but always remain free.
The Office 2007 SP2 allows the users to save copies of their work as PDF files, which is no doubt a major plus point, although it requires the additional installation and set-up of an add-on application. (Further details are beyond the scope of this article it will be covered under a different article.)
But, despite all the goodness, there are still several unresolved issues left for SP2 users to deal with.
The Miseries
Irrespective of whatever Microsoft says, if you take a look at the existing issues, you’ll find a plethora of problems and feel that fixed issues are nowhere close to the expected number of issues that should have been fixed with the latest update. Let us take a look at some of the most common Office 2007 Service Pack 2 problems.
Long Time Required for Installation and Trouble in Launching SP2 Directly
The Service Pack 2 was tested on the desktop of Windows XP by running the “Standard edition” of various MS Office features. Besides taking several minutes for installation, it was found that installation also required a restart. In certain cases, it had to be launched by opening a document of Office SP3.
Indent/Graphic Misalignments and Disappearance of Formulae from the Cell
Files pertaining to MS Word-processing files seem to be in order with the exception of indents and graphics not being in the correct position once in a while. Apart from a misaligned graphic or indent, there is a possibility of encountering disappearance of formulae from the cell coupled with miscalculation, which is often noticed on opening the Microsoft Office spreadsheets.
Problems in Accessing Global Address List, Sending Data to OneNote, and Stopping Alerts to Outlook Desktop
It is difficult to access the Global Address List as well as to access OneNote due to the disappearance of the “Send to OneNote” option and stop alerts to Outlook Desktop. At the time of release of Office 2007 SP2, more than ten changes or bugs had been declared. With the latest release, MS claims to have addressed these issues, but the SP2 users aren’t really impressed by their currently useless claims.
Horrendous Speed of Outlook Start-Up and Shut-Down
Hoping for an increase in the speed of Outlook? You must be dreaming! Outlook seems to be loading forever. While moving from message to message in the window, the speed is very slow. When the program is shut down, the processes keep running for minutes before moving to scan post or to move to the post file.
Problems in Opening Publisher 2007 Documents and Operating with MS Access 2007
Many times, folks have encountered an ugly message—Publisher cannot open the file—while the computer displays error code 1100009. And, users faced several errors in using MS Access as well.
Surely, these may not be intentional from Microsoft, but no mention of most of these problems has ever found a place in the company’s blog.
What Has Microsoft Got to Say?
Changes that are brought in the Microsoft tech-support site are indicated in a note brought out by them. For example, conversion rates of various currencies are also incorporated into this update, and slight adjustments in SP2 are detailed in an article separately to Outlook alone, inclusive of certain advertised improvements in the performance (which miserably fail to hold good in reality).
Microsoft exclaims that by using the Windows’ Automatic Update MS Office option, you can update your Office SP2 automatically, or you can alternatively download the 290-megabyte Update file and run it yourself. Compliance with the new requirements of the third-party products will take some time, which will be available again with only limited support. The Outlook 2007 SP2 is expected to close down neatly with the latest update, but that is again in the eyes of Microsoft; in reality, it still takes few minutes.
The Bottom Line
While the company did make a mention of few problems in one of their blog posts, giving an explanation that the ODF specifications “does not yet specify formulas,” this no doubt is a major lapse. And, in this situation, the users expect prior notice before they are in for a rude shock to know what went wrong with their spreadsheet.
Apart from the issues discussed above, the Microsoft Office 2007 SP2 suite is still loaded with dozens of errors and bugs that need to be fixed by Microsoft, but right now there are very little hopes that Microsoft may actually roll out another major SP2 update to take care of these issues. With SP3 handling most of these issues, SP2 users have been left to survive on a deserted land by Microsoft with no option of free upgrade to SP3 either.
With Microsoft blatantly boasting of 500+ fixes in latest SP2 update, you can only seek work around with SP1, pay for SP3 upgrade (which again has bugs), or wait and watch for what Microsoft does for SP2 users and hope for something good after all. It is good to hope but insanity to expect things too early from MS!
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You may also want to seek resolution of MS IE problems here
