Get better results faster with the Office Fluent user interface
The new Fluent user interface in Office Basic 2007 helps you create documents faster, more easily and more intuitively. Reduce the time and frustration of learning new software with commands that present the right tools when you need them.

Create high-quality documents you can be proud of
Office Ultimate2007 has improved picture, charting, and graphics tools to help you quickly produce better-looking documents, spreadsheets and presentations. A large library of charts, quick formatting tools and SmartArt diagrams make it easy to include stunning visuals in your documents.

Preview your changes quickly
Office Ultimate2007 makes it easier to format your Office documents with Live Preview. You can preview proposed changes to your document while you work, without having to repeatedly search through layers of menus. By ‘test-driving’ your proposed formatting, you can save time and experiment more freely.

Organise your tasks and communications in one place
Office Outlook 2007 features a new To-Do Bar, for organising tasks, appointments and e-mail messages flagged for follow-up. You can view tasks on the calendar alongside your appointments, while uncompleted tasks roll over to the next day and accumulate until finished.

Visualise key data trends using conditional formatting
Office Ultimate2007 features highly visual conditional formatting in Office Excel 2007, with new data bars, and more colourful gradients and icons. You can then format data based on specific rules, and easily identify key data trends with visual cues.

Improve email security and reduce electronic junk mail
Office Ultimate2007 includes an improved Office Outlook 2007 junk e-mail filter, to help reduce spam and protect against potentially harmful attachments. Office Outlook 2007’s enhanced security features help to prevent the widespread practice of ‘phishing’ – fraudulent attempts to obtain users’ personal financial details.

Remove private information from the documents you want to share
Detect and remove unwanted comments, hidden text or personally identifiable information in your documents using the Document Inspector. With just a few clicks, you can automatically detect and choose to remove sensitive information from your documents.

Take control of formatting documents
Office Ultimate2007 makes it easier to format your Office Word 2007 documents, with more stable and predictable bullets, numbers, and tables. The Themes feature helps ensure a consistent appearance between your Office Word 2007, Office Excel 2007 and Office PowerPoint 2007 documents, reducing the effort of working across the programs you use the most.

Help ensure broader distribution of your documents and presentations
New support for Portable Document Format (PDF) and XML Paper Specification (XPS) file formats helps ensure broader distribution of your documents with others. Simply convert your files to PDF or XPS, and share with users on any platform.

Find the Help you need to get started
Office Ultimate2007’s improved Help system provides enhanced ScreenTips, and links to relevant information in Office 2007 and online. Get started easily with online tutorials featuring step-by-step guides, or by using some of the new out-of-the-box templates.

Discover how organisations have improved business processes and streamlined operations with Office 2007:

• South Holland District Council uses the 2007 Microsoft Office system to improve collaboration and measure performance
• Speedy Hire cuts IT costs with switch from open source
• Trading on information: major stock exchange streamlines primary account managers’ work andimproves customer service with web-based dashboard

• 500 megahertz (MHz) processor or higher
• 256 megabyte (MB) RAM or higher 3 gigabyte (GB); a portion of this disk space will be freed after installation if the original download package is removed from the hard drive.
• 2 gigabyte (GB); a portion of this disk space will be freed after installation if the original download package is removed from the hard drive
• CD-ROM or DVD drive
• 1024x768 or higher resolution monitor
• Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack (SP) 2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, or later operating system
• Certain inking features require running Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition or later. Speech recognition functionality requires a close-talk microphone and audio output device. Information Rights Management features require access to a Windows 2003 Server with SP1 or later running Windows Rights Management Services
• CConnectivity to Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 or later is required for certain advanced functionality in Outlook 2007. Instant Search requires Microsoft Windows Desktop Search 3.0. Dynamic Calendars require server connectivity
• Connectivity to Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with SP1 or later running Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services or Office SharePoint Server 2007 is required for certain advanced collaboration functionality. PowerPoint Slide Library requires Office SharePoint Server 2007. Connectivity to Office SharePoint Server 2007 required for browser-enabled InfoPath forms and additional collaboration functionality. Groove Messenger integration requires Windows Messenger 5.1 or later or Communicator 1.0 or later. Includes a 5 year subscription to the Groove relay service
• Some features require Microsoft Windows Desktop Search 3.0, Microsoft Windows Media Player 9.0, Microsoft DirectX 9.0b, Microsoft Active Sync 4.1, microphone1, audio output device, video recording device (such as a webcam), TWAIN-compatible digital camera or scanner, Windows Mobile 2003 powered Smartphone or Windows Mobile 5 powered Smartphone or Pocket PC, or a router that supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP). Sharing notebooks requires users to be on the same network
• Internet Explorer 6.0 or later, 32 bit browser only. Internet functionality requires Internet access (fees may apply).
  Actual requirements and product functionality may vary based on your system configuration and operating system
  
  • 1 2 gigahertz (GHz) processor or higher and 1 GB RAM or higher recommended for OneNote Audio Search. Close-talking microphone required. Audio Search not available in all languages
  • 1 gigahertz (GHz) processor or higher and 512 MB RAM or higher recommended for Business Contact Manager. Business Contact Manager not available in all languages
  • 512 MB RAM or higher recommended for Outlook Instant Search. Grammar and contextual spelling in Word is not turned on unless the machine has 1 GB memory
  • Send to OneNote 2007 print driver and Internet Fax not available on 64 bit OS. Groove Folder Synchronization not available on 64 bit operating system. Office Clean-up wizard not available on 64 bit OS

Office SharePoint Server 2007 connects people, teams and knowledge. It equips workgroups to share and store information, define and implement business processes, and enables end-to-end collaboration.

If you buy software ‘off the shelf’, known as Full Packaged Product (FPP), Microsoft offers free "warranty" support to certain FPP customers through the Microsoft support hotline.

Any business looking to buy more than five licences should consider a Volume Licensing agreement. These two or three year agreements represent good value for money for business customers; there is a range of agreements available, catering for different types of organisations.