Given the popularity of Microsoft’s Office suite, we can expect a huge interest in each new version. Office 2007 is certainly no different.

It didn’t take long for a review to pop up either. It was announced just today that Microsoft Office 2007 was RTM(Released To Manufacturers), and PC Magazine wasted absolutely no time in getting their review up. They looked at the suite as a whole, and then at each product individually. They certainly were impressed with the latest release of Office, giving it an Editor’s Choice.

One of the features that seemed to impress the reviewer, Edward Mendelson, the most was the new Ribbon interface for office. The Ribbon is essentially a series of tabs which have attached the most commonly used tools regarding specific tasks.

Another feature that was mentioned was a tool for Office 2003 users. It is a converter for Microsoft’s new Open XML format. It allows up to date Office 2003 users to take advantage of this new format. Apparently users of versions older than Office 2003 are out of luck[*See Correction Below]. This is related to the news as reported here concerning the ability to share files between Microsoft’s Office and other office suites, such as OpenOffice.org. I will certainly be keeping my eye on any developments in this area.

The news looks good for users of Microsoft’s Office. It appears to be a good release, as the applications themselves seem to continue to be highly regarded. The only real question being does it make financial sense for users to upgrade? Or, with the impending release of converters between Microsoft Office and free office suites, does it make any sense to stick with Microsoft?

Correction: I erroneously mentioned that users of Microsoft Office prior to version 2003 might be out of luck when it comes to using the converter from Microsoft. Jonathan Bailor was kind enough to point out some good news, there are more options available for Microsoft customers. Please see the comment for further details.

Thanks to Jonathan Bailor