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Thread ID: 83259 2007-09-25 12:02:00 Office 2003, SP3 - advice is NOT to install johcar (6283) Press F1
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594930 2007-09-25 12:02:00 I subscribe to Office Watch, a newsletter that covers issues and events relating to M$ Office.

The current newsletter says this about SP3:


1. DON'T INSTALL THE OFFICE 2003 SERVICE PACK See this article online at http://news.office-watch.com?555

Microsoft has released a new Service Pack for Office 2003 - if you believe their blurb the update is just a bundle of part updates plus some new security fixes.

Behind that bland description are some real problems for Office 2003 users. In the name of 'security' some features of Office 2003 are disabled upon installing Service Pack 3 - a cheap shortcut by Microsoft to save themselves the bother of making a real fix. Some of them might not trouble you but others could be an unexpected 'surprise'.

So Office Watch is back to its old job of digging into an Office service pack to see what's going on. As has happened too many times before, the documentation is limited, confusing and, at times, contradictory.

If you use the Microsoft Update service or have Windows Vista, then you'll be offered SP3 as a new update without any direct warning of the downside.

We strongly recommend you do NOT install Office 2003 Service Pack 3 - at least not yet. Peter is working deciphering the glyphs of Microsoft documentation and will report in a future Office Watch.

In the meantime, just ignore any prompts to install Office 2003 Service Pack 3 - if you have Service Pack 2 plus later security patches then waiting a week or two should not be a major problem.
johcar (6283)
594931 2007-09-25 19:37:00 Thanks johcar, I've downed it but not installed yet. Can you post back with more info when they come up with more.Feel like giving up with Office updates. Neil McC (178)
594932 2007-09-25 20:05:00 Will do - but you can subscribe yourself at www dot office-watch dot com johcar (6283)
594933 2007-09-25 21:37:00 I'll Vouch for that comment / article.

I tried to install it a short while back, and then had to spend 3 days trying to get Outlook and Word to stop Crashing / locking up.

Now interestingly enough I even though it tried to install automatically the other day it wont install.

It Broke it's self :o :lol:
wainuitech (129)
594934 2007-09-25 22:56:00 On a sort of related topic...

groups.google.com


Simply when you try to multiply 850 by 77.1 excel display the result to be
100000 !!! Should be 65535 apparently
bob_doe_nz (92)
594935 2007-09-26 01:56:00 On a sort of related topic...

groups.google.com

Should be 65535 apparently

This is an Excel 2007 issue only.

Excel 2003 delivers the correct answer...
johcar (6283)
594936 2007-09-26 02:52:00 It Broke it's self :o :lol:

Simply when you try to multiply 850 by 77.1 excel display the result to be
100000 !!!
Nope, tried it. It calculated just fine.


Why do people do these updates???!!
If its not broken, then don't fix it.
Regardless of what MS says.
pctek (84)
594937 2007-09-26 02:59:00 On a sort of related topic...

groups.google.com

Should be 65535 apparently

Its the same for Mac Office, I read it earlier today. Inept programming.
winmacguy (3367)
594938 2007-09-26 04:19:00 Its the same for Mac Office, I read it earlier today. Inept programming.

Working properly here with 11.3.7!
Nermal (7077)
594939 2007-09-26 04:21:00 Working properly here with 11.3.7!

I'm using iWork 08 demo at this stage with no problems. Prior to that it was OpenOffice.
winmacguy (3367)
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