[mso] Fwd: office 2003
- From: John82654@xxxxxxx
- To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2008 14:33:12 EST
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From: linda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: John82654@xxxxxxx
Sent: 3/5/2008 8:08:13 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: RE: office 2003
From: John82654@xxxxxxx [mailto:John82654@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 11:58 PM
To: dian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; linda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: office 2003
Office 2003 SP3 poses difficulties for macros
You probably know by now that service packs are not my favorite kind of fix.
Today (Feb. 28), one of my least favorites is beginning to be automatically
distributed via Microsoft Update: MS Office 2003 SP3.
Microsoft and Apple state that their service packs are more widely tested
than their security patches, but I think SPs have at least as many problems.
What's worse, a security patch or a service pack?
In my view, Microsoft Office service packs are much worse because of one
major issue: you can't uninstall them easily. The only way to roll back an
Office service pack that's disrupted your system is to uninstall the Office
suite
totally and then reinstall it.
That poor design has made a mess for several firms that have contacted me.
They report that their custom macros, which worked perfectly before Office
2003 SP3 was deployed, no longer work after that service pack is installed.
Take my advice. When you're dealing with MS Office service packs, be sure
you have original media before installing, just in case you need to roll
Office
back to a previous version. Next, stage your rollout. Do this by choosing
one person to get the service pack. Let that guinea pig test your outfit's
macros and functions before you consider a wider deployment.
If your macros are derailed by an Office service pack, and if you have a
Microsoft support representative, alert him or her to your issue and why it's
keeping you from deploying SP3. If you don't have a Microsoft support
contract,
you can try posting a question in one of the _Office newsgroups_
(http://windowssecrets.com/links/bns0pdq7o1yvd/e4a391h/?url=www.microsoft.com/office/comm
unity/en-us/FlyoutOverview.mspx) , which may be able to help.
More information, including a list of several Knowledge Base articles about
problems with Office 2003 SP3, is provided by the _Microsoft Update blog_
(http://windowssecrets.com/links/bns0pdq7o1yvd/166232h/?url=blogs.technet.com/mu/
archive/2008/02/28/reminder-office-2003-sp3-automatic-distribution-begins-toda
y.aspx) . The MU team points out that the automatic distribution process is
spread out across several days. Not everyone will see SP3 offered to them on
Feb. 28.
Bottom line: test the Office service pack before you deploy it on your
systems. You can obtain SP3 from the Microsoft _Download Center_
(http://windowssecrets.com/links/bns0pdq7o1yvd/5be647h/?url=www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.
aspx?FamilyId=E25B7049-3E13-433B-B9D2-5E3C1132F206&displaylang=en) , if you
want to beat the rush before it arrives automatically on your systems (and a
lot of other people's) in the near future.
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