Now with all of these new features, interacting with the Office Suites is a pleasure. It really works well on three levels. The first is as you have been able to in the past from within the product itself, but now each product is much more mature than ever and now have many, many more capabilities. Second is by directly integrating with the Open Office XML files to manipulate data, and finally is through the VSTO interface for much more control.
If you develop business solutions using Visual Studio and especially Visual Studio 2008, then you really need to explore the use of Office 2007: Professional Edition to not only add value to your products, but to reduce development time and energy. I highly recommend Office 2007: Professional Edition for development use.
Article comments
1 - Edwin Bartow
Just wanted to mention one other option for anybody struggling with the new Ribbon interface. Office 20007 is a great product! ToolbarToggle is an inexpensive add-in utility which brings back the Office 2003 Toolbars and Menus into Office 2007. ToolbarToggle can be used with the Ribbon or replace the Ribbon - as well as they support full customization with Macros. Would love to get your feedback when you have a chance.