Friday, January 12, 2007
PowerPoint 2007 Add-Ins: Which Ones Work?
Microsoft plans to release PowerPoint 2007 this month. Before you upgrade, ask yourself:
"What about my favorite PowerPoint Add-Ins? How well will they work with the new version?"
PowerPoint 2007 is a major upgrade, and the status of many of your favorite PowerPoint add-in or plug-in products are all over the map. Some add-ins will involve a free upgrade, some involve paid upgrades...and some may require no upgrade at all.
Some PowerPoint add-in vendors have emailed me to say that they have tested their add-ins with the PowerPoint 2007 Beta and they work great -- so they expect that their add-ins will work with the "real deal". Other vendors have written that they will need to revise their plug-ins and offer a new release to ensure 2007 compatibility. Other vendors are still more cautious -- they are waiting to have an official non-Beta PowerPoint 2007 release until they publicly admit that their products will work with Microsoft's latest PowerPoint version.
In other words, some vendors feel they are ready right now, others need some time to test.
My advice to PowerPoint users? Before you upgrade to PowerPoint 2007, do an add-in inventory. If you frequently use an "I cannot live without it" PowerPoint add-in, check with the vendor to make sure your add-in will be compatible. Most add-in vendors post upgrade and compatibility information on their sites. You might want to hold off on a PowerPoint 2007 upgrade until your "must have" add-in is ready.
My advice to PowerPoint add-in vendors? Keep your customers and prospects in the loop. Let us know when/if you plan to have your product work with 2007. Update your sites today to keep us informed. Press releases are nice -- blog posts outlining your intentions are terrific, too. And I have to tell ya...the sites that say "compatible with PowerPoint 97 and newer" aren't doing much to raise my comfort level. Be a tad more specific, please!
That said, if you are an add-in or plug-in vendor, feel free to comment below and tell us where your product stands with regard to PowerPoint 2007. You can also link to your site or add-in download page. Thanks! ¶ 1/12/2007 12:05:00 PM
Microsoft plans to release PowerPoint 2007 this month. Before you upgrade, ask yourself:
"What about my favorite PowerPoint Add-Ins? How well will they work with the new version?"
PowerPoint 2007 is a major upgrade, and the status of many of your favorite PowerPoint add-in or plug-in products are all over the map. Some add-ins will involve a free upgrade, some involve paid upgrades...and some may require no upgrade at all.
Some PowerPoint add-in vendors have emailed me to say that they have tested their add-ins with the PowerPoint 2007 Beta and they work great -- so they expect that their add-ins will work with the "real deal". Other vendors have written that they will need to revise their plug-ins and offer a new release to ensure 2007 compatibility. Other vendors are still more cautious -- they are waiting to have an official non-Beta PowerPoint 2007 release until they publicly admit that their products will work with Microsoft's latest PowerPoint version.
In other words, some vendors feel they are ready right now, others need some time to test.
My advice to PowerPoint users? Before you upgrade to PowerPoint 2007, do an add-in inventory. If you frequently use an "I cannot live without it" PowerPoint add-in, check with the vendor to make sure your add-in will be compatible. Most add-in vendors post upgrade and compatibility information on their sites. You might want to hold off on a PowerPoint 2007 upgrade until your "must have" add-in is ready.
My advice to PowerPoint add-in vendors? Keep your customers and prospects in the loop. Let us know when/if you plan to have your product work with 2007. Update your sites today to keep us informed. Press releases are nice -- blog posts outlining your intentions are terrific, too. And I have to tell ya...the sites that say "compatible with PowerPoint 97 and newer" aren't doing much to raise my comfort level. Be a tad more specific, please!
That said, if you are an add-in or plug-in vendor, feel free to comment below and tell us where your product stands with regard to PowerPoint 2007. You can also link to your site or add-in download page. Thanks! ¶ 1/12/2007 12:05:00 PM
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Hi Laura, thanks for this is very pertinent topic and opportunity to communicate with our customers!
Yesterday we released an update with technical fixes to make our add-in, Perspector, compatible with PowerPoint 2007. Current Version 3 users using 2007 can update from our download web page free of charge, but if someone is not using 2007, I’d recommend them to wait for an update that adds new features to Perspector before updating.
Of course, people who want to use the free trial of Perspector for the first time will be downloading the new version, release number 3.0.4.
Steve Hards
Director of Sales and Marketing
www.perspector.com
(Perspector enables presenters to create and manipulate shapes, in PowerPoint, in a three dimensional space.)
Yesterday we released an update with technical fixes to make our add-in, Perspector, compatible with PowerPoint 2007. Current Version 3 users using 2007 can update from our download web page free of charge, but if someone is not using 2007, I’d recommend them to wait for an update that adds new features to Perspector before updating.
Of course, people who want to use the free trial of Perspector for the first time will be downloading the new version, release number 3.0.4.
Steve Hards
Director of Sales and Marketing
www.perspector.com
(Perspector enables presenters to create and manipulate shapes, in PowerPoint, in a three dimensional space.)
Hi Laura,
Microsoft expects to release Office 2007 (which includes PowerPoint 2007) at the end of January 2007. At Impatica, we've looked at the Beta version of PowerPoint 2007, and there are some exciting, major changes with the interface, as well as a brand new file format. But until Microsoft provides a stable release of this new product, the Impatica product requirements will not change. We will continue to support PowerPoint 97, 2000, PowerPoint 2002 (XP), PowerPoint 2003 or PowerPoint X (Mac OS X). We expect to fully support PowerPoint 2007 by Summer 2007.
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Microsoft expects to release Office 2007 (which includes PowerPoint 2007) at the end of January 2007. At Impatica, we've looked at the Beta version of PowerPoint 2007, and there are some exciting, major changes with the interface, as well as a brand new file format. But until Microsoft provides a stable release of this new product, the Impatica product requirements will not change. We will continue to support PowerPoint 97, 2000, PowerPoint 2002 (XP), PowerPoint 2003 or PowerPoint X (Mac OS X). We expect to fully support PowerPoint 2007 by Summer 2007.
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