There are a number of reasons for this upgrade including our need to comply with our Microsoft software license agreement, the use of Office 2007 based textbooks and most importantly the desire to offer students training in the latest software available.

For all of our courses that teach Office including BCA120 and ECA 122 (but excluding Desktop Publisher and Front Page which have not changed versions), a trial demo CD of Office 2007 is bundled with the textbooks for these courses. The demo CD is good for 180 days. Students taking these courses will not have to purchase Office 2007 for their home PC as they can use the demo software for these courses.

Students taking courses that do not teach Office but use one or more of the Office applications for things such as homework should follow directions from their instructor. The open labs at the College are available for students needing access to Office 2007.

Microsoft has provided tools to assist Office 2003 users working with files created with Office 2007. The file formats between the old Office 2003 version and the new Office 2007 version are different. A PC running Office 2003 cannot directly read a file created in Office 2007. Microsoft has made available special file viewers and compatibility packs that enable Office 2003 users to access Office 2007 files. Please visit the student computing Web site for more information.

The College bookstore has the Microsoft Office Professional 2007 software for sale to students of the College at the academically discounted price of $199.95.