| ... share your presentations with users who either do not have PowerPoint or who are not upgrading? | ... do not want to upgrade. There is no new viewer at this time. Indications are that there might be one later, but this is still the largest failing in the PowerPoint 2002 program, just as it was in PowerPoint 2000. |
| ... share your presentations over the web? | ... may want to upgrade. PowerPoint 2002 creates XML tags as well as HTML tags. Microsoft claims these tags will be more readable for all users. However, this has not proven to always be the case, according to several members of the PowerPoint newsgroup. |
| ... you use organizational charts and other diagrams? | ... want to upgrade. There is a new diagramming tool in the Office XP suite. It allows easy building and customization of diagrams of many styles. |
| ... you wish you could improve the animations and effects in your presentations? | ... want to upgrade. PowerPoint 2002 has much better animation for both slide transitions and elements. Clips and pictures can be rotated natively in PowerPoint 2002 with very nice results. Further, graphics can be animated along motion paths. New and improved slide transitions appear to have been added. Animation and transition effects can be previewed in all modes, not just in Slide Show mode. |
| ... you wish you could put more than one master in a presentation? | ... want to upgrade. Powerpoint2002 allows either single or multiple masters in every presentation. The interface for changing masters has been improved., as has the viewing capabilities. |
| ... you create presentations that others work on or review? | ... want to upgrade. Office XP has improved the collaboration and review features. The send for review option has been simplified. When combined with the new server mechanisms, the sharing of files becomes almost trivial. |
| ... you wish you could see how your handouts look before you print them? | ... want to upgrade. Microsoft has finally added a print preview option to the handout master. While sending your presentation to Word still offers more functionality and flexibility, this new option lets you see what your handouts look like before you print them. |
| ... you need the features of the other Office XP products? | ... want to upgrade. Sharing information between applications works much smoother and easier. Integration of information is cleaner. There is a 24 spot internal clipboard in Office XP, compared with the 12 spot one in Office 2000. And, it seems that the Excel spreadsheet copies work much cleaner and smoother. |
| ... have US$87 for the PowerPoint 2002 upgrade or US$230 to US$450 for one of the Office XP upgrades (depending on what other products you need.) | ... want to upgrade PowerPoint and / or Office. You need to decide if the cost is worth the benefits. |
