RKCS Learning Solutions

According to the Associated Press, it’s just about time for the release of Microsoft Office 2010. For some, this may not be a big deal. After all, it’s just Bill Gates & company putting out the latest piece of overpriced software that we obviously can’t do without because it’s bundled somehow in every Windows PC. Right? Well…..exactly. That’s why its a big deal. As an instructional designer or e-learning designer (or ‘elearning’, depending on who is arguing), whether I like the suite or not is irrelevant. Sure, you can storyboard in OpenOffice or pretty much any word processing software. But if you are working with a team and uploading to a centralized location, they are going to ask for a specific format, usually .doc. Additionally, PowerPoint is a huge basis of many rapid e-learning authoring tools such as Articulate Presenter. While I am sure Articulate will make sure that they are able to effectively interface with the new version of Powerpoint, there are still features that I am sure will be added that I will either have to watch out for or learn to incorporate. For some, the addition of motion paths and SmartArt in Office 2007 was a surprise and took some getting used to. The newer document extension, docx, is still an issue for some because some companies have still not upgrade to Office 2007 and therefore exchange of documents that use this extension is impossible. Will Microsoft force us to go towards the .docx or will they return to familiar .doc?

In this new version, Microsoft is adding web version of its apps. If you have used Google docs, then this is a step that Microsoft had to make in order to take advantage of the collaboration/networking market. In a slick move, they are also making this web version free to consumers. Of course, this ‘free’ version is supported by advertising. I am not sure how intrusive that will be but, I am sure there will be something that is intended to gently nudge the consumer toward a purchase.

In the meantime, storyboarding is storyboarding and slides continue to be slides (at least so my kids tell me). What are some of the issues that you have faced with respect to the different versions of Microsoft Office or any other Office suites? What issues can you deal with? What new issues are you expecting to face?