Microsoft Office Update

Learn how to maintain and update your Microsoft Office software.

The days of being able to install a piece of software and let it sit unchanged for years are long gone.

Such software vendors as Microsoft continually release new software updates that warrant your attention.

Sometimes these interim updates fix documented bugs. Other times these updates improve performance, repair security vulnerabilities or add new features.

Free Microsoft Office Updates – Really!

Many small businesses are not aware that Microsoft frequently issues free interim updates to its Microsoft Office family of products, in between major product version upgrades.

So if you have Microsoft Office 97 or Microsoft Office 2000 running on your PC and it was purchased from a retail store, or bundled with a new PC purchase, there’s an excellent chance that your software is out of date.

Does this mean you need to spend money to upgrade to Microsoft Office XP to get current? Absolutely not!

Microsoft Office Product Updates Web Site

Microsoft issues free minor updates to its Microsoft Office products monthly, even sometimes weekly.

How can you find out about these updates and get them incorporated into your installation of Microsoft Office?

Point your Web browser to the Microsoft Office Product Updates at office.microsoft.com/ProductUpdates/ (Figure 5-1).

When you first reach the Microsoft Office Product Updates Web page, a detection engine wizard will scan your system for installed Microsoft Office products and recommend various critical updates, based on its findings.

Microsoft Office Download Center Web Site

Besides the Microsoft Office Product Updates, the Microsoft Office Download Center (Figure 5-2) at office.microsoft.com/Downloads/ also can be quite useful for maintaining Microsoft Office.

Figure 5-1

The Microsoft Office Product Updates Web site helps keep your Microsoft Office software current, without having to rely on a computer consultant.

To navigate through the Microsoft Office Download Center, first select whether you want updates to all the Microsoft Office suites, or updates for just a specific suite component, such as Microsoft Word.

On the Version drop-down list, you can choose either All Versions, 97/98, 2000 or 2002/XP.

In the example in Figure 5-2, I selected Updates, Add-ins and Extras, and Converters and Viewers for Microsoft Word 2000. When I click the Update List button, the Microsoft Office Download Center displays a list of available downloads for my indicated criteria. Note that the query results are displayed in descending date order, with the most current downloads listed first.

Figure 5-2

You can pick up additional software updates and add-ins for Microsoft Office at the Microsoft Office Download Center.

Microsoft Office Updates Action Items

Who installs updates to Microsoft Office: users, an internal guru or a computer consultant?

How often are free maintenance updates to Microsoft Office installed?

How do you find out about these free updates?

How do you locate, download and install updates to Microsoft Office?

 

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