New Insights into Old Office and New Windows 10

[BonzaiDuck]

Somewhere in these forums, possibly under Operating Systems but maybe here, I noted that I'd been using a valid license and install disc in my library for Office 2003. I had mentioned that it had seemed through some three iterations with new Windows versions from XP to Win 7, the OS would never fail to install even old versions of Microsoft's software.

And I can say that my Office 2003 installed successfully, without incident, on my Windows 10 configurations of a laptop and a gaming desktop.

But now, I've encountered a set of Windows Update messages under Windows 10 which show a failure to install service pack 3, failure to install an update for Outlook, and one or two other Office 2003 updates which failed. Now -- there were some four downloads I made to circumvent Windows 10 Update, and I've only tried the Service Pack. It might be the case that one of those other updates needs to be installed first, but I'll admit at this point that I'm naïve to everything but possibilities in the sieve of possibilities based on an early 1990s state of programming experience.

So I tentatively conclude that SP3 and three other update packages for Office 2003 won't install under Windows 10. The message boxes are less ambiguous than the initial list of failures I saw in the WU dialog.

But Office 2003 hasn't failed in any regard in this status of being un-updateable. If I hadn't looked at the WU page under "settings"->"updates and security," I wouldn't have noticed.

So I guess the best option would be to plan on obtaining either the subscription version of Office, or a standalone -- maybe as dated as 2010. The 2010 version is a seven-year advantage over 2003 -- for sure. And it doesn't throw up these update problems.

In the meantime, if Office 2003 continues to be reliable under Windows 10, should I be in a hurry?

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Have you tried manually downloading and installing SP3? I still think the standalone offline version is available over at MS.

So I guess the best option would be to plan on obtaining either the subscription version of Office, or a standalone -- maybe as dated as 2010. The 2010 version is a seven-year advantage over 2003 -- for sure. And it doesn't throw up these update problems.

In the meantime, if Office 2003 continues to be reliable under Windows 10, should I be in a hurry?

Personally I'm still on 2010, and I see absolutely no reason to update for what I'm using it for. If everything continues to work, it'll be something like 2025 before I'm upgrading...

 

[Chiefcrowe]

If i were you, I'd either get the full version of 2016 since it will be supported for longer, or if you want to go that route - Office 365 subscription.

 

[TheGardener]

I don't know your requirements of templates or old documents that you keep updated. But consider migrating to LibreOffice.

 

[bruceb]

I would agree try to download the Office 2003 Service Pack 3 seperately and install it. Also be aware that some email accounts, like Gmail, do not like the older versions of Outlook (say from Office XP) as Gmail thinks they are not secure. Not sure about Office 2003 .. When it comes to Office, personally I stick with the older one that I already have. I do not have a need for some of the newer features, but some businesses might. I only use it for things like Excel / Word and Powerpoint, as well as the Address Book in Outlook. Some like to use Outlook for email, but for me the web interface is fine. My desktop runs Office XP .. My laptop came with Office 2010 and I own legitimate copies of Office 2007 Ultimate and Office 2016 Professional

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I would agree try to download the Office 2003 Service Pack 3 seperately and install it. Also be aware that some email accounts, like Gmail, do not like the older versions of Outlook (say from Office XP) as Gmail thinks they are not secure. Not sure about Office 2003 .. When it comes to Office, personally I stick with the older one that I already have. I do not have a need for some of the newer features, but some businesses might. I only use it for things like Excel / Word and Powerpoint, as well as the Address Book in Outlook. Some like to use Outlook for email, but for me the web interface is fine. My desktop runs Office XP .. My laptop came with Office 2010 and I own legitimate copies of Office 2007 Ultimate and Office 2016 Professional

That seems closer to my own philosophy. If this were the old days -- if I were working for a living -- I wouldn't plan and scrutinize every purchase. On the other hand, if I'd done that in the old days, I'd have a bigger bank account today.

The alternative suggestions are also options to consider. Libre Office, Corel Office -- several.

But I've become either spoiled or atrophied in my habit of using Outlook. I depend on the contact management feature, the "notes" feature, the calendar feature. I could probably buy it separately and then use Corel for word-processing, but I'd be less happy with the Corel spreadsheet program.

I will attempt to install those updates again. Ultimately, it's about Windows 10, though. Office 2003 continues to work flawlessly -- updates and all -- with Win7. And I'm not really in a big hurry to start doing all my work under Windows 10. I'll just keep booting into it every couple days to keep the updates coming -- until I finally cut the umbilical to win 7.

 

[Mushkins]

Office 2003 was End of Life back in 2009, and extended support was cut in 4/8/2014. I'm not surprised you're having issues installing updates for it on Windows 10.

It's time to move on, Office 2003 doesn't even fully support the new office filetypes that have been around since 2007, not to mention its full of unpatched security vulnerabilities.

 

[bruceb]

Yes, it and Office XP are technically End Of Life. But if you do not use Outlook it will work fine as long as you have not need for .docx or .xlsx type file formats. For most home users the old formats work just fine.

 

[escrow4]

I've said it before, buy Office 365. Its $119 here local per year and for that you get all the Office goodness constantly updated for 5 PCs. $2.50 (a touch less actually) a week. I can be really tight with the hundreds, but even I can see that is well worth it if you want new Office.

 

[Mushkins]

Yes, it and Office XP are technically End Of Life. But if you do not use Outlook it will work fine as long as you have not need for .docx or .xlsx type file formats. For most home users the old formats work just fine.

But this entire thread is about the fact that it does not work fine. There is no guarantee this software will work anymore, whether you're running Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, or 10 you are at risk. Any software can conflict with it, even a recent windows update, and it will not be fixed.

It's time to upgrade.

 

[bruceb]

Mine works just fine on XP Pro with SP3 and all other updates. It also has the Office compatability pack installed, so it can work with .docx and .xlsx files if I need to.