Office 2007 deployment made complicated. Why?

[Robert R Kircher, Jr.]

Can someone please enlighten me as to why MS has changed the deployment
methods with 2007? What was so wrong with MSI and MST files? I understand
the central install and update concept and the multi language/core component
concepts but now to deploy using group policies I have to manual edit some
XML file instead of using the customization tool to create a simple MST.
I'm a programmer and I don't want to mess around with some cryptic XML file
which is limited to begin with.

Group Policy deployment with MSI and MST files was extremely eloquent and
easy to configure. It seems we've now taken a huge step backwards into
writing script or batch files all over again.

Please some one educate me as to why MS has made this change. Was it so
hard to have the new customization tool create MST files?


I need to deploy Office in a very specific way with certain components and
icons in specific places set by default for all users, and I'll be damned if
I'm going to go out to every PC in my network just to kick off a setup.exe
so it can read the MSP file to do it all because MS broke the GP deployment.
Write a log on script you say? I don't have time to mess with that; write,
test, debug, repeat. I have important work to do and more then one network
and user set to manage. Have the user run the setup at their whim? LOL...
It will never happen and I'll spend more time on the phone trying to talk
people though it then it's worth.

I know I might be coming late to the 2007 party but I can't believe I'm the
only one who's just a tad miffed about this.
</RANT>

Now that I got that off my chest......

If anyone has any tips or advice on making this deployment less painful I'd
be greatly appetitive if you could share.

Thanks
--

Rob

Don't ever argue with an idiot....
They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Read for yourself:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/desktop/default.aspx


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Robert R Kircher, Jr. asked:

| Can someone please enlighten me as to why MS has changed the
| deployment methods with 2007? What was so wrong with MSI and MST
| files? I understand the central install and update concept and the
| multi language/core component concepts but now to deploy using group
| policies I have to manual edit some XML file instead of using the
| customization tool to create a simple MST. I'm a programmer and I
| don't want to mess around with some cryptic XML file which is limited
| to begin with.
|
| Group Policy deployment with MSI and MST files was extremely eloquent
| and easy to configure. It seems we've now taken a huge step
| backwards into writing script or batch files all over again.
|
| Please some one educate me as to why MS has made this change. Was
| it so hard to have the new customization tool create MST files?
|
|
| I need to deploy Office in a very specific way with certain
| components and icons in specific places set by default for all users,
| and I'll be damned if I'm going to go out to every PC in my network
| just to kick off a setup.exe so it can read the MSP file to do it all
| because MS broke the GP deployment. Write a log on script you say? I
| don't have time to mess with that; write, test, debug, repeat. I
| have important work to do and more then one network and user set to
| manage. Have the user run the setup at their whim? LOL... It will
| never happen and I'll spend more time on the phone trying to talk
| people though it then it's worth.
|
| I know I might be coming late to the 2007 party but I can't believe
| I'm the only one who's just a tad miffed about this.
| </RANT>
|
| Now that I got that off my chest......
|
| If anyone has any tips or advice on making this deployment less
| painful I'd be greatly appetitive if you could share.
|
| Thanks

 

[Robert R Kircher, Jr.]

Read for yourself:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/desktop/default.aspx

Thanks you, I have read just about all of that.

As a mater of fact, I've spent the last two days working out a startup
script and testing it in my environment. I've wasted just about two weeks
worth of my time investigating the entire mess. I posted my first question
on this forum, which went unanswered, well over a month ago, yet I still
haven't found the answer to my first and most basic question.

WHY, has MS changes something that worked so well and that so many small
time operations depend on?

Add to that my second question: How do I Publish through GP and still keep
all my customizations created in my MSP file? Publish mind you. I need
Office published and made available based on the users NOT the machine.


Understand, I have many separate installations (clients) under my management
all of whom depend very heavily on GP/MSI/MST installations. None of whom
can or will afford SMS and a server to run it. GP/MSI/MST deployment is the
perfect solution. Its beyond me why MS would define a standard with one
version and then support that standard in the next version with at best a
kluged workaround. Its no wonder MS has such a bad reputation in the
IT/Development community. These decisions COST MONEY; lots of money to the
small time operators which can't just absorbed the cost like larger clients.

So I apologies if I'm just a bit miffed over this but I know for a fact I'm
not alone. I suspect from your short and seemingly snotty reply, that you
MVPs are quite tired of fielding questions on the subject as well; mostly
because their aren't any good responses to the complaints. Just realize
that changes like this cost money. Money that many don't have making it all
that much harder for operators like me to actually sell my clients on
upgrading. The MS development folks and even you MVPs and need to
understand that Accounting firms, for example, don't give a damn about how
cool and flexible XML and fancy scripts files are, they just want Excel on
their desktop and to get there as cheaply as possible. If it's going to
cost them extra money because of some change that serves no benefit to them
they just won't upgrade. Its really as simple as that. I have one client
right now, a 50 seat installation, who will not upgrade based solely on the
increased cost of deployment and because of the operational changes forced
by that deployment.

--

Rob

Don't ever argue with an idiot....
They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience

 

[Ian Robert]

Robert,

I ask myself the very same question, I've been experiementing with Office
2007 deployment (unsuccessfully) and just wonder "why...oh why!!!"

I posted a question here today and someone replied most unhelpfully saying I
need to contact "My IT company" as I am using "Enterprise" version and things
seem to be moving away from the "technical" in this forum to the "legal".

I think that maybe one reason why microsoft has moved away from the "per
user" install for office 2007 is that most new machine now come "office
ready" - so unless you are a big company with a big IT budget and big license
agreements, you won't need to deploy office because all your newly purchased
machines will come with a version of office on them (set by your purchasing
of MLKs).

Anyway there's my humble opinion.

Ian

 

[fdfbuilds]

Robert,

I ask myself the very same question, I've been experiementing with Office
2007 deployment (unsuccessfully) and just wonder "why...oh why!!!"

I posted a question here today and someone replied most unhelpfully saying I
need to contact "My IT company" as I am using "Enterprise" version and things
seem to be moving away from the "technical" in this forum to the "legal".

I think that maybe one reason why microsoft has moved away from the "per
user" install for office 2007 is that most new machine now come "office
ready" - so unless you are a big company with a big IT budget and big license
agreements, you won't need to deploy office because all your newly purchased
machines will come with a version of office on them (set by your purchasing
of MLKs).

Anyway there's my humble opinion.

Ian

Rob,
If you are having troubles then I see that I am completely screwed.
Upgraded office to 2007 and Excel locks up within minutes. Getting
"Data file couldn't be closed..." error in Outlook and so on. Having
issues now with ADOBE too not present prior to the upgrade...have pro
version 8.1.1.
I'm a one-man-show, no IT department and can't afford the IT
consulting services of the variety you apparently offer. So now I
uninstall and go back? I've lost now 7 days of productivity and while
MS doesn't care about that it really hurts me.

Best of luck and hope you can flush out answers.

Dave