Rodent Regatta

Today I decided to live dangerously. With a solid backup of my system (I said wild – not crazy), I installed the Office 2003 – Beta 2 CD and allowed it to replace and delete my licensed copy of Office XP Professional. The beta software is time-bombed to expire on November 30, 2003.

I undertook this operation after watching a Microsoft employee work with his own production copy of the beta version. In other words, he had made the decision to put beta 2 into production use on his personal laptop. I liked what I saw.

So, today, with a 742MB outlook.pst file and an 85MB archive.pst file, I gambled and won. I’m crazy about some of the simplest and most cosmetic features of Outlook 2003. They are time-savers in several ways. I’m also impressed with how rock solid this particular beta product is.

This isn’t an approach I’d advise, but it makes me believe there is a fine product coming in the form of Office 2003. Go ahead – live dangerously!