Just my observations.....I am retired and use MS Office for my personal use only after many years in the business world. I have been using the 2003 version for many years and have been very happy with it. I could do any and everything I wanted to without any thought. I had to purchase a new computer that came with Windows 7 and find that the 2003 version of MS Office is not compatible and I am FORCED to upgrade to 2010. It is definitely different and has a learning curve to it. Now I have to spend a lot of time finding how to do what I used to do with no thought. I wish I didn't HAVE to but the "powers that be" (Microsoft) do not allow you to have a choice, they force you to change whether you want to or not, whether you NEED to or not. Point being, whether you want to or not, eventually you are going to HAVE to upgrade. Your only decision is: now or later.
Good luck!

I was using MS Pro 2000 forever, until this past summer. My DH got a full version of 2010 from work (legal) and I was hesitant to install it b/c of the learning curve and all my business files were in 2000. I wasn't sure if there would be issues converting them. There wasn't. I'm happy that I installed 2010 and am really enjoying all that it offers (which is SOOOOOO much more than 2000). Once you get the hang of where to look for things, it will come easy, like anything else. I say, go for it, especially since it's free, and like murphy said, you will have to upgrade sooner or later and the learning curve will be there whenever you do.

OK, thanks for the reassurance. I'll bite the bullet today. I'm not worried so much about the learning curve, as I am about uninstalling (do I need to?) and reinstalling a new program on a laptop that's working perfectly. Always makes me twitchy!

Regards,
Shax

Yes, you will need to uninstall MS Office 2007 before you can install MS Office 2010. Just curious though, what version of MS Office 2007 are you uninstalling, and what version of MS Office 2010 will you be installing?

Currently Microsoft - Office Professional Plus 2007.

Won't know 2010 version until I get the disc!

Does it matter?

Yes it matters Shax, your 2007 is the full suite. As your 2010 version is coming from an office environment it too is almost certainly the full suite. You would not want the Home and student version which is a stripped down version.

I used the free version which microsoft made available lately - Starter Edition, then made a 5 or 600mb portable that I cam use simply when word or excel is needed, on odd occasion for me.