ANG set to upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007 Published Jan. 11, 2009 By ANG/A6 SALT LAKE CITY -- As of January 23, all Utah Air National Guard computer users will experience changes in their day-to-day computer use as the ANG network transitions to the new Microsoft Office 2007. Every computer will be affected, and those who have not made the appropriate preparations run the risk of losing important information. "There may be a little bit of a learning curve up front, but in the long run, the added security and functionality will far outweigh the time it takes to learn the new software," said Maj. Kevin Tobias, 151st Communications Flight commander. "In addition to the upgrade, we will finally get a true 'Global Access List (GAL)' with access to big Air Force and Army email addresses and contact information. While this change will affect every computer user in the Air National Guard, it will not affect every user at the same time. There are numerous ANG units participating in the Exchange 2007 pilot program. The biggest change for users will be in the appearance of the Microsoft Office suite of products. Office 2007 makes some major changes from the older versions of MS Office. Before the changes were made, Microsoft studied thousands of Office users and adapted Office 2007 to their usage patterns. One of the changes Airmen can expect to encounter when opening their new Office 2007 email is that their account will be empty. While the old email address will still receive mail, all of their previously saved messages will not automatically appear. Every Airmen's new email address will have the following format: firstname.lastname@ang.af.mil. In order to retrieve older emails, the user will need to call their client support administrator (CSA) or the Communications Flight Help Desk. While most of the interface changes are intuitive, ANG/A6 is mounting an aggressive information campaign to ensure that users are aware of and prepared for the upcoming changes. This campaign will include a series of informational publications as well as a Warrior Broadcast aimed at every computer user in the Air National Guard. This information will be distributed to the end user in a variety of ways including the following: · Targeted emails to every user · Chain of Command information and briefings · Warrior Broadcast's · Information and document sharing via the AF Portal For additional training and information, visit https://angutah.utsalt.ang.af.mil.