There are a few versions of Microsoft Office 2000.
I think in total Microsoft Office 2000 Standard, Professional, and Premium as well as Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business. The version can make a difference - although update / upgrade service is available in all versions, the process can be a bit drawn out and a bit hit and miss at times, depending on circumstances of install or running state or software environment, etc. Generally, clean install and then straight on to update via Microsoft download center will return a good outcome where there should be no increased risks. Although I do prefer to go custom install and exclude the loading of Outlook and associated modules (this can also be done through - for example in XP - Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel ->Add/Remove Windows components).
Outlook modules can be a problem I have found, so I stick to my own email providers (standalone email service).
I have Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business (2 disk set) which I no longer use as it is too big and chunky. If this is your Office 2000 then I would say passable, but perhaps a bit less stable, a bit too sprawling to be covered satisfactorily by the update service. I recall Small Business to be a bit hit and miss and a bit more work to do in updates procedure. And it can come without Powerpoint.
I also have 2000 premium (single disk) which I liked, and even preferred over 2003 and 2007, especially when I wanted to work quickly and randomly - particularly when I wanted to pop in and out of Word and Excel. Very very snappy compared to later releases. I found good update outcomes with Premium (=SP3) - returned stable and complete working platform, and I couldn’t see any added security risks. Much the same performance as XP Office 2002, which is still a very good desktop option (see screenshots below - shows XP Office updates in installed programs in Control Panel on this computer). For myself, I didn’t find recent Office desktop 2007 (and including Enterprise and the like) suitable or even necessary for my use. But that’s just me.
I am guessing Offices 2000 Standard and Professional to be very similar to 2000 Premium. So if any of these 3 is your 2000 program, Northeast, I would say go right ahead. Clean install, choose custom as preference and exclude Outlook (unless you wish not to), and let Microsoft download center locate yr updates, or prompt it to find them if you need to. I doubt that you will need to spend any more $$ as long as yr Office program is good.
Edit - this post has been edited. BTW, updates to Outlook have come as part of package but no real bother, albeit I will look to remove them now (anyway).
