MICROSOFT OFFICE

'Microsoft Office' is an office suite from Microsoft, which is available on the Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X operating systems. As well as the core office applications brand includes associated servers and Web-based services. Recent versions of Office are now called the "Office system" rather than the "Office suite" to reflect the fact that they include servers as well.
Office made its first appearance in 1989 on the Mac,^[1] with a version for Windows following it in 1990. It was initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications that were previously marketed and sold separately. The main selling point was that buying the bundle was substantially cheaper than buying each of the individual applications on their own. The first version of Office contained Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. Additionally, a "Pro" version of Office included Microsoft Access and Schedule Plus. Over the years the Office applications have grown substantially closer together from a technical standpoint, sharing features such as a common spell checker, OLE data integration, and the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications scripting language. Microsoft also positions Office as a development platform for line-of-business software.
The current versions are Office 2007 for Windows, launched on January 30, 2007,^[2] and Office 2004 for Mac, released May 19, 2004^[3]. Office 2007, announced on February 15, 2006^[4], was released on November 30, 2006 for businesses via the Volume License and MSDN channels. It features a radically different user interface and a new XML-based primary file format. The new Mac version, Office 2008 for Mac, is expected to be released in January 2008.^[5]

Contents

Common Office programs

Word

Excel

Outlook/Entourage

PowerPoint

Other programs included in some of the Windows versions

Other programs included in the Mac versions

Web services associated with Microsoft Office

Older programs no longer included

Support lifecycle

Server components

Editions

Cross-platform use

Versions

Versions for Microsoft Windows OS

Versions for Apple Mac OS

Add-ins

Trivia

Criticisms

See also

References

External links

Common Office programs

These programs are included in all editions of Microsoft Office 2003, except Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003. Microsoft Office Basic Edition includes Word, Excel and Outlook.

Word

Microsoft Word is a word processor and was long considered to be the main program of Office, although with the rise of electronic communication that distinction has now passed to Outlook. Word possesses a dominant market share in the word processor market. Its proprietary DOC format is considered a ''de facto'' standard, although its most recent version, Word 2007 uses a new XML-based format called .DOCX, but has the capability of saving and opening the old .DOC format. Word is also available in some editions of Microsoft Works. It is available for the Windows and Mac platforms. The first version of Word, released in the fall of 1983, was for the DOS operating system and had the distinction of introducing the mouse to a broad population. Word 1.0 could be purchased with a bundled mouse, though one was not required. The following spring Apple introduced the Mac, and Microsoft released Word for the Mac, which became the most popular Mac application and which, like all Mac apps, required the use of a mouse.
'Common extensions:' ''.doc (Word 97-2003), .docx (Word 2007), .dot''

Excel

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program. Like Microsoft Word, it possesses a dominant market share. It was originally a competitor to the dominant Lotus 1-2-3, but it eventually outsold it and became the ''de facto'' standard. It is available for the Windows and Mac platforms.

Outlook/Entourage

Microsoft Outlook, not to be confused with Outlook Express, is a personal information manager and e-mail communication software. The replacement for Windows Messaging, Microsoft Mail and Schedule+ (Plus) starting in the 1997 version of Office, it includes an e-mail client, calendar, task manager and address book. Although historically it has been offered for the Mac, the closest to an equivalent for Mac OS X is Microsoft Entourage, which offers a slightly different feature set.
'Common extensions:' ''.msg .pst (Outlook 97-2003)'', - Microsoft Outlook 2007

PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is a popular presentation program for Windows and Mac. It is used to create slideshows, composed of text, graphics, movies and other objects, which can be displayed on-screen and navigated through by the presenter or printed out on transparencies or slides. Windows Mobile 2005 (Magneto) has a version of this program. It possesses a dominant market share. Movies, videos, sounds and music, as well as wordart and autoshapes can be added to slideshows. It is available for the Windows and Mac platforms.
'Common extensions:' ''.ppt (Powerpoint 97-2003), .pptx (Powerpoint 2007), .pot''

Other programs included in some of the Windows versions

★ Microsoft Access – Database manager. For the 2003 version, included in Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003, and Microsoft Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003. '''.mdb .mdt .mda .mdw .accdb .accda'-files''

★ Microsoft InfoPath – Application that enables users to design rich XML-based forms. Included in Microsoft Office Professional, and Microsoft Office Enterprise Edition 2003. '''.xml'-files''

★ Microsoft Visio – (not included in any version of Office 2007) Diagram software and flowcharting with many functions included. '''.vsd'-files''

★ Microsoft Office Picture Manager – Basic photo management software (similar to a basic version of Google's Picasa or Adobe's Photoshop Elements).

★ Microsoft Project – Project management software that allows users to keep track of events and other PM related items. Microsoft Project allows users to create network charts and Gantt charts as well. '''.mpp'-files''

★ Microsoft Publisher – software for creating newsletters, business cards, flyers, greeting cards or even postcards. It has built in templates to help users professionally design and make publications. Also, Publisher 2003 has support for commercial printing and large quantity ink jobs. Unlike its more popular brethren (save, perhaps, Outlook), Publisher has a negligible market share in a field dominated by Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress. '''.pub'-files''

★ Microsoft OneNote – Note-taking software for use with tablet PCs or regular PCs. '''.one'-files''

★ Microsoft Office Communicator – Integrated communications client, enabling information workers to communicate in real time. Communicator is used effectively world wide for conferences and meetings.

★ Microsoft Office InterConnect – Business-relationship database available only in Japan. [1]

★ Microsoft SharePoint Designer – a WYSIWYG HTML editor and general web design program from Microsoft, replacing Microsoft Office FrontPage.

★ Microsoft Office Groove – a proprietary peer-to-peer software package aimed at businesses

★ Microsoft Office Accounting Express/Professional – a tool for managing business finances

★ Microsoft Office Document Scanning – a scanning and OCR application. '''.mdi .tiff'-files''

★ Microsoft Office Document Imaging – an application that supports editing scanned documents. '''.mdi .tiff'-files''

★ Developer Tools – (included only with developer editions)

Other programs included in the Mac versions

★ Virtual PC – Emulates a standard PC and its hardware. Included with Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2004.

★ Microsoft Entourage – an e-mail client and personal information manager developed by Microsoft

Web services associated with Microsoft Office

★ Microsoft Update – Web site.

★ Microsoft Office Live – Web hosting services and online collaboration tools for small businesses.

★ Microsoft Office Online – Web site. Included in all versions of Microsoft Office 2003.

★ Microsoft Office Update – Web site. Patch detection and installation service for Microsoft Office 2000, Microsoft Office XP, and 2003. [2]

Older programs no longer included

★ Microsoft Binder – Incorporates several documents into one file.
:
★ Binder was originally designed as a container system for storing related documents in a single file. The complexity of use, combined with Binder being "yet another application to learn", meant it received little usage. It was removed from releases after Office 2000 to save the effort of ongoing maintenance. '''.obd'-files''

★ Microsoft Schedule Plus – Released with Office 95. It featured a planner, to-do list, and contact information. Its functions were incorporated into Microsoft Outlook. '''.scd'-files''

★ Microsoft Mail – Mail client (in old versions of Office, later replaced by Microsoft Schedule Plus and subsequently Microsoft Outlook). '''.mmf'-files''

★ Microsoft Vizact 2000 – A program that "activated" documents using HTML, adding effects such as animation. It allows users to create dynamic documents for the Web. Development has ended due to unpopularity.

★ Microsoft PhotoDraw – A graphics program that was first released in 1998 and later repackaged as PhotoDraw 2000 v2 as part of the Office 2000 Premium Edition. Microsoft discontinued the program in 2001 because their consumer graphics program Microsoft Picture It! offered richer capabilities. '''.mix'-files''

★ Microsoft Photo Editor – Photo-editing/raster-graphics software in older Office versions, and again in XP. It was temporarily supplemented by Microsoft PhotoDraw in Office 2000 Premium edition.

★ Microsoft FrontPage – Web design software (also requires its own server program for some functionality). Offered only as a stand-alone program for the 2003 version (not part of the pre-2003 office suites, was sold separately). In 2006, Microsoft announced that this was to be discontinued and to be replaced by two different software packages: Microsoft SharePoint Designer and Microsoft Expression Web.
Since 1997, Office has included 'Office Assistant', a system that uses animated characters to offer unrequested context-sensitive suggestions to users and access to relevant parts of the help system. Intended to make the software less intimidating to new users, it is typically disabled by experienced users. The Assistant is often dubbed "Clippy" or "Clippit," due to its default to a paper clip character, coded as CLIPPIT.ACS. The Assistant is the main use of Microsoft Agent technology. The Office Agent was hidden by default in Office XP and, following mixed public response, not installed by default in Office 2003. It has been removed entirely in Office 2007.
Also, beginning with Mac Office 4.2, the Mac and Windows versions of Office share the same file format. Consequently, any Mac with Office 4.2 or later can read documents created with Windows Office 4.2 or later, and vice-versa.

Support lifecycle

Beginning in 2002, Microsoft instituted a policy of "Support Lifecycles". [3] [4]
For Office:

★ Earlier versions than Office 97 (including Outlook 97) are no longer supported.

★ Office 97 (including Outlook 98) – Mainstream hotfix support ended on August 31, 2001. Extended hotfix support ended on February 28, 2002. Assisted support ended on January 16, 2004.

★ Office 2000 – Mainstream support ended June 30, 2004. Extended support is available through July 14, 2009.

★ Office XP – Mainstream support ended July 11, 2006. Extended support will be provided until July 12, 2011.

★ Office 2003 - Mainstream support will end on January 13, 2009. Extended support will end at January 14, 2014.

★ Office 2007 - Mainstream support will end on April 10, 2012. Extended support will end on April 11, 2017.

★ Current and future versions - Mainstream support will end 5 years after release, or 2 years after the next release, whenever time is later, and extended support will end 5 years after that.

Server components

★ Microsoft Office Live Communications Server - real time communications server

★ Microsoft Office Project Server - project management server

★ Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server - collaboration server

★ Microsoft Office Forms Server - allows InfoPath forms to be accessed and filled out using any browser

★ Microsoft Office Groove Server - centrally managing all deployments of Microsoft Office Groove in the enterprise

★ Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server - allows creation of a project portfolio, including workflows, hosted centrally

★ Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server - allows customers to monitor, analyze, and plan their business as well as drive alignment, accountability, and actionable insight across the entire organization

Editions

The newest version of Microsoft Office is 2007, which was released at the same time as Windows Vista (on January 30, 2007). The Windows version of Microsoft Office 2007 is available in eight editions:

★ Microsoft Office Basic 2007 (Available only through OEMs)

★ Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007

★ Microsoft Office Standard 2007

★ Microsoft Office Small Business 2007

★ Microsoft Office Professional 2007

★ Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007

★ Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 (Available only through volume licensing)

★ Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 (Available only through volume licensing)

★ Microsoft Office Enterprise Blue 2007 (Available only to technicians of Microsoft as it required no activation)

Contents of Microsoft Office 2007 Editions for Windows^[6]

Basic	Home & Student	Standard	Small Business	Professional	Ultimate	Professional Plus	Enterprise
Word	Word	Word	Word	Word	Word	Word	Word
Excel	Excel	Excel	Excel	Excel	Excel	Excel	Excel
	PowerPoint	PowerPoint	PowerPoint	PowerPoint	PowerPoint	PowerPoint	PowerPoint
Outlook		Outlook	Outlook	Outlook	Outlook	Outlook	Outlook
			Accounting Express	Accounting Express	Accounting Express
			Publisher	Publisher	Publisher	Publisher	Publisher
				Access	Access	Access	Access
					InfoPath	InfoPath	InfoPath
					Groove		Groove
	OneNote				OneNote		OneNote
						Communicator	Communicator

The Mac version, Microsoft Office for Mac 2004, is available in three editions. All include Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage. The software included is identical in each package except for the 'professional' which includes Virtual PC. Also, the 'Student and Teacher Edition' cannot be upgraded, which means when a later version of office is released, people who purchased the student and teacher edition must buy a whole new package which will cost more compared to buying the upgrade package.

★ Office for Mac 2004 Student and Teacher Edition

★ Office for Mac 2004 Standard Edition

★ Office for Mac 2004 Professional Edition

Contents of Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac^[7]

Student and Teacher/Standard	Professional
Word	Word
Excel	Excel
PowerPoint	PowerPoint
Entourage	Entourage
	Virtual PC

Cross-platform use

Microsoft develops Office for Windows and Mac platforms. Recently, Microsoft announced that it will discontinue Visual Basic for Applications support in future versions of Office for Mac. In addition, Microsoft's MacBU has also ceased development on a universal version of Virtual PC, since developing a new version of their virtualization software for the Intel Mac would be just as hard as creating a whole new product from scratch. [5].
There were efforts in the mid 1990s to port Office to RISC processors such as NEC / MIPS and IBM / PowerPC, but they met problems such as memory access being hampered by data structure alignment requirements. Difficulties in porting Office may have been a factor in discontinuing Windows NT on non-Intel platforms.

Versions

Versions for Microsoft Windows OS

★ August 30, 1992: Office 3.0 (CD-ROM version: Word 2.0c, Excel 4.0a, PowerPoint 3.0, Mail): (repackaged as Office 92).

★ January 17, 1994: Office 4.0 (Word 6.0, Excel 4.0, PowerPoint 3.0).

★ July 3, 1994: Office for NT 4.2 (Word 6.0 [32-bit, i386, MIPS, PowerPC, and Alpha], Excel 5.0 [32-bit, i386, MIPS, PowerPC, and Alpha], PowerPoint 4.0 [16-bit], "Microsoft Office Manager").

★ June 2, 1994: Office 4.3 (the last 16-bit version; Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, PowerPoint 4.0, Mail 3.2 and in the pro version, Access 2.0. Last version to support Windows 3.x and Windows NT 3.1 and 3.5.

★ August 30, 1995: Office 95 (7.0) (Word 7 for Windows 95, etc.) - coincided with the Windows 95 release.

★ December 30, 1996: Office 97 (8.0) (Word 97, etc.) (was published on CD-ROM as well as on a set of '45' 3½-inch floppy disks), was Y2K safe with Service Release 2. Last version to support