The
new Microsoft Office System 2003, which was released to the
general public in October 2003, consists of the latest versions
of traditional Office programs such as Word, Excel, Outlook
and PowerPoint and with new tools added, such as a note-taking
application called OneNote and an XML data tool called InfoPath.
As its name implies, this new "system" is a family
of interrelated applications aimed at helping enterprises
to utilise their Microsoft programs in a collaborative way.
The idea is to help employees work with each other more effectively,
whether they are sharing documents or planning meetings and
events. It runs under Windows XP and 2000, but not under Windows
9x or any non-Microsoft operating system. The following table
shows a list of new and enhanced programs provided by Office
System 2003:
Programs
|
Existing
Programs with updates
|
Office
Word 2003 |
Office
FrontPage 2003 |
Office
Excel 2003 |
Office
Publisher 2003 |
Office
Outlook 2003 |
Office
Project 2003 |
Office
PowerPoint 2003 |
Office
Visio 2003 |
Office
Access 2003 |
|
New
Programs
|
Office
InfoPath 2003 |
Office
One Note 2003 |
|
Servers
|
Existing
Servers with updates
|
Office
Project Server 2003 |
|
New
Servers
|
Office
SharePoint Portal Server 2003 |
Office
Live Communications Server 2003 |
|
Services
|
New
Services
|
Office
Live Meeting |
|
What's
new and enhanced?
Although
most of Office 2003's big changes are aimed at users working
in collaborative environments, individual users running Office
on the desktop may find the general improvements helpful and
convenient which result in a more productive set of applications.
Microsoft Word, for example, includes better change-tracking
and annotation tools. In particular, the "compare and
merge" feature is greatly improved, making it easier
to see all reviewers' comments. Furthermore, users can password-protect
sections of a page from being edited and they can also assign
permissions, enabling only certain users to make changes.
Another new feature is a "Reading Layout" that duplicates
the look of a printed page and, unlike Print Preview, allows
editing of text. The 'Compare side by side' feature converts
documents into two side-by-side pages on screen with synchronized
scrolling so that any differences between the two can be quickly
spotted. There is also a research task pane, a window that
pops up whenever you <Alt><click> on a word, giving
a dictionary definition of the word and links to Web resources,
including language translation.
Microsoft
Excel 2003 also offers the 'Compare side by side' tool, which
is useful when scrolling through a pair of worksheets side
by side, simultaneously. 40 functions have been rewritten
for scientists and engineers and this new version of Excel
also can use XML data.
Microsoft
PowerPoint 2003 can now show full-screen video clips. There
is also a "Package for CD" option that makes it
easy to burn a completed presentation on disc, complete with
a small PowerPoint viewer program for recipients who do not
have the full PowerPoint installed on their computers. And
like Word and Excel, Smart tags are now in both PowerPoint
and Microsoft Access 2003. When a name, address, or other
key phrases comes up, a smart tag icon appears that can provide
additional information and options so that you can complete
tasks more quickly.
Of the
core programs within Office 2003, only Microsoft Outlook 2003
has had a significantly different look and feel. The updated
Outlook interface is better organized and easier to use with
a much-improved navigational bar at the left, as well as a
range of new tools. There are handy new features, such as
the ability to look at shared calendars side by side, as well
as a much-improved spam filter. The new Outlook tools allow
one to easily group messages by date, size, conversation,
subject, etc., add colour-coded flags for following up messages,
and customise views to show, for example, all messages from
the last week or all those with attachments from your boss.
And when new mail arrives, Outlook will immediately display
small visual message alerts that show the sender, the subject
and bits of text. The alerts then give you the options to
open, flag or delete the given message. Finally, Outlook no
longer automatically downloads images from Web servers which
is a relief since spam mail often contain offensive images.
Many of
Office 2003's new features are about collaboration. For a
start, the new Office integrates well with an improved Microsoft
SharePoint service, allowing workers throughout a company
to create shared "Document Workspaces", where they
can collaborate and plan, schedule, and interact with one
another in real time and publish important task lists and
files to a team Web site. Furthermore, employees can create
these workspaces in the familiar environments of Microsoft
Office Word 2003, Excel 2003, Office Outlook 2003, and PowerPoint
2003.
Another
collaboration tool that is widely adopted in Office 2003 is
the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). XML allows wider dissemination
and sharing of data on the Web without worrying about incompatible
programs, computer networks, data structures, and operating
systems. XML uses standard tags within files to index, search,
combine and reuse text, often in conjunction with a shared
data server. For example, a Web site might use XML sales data
from an Excel file to display the most current information.
A new application, Microsoft InfoPath 2003, an XML-based form
creation tool, allows you to design templates that pull information
from databases and enter it into forms, which are then saved
to the corporate database.
Finally,
OneNote is a relatively simple but well-designed tool for
taking free-form notes. Entries can be typed, captured, copied,
recorded, or drawn. And if you have a Tablet PC, you can also
add handwritten notes, which OneNote can either convert to
typed text for use in other documents or simply recognize
for searching. Additionally, you can paste pieces of Web pages
into OneNote, and the program will automatically generate
links to the source.
The software
accommodates audio notes, in addition to those typed or written.
OneNote uses Windows Media Player 9 Series codecs to record
the audio notes, which can be saved in a variety of mono or
stereo bit rates. And if you record a meeting and simultaneously
add handwritten or typed notes, OneNote will attach these
notes to the recording in time sequence.
OneNote
also includes an easy-to-use search facility, with which you
can search through handwritten notes as well as typed ones,
and you can also search for bits of information that is tagged
with the application's Note Flag feature. The search feature
is also capable of finding notes by date or even by page number.
Without
question, many of the new features in Office 2003 are aimed
at knowledge workers in enterprises with professional network
administrators who can implement systems for sharing information
and collaborating on tasks. Yet, with the Word improvements
like the reading view, research pane and ability to protect
portions of a document etc., it is also worthwhile for individual
users to upgrade to Office 2003 although InfoPath and OneNote
are not covered in the Campus Agreement.
References
1. Office 2003 Editions Product Information from Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/office/editions/prodinfo/default.mspx
2. Microsoft Office 2003 from PC Buyer’s Guide
http://pcbuyersguide.com/software/productivity/Office2003.html
3. Inside Microsoft’s Office 2003 from eWeek
http://www.eweek.com/category2/0,4148,1309327,00.asp