Feb 16, 2004 06:00 PM
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(Updated Feb 16, 2004 06:00 PM)
Microsoft has always been my favorite and it will always be. This time round Microsoft has pushed its innovation into higher end functions not normally associated with office applications. With not many obvious improvements left in its traditional territory Microsoft is adding value by making the application upwardly mobile.
This is in many ways a creditable approach but it moght rnight, if Microsoft isn't careful, push the package beyond its hardcore of small business users. The main improvement with Office 2003 is the addition of XML support to Office programs. This is a big deal if you're manipulating information on the internet. It means that Word documents and so on are now 'speaking the same language' as web documents. Having data stored in XML format allows server-side tools to automatically assemble and generate reports and presentations. This is fantastic if your business is data mining, for example.
Another high-end innovation is the inclusion of information rights management. This means you can protect sensitive files and e-mail mes - sages from unauthorized access and use. For example, you can set expiration dates on files. This is a good tool if you are posting files online but only want people to look at them for a defined time period. Microsoft hopes that there is also enough to satisfy its traditional fan base and encourage them to upgrade. We feel this will be an uphill struggle, as the improvements offered on the lower end of the feature set are a little bit ho-hum. In Microsoft Word, you can now view documents side by side. which is good but not a reason to spend $500 or so. On the most superficial level there are a Pew interface changes in the new version, particularly in Outlook.
The application now has three vertical task panes. The left hand side pane houses tasks such as Calendar and Contacts as well as the e-mail folders. The second pane shows the selected e-mail folder in more detail, for example showing the subject line and date received of your last thirty or so e-mails. The third pane highlights one of the e-mails and gives you a chance to read it at a glance. This pane is larger than before and so allows you to read more without having to open an e-mail- This makes it easier to jump quickly from message to message.
Overall the interface is cleaner and much brighter than the old layout. Other enhancements to Outlook include an Automatic junk mail detector, which will be music to the ears of most office workers-Microsoft, has also made a push in the general communication arena with 2003 with built-in Instant Messaging. You still, of course, get all the important bases covered. There are the 2003 versions of Word, Excel. Outlook, PowerPoint, Access, FrontPage and Publisher included. None of these are radically improved since XP, so if these packages are all you are interested in, there is little point upgrading.
This is the strongest impression that we have of the package-It is an excellent office suite and is still clearly the market leader, but it is a victim of its own success. If you already have Office XP there is no sense in upgrading if you are a small business user.
Microsoft is aiming very squarely at the blue chip market with Office 2003 and it is demanding corporate users who will be drooling over this new release. For these users Office 2003 offers plenty of powerful tools to play with and the fact that these are integrated with the office suite certainly boosts convenience. While Office 2003 isn't breaking new ground for the home and small office user. It is still the benchmark package by which all others will be judged.
