By Jo Best, 22 October 2003 10:30
NEWS Microsoft has launched the latest version of one of its flagship products - Microsoft Office 2003. As well as bundling corporate-friendly tools, including emails with an expiry date and IM for businesses, the successor to Microsoft Office XP is being touted as 'a new way of working' by the software behemoth.
This time, said Nick Barley, marketing director for Office in the UK, the company has been listening to the complaints of its customers, who have "painful issues, at best impeding progress, at worst endangering their existence". He was referring to how Microsoft's customers are working.
And this time, Microsoft wasn't talking itself up. Barley said: "[The software] doesn't provide all the answers but we are asking the right questions."
Although Office 2003 is being branded a system rather than a suite, it's not just the image that's getting a makeover. This year's newly revamped Office will have 11 products and four server technologies, to help business users collaborate more easily.
One such addition is presence information, electronic glue between IM, email and other Office programs, designed to let users know which of their colleagues are available to collaborate at any given time.
Office 2003 will also feature an Outlook overhaul - including turning an inbox into a 'to do' list; everyone's favourite technology du jour - anti-spam software - designed to stop web beacons which give spammers proof of an account; and email management facilities, including setting up electronic paper trails.
At the US launch of the product, Bill Gates said: "We're introducing more software products in a single day than any day in our history. Every one of these products is about sharing information and collaborating."
Comments
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1. Paul Chapman
I've seen Office 2003 as I have had a Beta Version for the last few months. I don't think time dated emails is the best thing in the new Office.
First off the new tool InfoPath. Allowing the creation of forms available from the desktop.
Better than that however is the new Research Pane available in the Office Applications allowing the office user to pull corporate data from within whichever application you are using. Imagine being able to write a quote for a client and pull pricing and availability data direct from the corporate database from within Word. Now that is useful!
2. Digital Evangelist
So am I a sucker?
Walked into the store that I got my Sony Vaio from just four months ago and decided that yes it was an investment worth making to upgrade my copies of Office Professional, Visio & Project.
The Software Guy had a smile bigger than someone in a boy band. I hand over my credit card and he rings up over £800 for three little boxes. I take a deep breath and say what about a discount.
He checks with his "Manager" and no can do.
I decide that I am not that much of a fashion victim and say I think I will take a rain check. The online I order the evaluation disk from Microsoft. This is a time that I think I'll try brfors I buy!
Who knows by the time I am ready to buy Mr Gates may just say hey we are ripping off the little guys and lower the cost!