Mr. B's Internet Seminar Home
 |
|
 Microsoft Office is a suite of software for Microsoft
Windows, and Apple Computer's Mac OS and Mac OS X based computers.
Today, Microsoft is calling it "Office system" rather than the "Office
suite" because it now includes network and server applications. MS
Office dominates the desktop (both PC and Mac) now.
Because this package represents the most commonly used
productivity tools used today, we have decided to include a short
overview of each component and links to tutorials to learn about each
of the following segment.
Mr. B’s Web Seminar was created in FrontPage, though
he regularly uses a variety of other professional authoring tools.
Because he is a Business Educator and Library Media Specialist, Mr. B
chooses to use commonly available Web editing software that schools
and students are likely to have access too.
An exciting development is Open Office, and open
source project through which Sun Microsystems is releasing and
coordinating the technology for the popular
StarOffice.
This is a FREE OFFICE SUITE that is fully compatible with all other
major office suites. The product is
free to download, use, and distribute.
While FrontPage is generally not considered a
“professional quality” HTML editor (like
MacroMedia Dreamweaver, it fits our needs and is the most
commonly used HTML editor in the world. Like all software, perhaps the
key is to fully
understand FrontPage limitations.
The current versions are Office 2007 have been
launched. Office 2004 for Macintosh was released May 19, 2004. The
versions of Office 1997, 2000, XP, 2002, and 2003 are all very
similar. This writer has not yet had a chance to work with or review
the new Office 2007.
For the most part, working from one version of MS
Office to another is not a problem – there can be some issues in
formats, dialog boxes, and features. This presentation of
resources about Microsoft products is not meant as an endorsement or
recommendation - we are just acknowledging the most widely used
productivity tools and providing resources to help master them.
Common Components of MS Office. These are the programs are included in
most editions of Microsoft Office 2003:
 |
Microsoft Word is a word processor and is
considered to be the main program of Office. It 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 newer modification of the .DOC file format, but has
the capability of saving and opening the old .DOC format. It is
available for the Windows and Macintosh platforms. |
| 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 Macintosh platforms. |
| 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
Macintosh, the closest to an equivalent for Mac OS X is Microsoft
Entourage, which offers a slightly different feature set. |
| Microsoft PowerPoint is a popular presentation
program for Windows and Macintosh. 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) will
have a version of this program. It possesses a dominant market share.
You Can also add movies,videos, sounds and music as well as wordart and
autoshapes |
Other programs included in the Windows versions
include:
|
MS Access – Database manager. For the 2003 version, included in
Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003, and Microsoft Office
Professional Enterprise Edition 2003.
|
|
MS InfoPath. Application that enables users to design rich
XML-based forms. Included in Microsoft Office Professional, and
Microsoft Office Enterprise Edition 2003.
|
|
MS FrontPage. This is a "what you see is
what you get" HTML editor. It allows users to create fully
functional Webpages without all the detail work of hand-coding HTML.
For many of us, it is much more important to spend time on our Web's
content - software like this is a real timesaver. This Web is
created with FrontPage.
|
|
MS MapPoint. Mapping and geographic software tools.
|
|
MS Visio. Diagram software with many functions included.
|
|
MS Office Picture Manager. Basic photo management software
(similar to a basic version of Google's Picasa or Adobe's Photoshop
Elements).
|
|
MS 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.
|
|
MS 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.
|
|
MS Office OneNote. Note-taking software for use with tablet
PCs or regular PCs.
|
|
MS Office Communicator. Integrated communications client,
enabling information workers to communicate in real time.
|
|
Communicator. Is used effectively world wide for conferences and meetings.
|
|
MS Office InterConnect. Business-relationship database
available only in Japan.
|
Microsoft Office Suite
Word Tutorials
|
|
H.O.P.E.S.
|
cty_tobcco_free134.gif){kind=small}
