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Microsoft Office 2003
Introduction
Microsoft on Feb. 11, 2003 announced Office 2003 as the official name of the productivity suite originally known as "NGO" ("Next Generation Office"), and widely referred to as Office 11 during the beta release cycle. Later in the month, the company released -- and then quickly withdrew, for some last-minute tweaking -- beta 2 of Office 2003, renaming the Office family the "Microsoft Office System" in the process. In this report, we'll track news and announcements about the product, and look at the new features it offers.
Microsoft on Feb. 11, 2003 announced Office 2003 as the official name of the productivity suite originally known as "NGO" ("Next Generation Office"), and widely referred to as Office 11 during the beta release cycle. Later in the month, the company released -- and then quickly withdrew, for some last-minute tweaking -- beta 2 of Office 2003, renaming the Office family the "Microsoft Office System" in the process. In this report, we'll track news and announcements about the product, and look at the new features it offers.
Common Features
A few years ago, Microsoft obviously thought "Clippy" and other cutsie, processor cycle-sucking Office Assistants were pretty hot stuff -- it made their annoying sound effects and distracting animations the default behaviors on millions of Office users' machines.
A few years ago, Microsoft obviously thought "Clippy" and other cutsie, processor cycle-sucking Office Assistants were pretty hot stuff -- it made their annoying sound effects and distracting animations the default behaviors on millions of Office users' machines.
By the time Office XP was in development, there was such a backlash against the hated feature that Microsoft turned to poking fun at the animated paper clip. Clippy's résumé says he was demoted to "part time" work at the company, and Microsoft's web site now a whole Clippy-bashing section, where you can "vote on Clippy's fate," and see evidence of plenty of self-deprecating humor (Clippy's To Do list includes an entry to "Figure out my dot-net strategy.")
After all this hoopla, imagine our surprise when we selected the "Show Office Assistant" command in Office 2003 and hey, guess who pops up! Oh well, at least it's off by default now.
Advanced Text Services are available to all programs.Office 2003 adds, by default, a floating toolbar to the Windows XP desktop, containing icons for invoking various alternative input systems: speech recognition and command input via microphone, handwriting recognition, and access to drawing pad functions. These tools can be minimized to the taskbar or disabled entirely if this is preferred.
These features use Windows XP's "Advanced Text Services." There is a preferences setting that can extend these services to all Windows programs compatible with these services. When this setting is selected, almost any program you run gains speech recognition and handwriting recognition!
There's also a language translation facility that provides translations to and from English, French and Spanish. In Microsoft Word, for example, this feature is available via new Research entry on the Tools menu. With it, you can type a phrase in one of these languages and see the definitions and suggested usage of the words in your choice of destination language. Hopefully, we'll be able to use Latin this way someday. Copia verborum!
Outlook 2003.
All of the Office 2003 applications build upon the Windows XP Appearance options (the default blue, silver and horrid green theme colours) for their basic toolbar colour and shading styles. The toolbars have a rounded, somewhat cartoonish look that, frankly, we're not sure we like all that much. We prefer the silver theme to the default blue look shown in the screenshots here, personally -- but we prefer the no-nonsense look of Office XP to either of them. Fortunately, by choosing the "Windows Classic Style" in the Windows XP Display control Panel's Appearance tab, the Office 2003 apps revert to a close approximation of the Office XP look.
PowerPoint
Microsoft's venerable presentation program gets yet another user interface overhaul, but the changes we could find appeared mostly cosmetic. New features listed in the "What's New" section of the Help documentation include many that were also present or at least partially implemented in the Office XP release. Here's a list of some of the highlights:
Collaborative online reviews
Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Outlook work together to help you e-mail a presentation to colleagues and start the process of reviewing. When the reviewers send the presentation back to you, PowerPoint can help you merge their comments and changes into a single presentation for your review. Rest the mouse pointer over a change marker to see the details of a change and to accept or reject it. You can also review changes in the new Revisions task pane. This task pane gives you a unified, gallery view of every change and the ability to accept and reject them all at once or individually.
Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Outlook work together to help you e-mail a presentation to colleagues and start the process of reviewing. When the reviewers send the presentation back to you, PowerPoint can help you merge their comments and changes into a single presentation for your review. Rest the mouse pointer over a change marker to see the details of a change and to accept or reject it. You can also review changes in the new Revisions task pane. This task pane gives you a unified, gallery view of every change and the ability to accept and reject them all at once or individually.
Comments also work with the new reviewing feature. They're color-coded by reviewer, intelligently positioned so as not to obscure important slide elements, and are easy to print.
Animation effects and animation schemes
PowerPoint has new animation effects, including entry and exit animations, more timing control, and motion paths — pre-drawn paths that items in an animation sequence can follow — so you can synchronize multiple text and object animations.
PowerPoint has new animation effects, including entry and exit animations, more timing control, and motion paths — pre-drawn paths that items in an animation sequence can follow — so you can synchronize multiple text and object animations.
Animation schemes let you apply a pre-designed set of animation and transition effects to your entire presentation at once. The Animation Schemes task pane lets you choose the animation scheme that's right for your audience and material — a subtle scheme like Elegant, or something more exciting, like Pinwheel. And, of course, you can still apply animation effects on a slide-by-slide basis.
Better organization charts and new diagram types
Organization charts now use the drawing tools in PowerPoint, resulting in smaller files sizes and easier editing. Also, PowerPoint includes a new gallery of common conceptual diagrams. You can customize these pre-drawn diagrams with text, animation effects, and a variety of formatting styles. Choose from diagrams such as Pyramid for showing the building blocks of a relationship, Radial for showing items in relation to a core element, and more.
Organization charts now use the drawing tools in PowerPoint, resulting in smaller files sizes and easier editing. Also, PowerPoint includes a new gallery of common conceptual diagrams. You can customize these pre-drawn diagrams with text, animation effects, and a variety of formatting styles. Choose from diagrams such as Pyramid for showing the building blocks of a relationship, Radial for showing items in relation to a core element, and more.
Task panes for applying slide and presentation formatting
The Slide Layout and Slide Design task panes organize layouts, design templates, and color schemes in a visual gallery that displays next to your slides. When you choose an item from the task pane, your slides are updated immediately with the new look.
The Slide Layout and Slide Design task panes organize layouts, design templates, and color schemes in a visual gallery that displays next to your slides. When you choose an item from the task pane, your slides are updated immediately with the new look.
Print preview
Just as you are used to doing in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, you can now preview your presentation before you print. Special settings in print preview let you preview and print slides, notes pages, and a variety of handout layouts.
Just as you are used to doing in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, you can now preview your presentation before you print. Special settings in print preview let you preview and print slides, notes pages, and a variety of handout layouts.
Multiple design templates per presentation
PowerPoint 11 supports having more than one design template in your presentation. This is great when you want to combine several presentations into one file, but have each section maintain its distinct look.
PowerPoint 11 supports having more than one design template in your presentation. This is great when you want to combine several presentations into one file, but have each section maintain its distinct look.
Visible grid
To make aligning placeholders, shapes, and pictures easier, you can display the drawing grid in PowerPoint and adjust the spacing of its gridlines.
To make aligning placeholders, shapes, and pictures easier, you can display the drawing grid in PowerPoint and adjust the spacing of its gridlines.
Thumbnails of slides in normal view
When you want to navigate your presentation visually, click the Slides tab in normal view. Use the thumbnail representations of each slide to quickly find the slide you want to work on, or drag a thumbnail to move a slide to a new position in your presentation.
When you want to navigate your presentation visually, click the Slides tab in normal view. Use the thumbnail representations of each slide to quickly find the slide you want to work on, or drag a thumbnail to move a slide to a new position in your presentation.
Presenter's view for slide shows
If you're working with a computer that supports multiple monitors, you can use this feature during a slide show to view speaker notes, but keep them hidden from your audience, jump to specific slides out of sequence, keep track of time, and more.
If you're working with a computer that supports multiple monitors, you can use this feature during a slide show to view speaker notes, but keep them hidden from your audience, jump to specific slides out of sequence, keep track of time, and more.
Text AutoFit improvements
You can now turn text AutoFit on or off per placeholder, giving you a finer degree of control. Text AutoFit also works on more types of placeholders.
You can now turn text AutoFit on or off per placeholder, giving you a finer degree of control. Text AutoFit also works on more types of placeholders.
Automatic layout for inserted objects
As you work, PowerPoint adjusts the slide layout automatically to accommodate pictures, diagrams, charts, and other items that you add. When you choose a new slide layout, PowerPoint can automatically rearrange the existing items on the slide to fit the new layout.
As you work, PowerPoint adjusts the slide layout automatically to accommodate pictures, diagrams, charts, and other items that you add. When you choose a new slide layout, PowerPoint can automatically rearrange the existing items on the slide to fit the new layout.
Save background or selection as picture
When you create a drawing using the drawing tools in PowerPoint, you can save it as a picture by right-clicking it. You can also save a texture or picture background from a slide in the same way, making it easy to reuse these graphic elements.
When you create a drawing using the drawing tools in PowerPoint, you can save it as a picture by right-clicking it. You can also save a texture or picture background from a slide in the same way, making it easy to reuse these graphic elements.
Easier selection of an object in a group
This new feature lets you select a single AutoShape in a group, without ungrouping. This is useful when you want to make certain types of formatting changes, for example, changing the color of a single shape in a group.
This new feature lets you select a single AutoShape in a group, without ungrouping. This is useful when you want to make certain types of formatting changes, for example, changing the color of a single shape in a group.
Insert multiple pictures
When you insert pictures from files on your hard disk drive, you can select multiple pictures and insert them all at once.
When you insert pictures from files on your hard disk drive, you can select multiple pictures and insert them all at once.
Picture compression
Pick the resolution you want for the pictures in a presentation, based on where they'll be viewed (for example, on the Web or printed) and set other options to get the best balance between picture quality and file size.
Pick the resolution you want for the pictures in a presentation, based on where they'll be viewed (for example, on the Web or printed) and set other options to get the best balance between picture quality and file size.
Picture rotation
You can now rotate and flip any type of image file in a PowerPoint presentation — including bitmaps.
You can now rotate and flip any type of image file in a PowerPoint presentation — including bitmaps.
Photo album
This feature makes it easy and fast to get photos from your hard disk drive, scanner, or digital camera into a presentation. Special layout options for photo albums include oval frames, captions under each picture, and more.
This feature makes it easy and fast to get photos from your hard disk drive, scanner, or digital camera into a presentation. Special layout options for photo albums include oval frames, captions under each picture, and more.
Web documents and Web sites
Play sounds and animations
Sounds play and most of the new animation effects are preserved when you save your presentation as a Web page (HTML format).
Sounds play and most of the new animation effects are preserved when you save your presentation as a Web page (HTML format).
Presentation broadcasting
- More editing control
- You can now re-record your presentation broadcast before you publish it.
- Support for audio and video
- Sounds and videos that you include in a presentation broadcast are heard and seen by your audience, both in real-time or when archived.
- Better browsing of archived broadcasts
- Improved navigation controls make it easier to rewind and fast forward through an archived presentation broadcast.
- Security
- Password protection
- A top feature request, and now it's here. Just like in Word, you can set a presentation to open with a password, specifying read-only or read-write access to the file.
Language-specific features
If you are not using the specific language version of Microsoft Office for which one of these features is designed, then the feature is only available if you have installed the Microsoft Office 2003 Multilingual User Interface Pack or Microsoft Office Proofing Tools for that language. In addition, you must enable support for the language through Microsoft Office Language Settings.
If you are not using the specific language version of Microsoft Office for which one of these features is designed, then the feature is only available if you have installed the Microsoft Office 2003 Multilingual User Interface Pack or Microsoft Office Proofing Tools for that language. In addition, you must enable support for the language through Microsoft Office Language Settings.
Language indicator in status bar
- Quickly note the language of the text at the insertion point by looking at the indicator in the status bar, just like in Word.
- Improved insertion of characters via the Insert Symbol dialog box
- All the characters of a font are organized into categories. It's easy to pick the font you want, then the category — for example, Katakana or Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms — and get to the character you need.
- Detection of Japanese typographical errors
- Wrong keystrokes and leftover characters from Input Method Editor (IME) conversions in Japanese are marked with the familiar red squiggly lines, and suggested corrections help your editing go faster.
- More underlining styles in Input Method Editor (IME)
- You have more choices for the color and style of text and underlining for character strings that you enter through the IME.
- Embed a subset of the characters in a font
- File sizes stay smaller when you embed fonts thanks to a new option that lets you include only the characters that are used in the presentation (not the entire font). This option is available with certain fonts with large character sets, such as Japanese and Unicode fonts.
Support for additional paper sizes
- PowerPoint supports the most common sizes of paper used around the world, including A3, B4, B5, and US Ledger (11 x 17), so that your printed slides look right.
- Automatic keyboard switching
- Most useful for right-to-left languages such as Arabic, this feature automatically senses the language of the text in a text selection and changes the keyboard layout accordingly.
- More language-specific fonts
- Languages that use complex scripts, such as Hindi, are now supported through options in the Format Font dialog box.
- Proofing tools improvements
- The Language dialog box (Tools command, Language menu) now shows you which language dictionaries have been installed, as well as the ones you have most recently used.
Office task panes
The most common tasks in Microsoft Office are now organized in panes that display in place with your Office document. Continue working while you search for a file using the Search task pane, pick from a gallery of items to paste in the Office Clipboard task pane, and quickly create new documents or open files using the task pane that appears when you start an Office program. Other task panes vary per Office program, but consistently contain fewer entries than the task panels in Office XP.
The most common tasks in Microsoft Office are now organized in panes that display in place with your Office document. Continue working while you search for a file using the Search task pane, pick from a gallery of items to paste in the Office Clipboard task pane, and quickly create new documents or open files using the task pane that appears when you start an Office program. Other task panes vary per Office program, but consistently contain fewer entries than the task panels in Office XP.
New look
- Microsoft Office 2003 has a cleaner, simpler look to its interface. Softer colors also contribute to this updated feel.
- More convenient access to Help
- Get the full power of the Answer Wizard in an unobtrusive package. When you enter a question about an Office program in the Ask a Question box on the menu bar, you can see a list of choices and read a Help topic whether you are running the Office Assistant or not.
- Control paste options and automatic changes with smart tags
- New in-place buttons called "smart tags" let you immediately adjust how information is pasted or how automatic changes occur in your Office programs. For example, when you paste text from Microsoft Word into Microsoft PowerPoint, a button appears next to the text. Click the button to see a list of choices for fine-tuning the formatting of the pasted text. Smart tags and their associated choices vary per Office program.
- Picture Library. Updated Clip Organizer
- Hundreds of new clips, an easy task pane interface, as well as the same abilities to organize clips and find new digital art on the Web are part of the updated Clip Organizer (formerly Clip Gallery).
Picture Library
- In addition to the Clip Organizer, there's a new Picture Library that resembles the old Fetch application from Aldus, iPhoto from Apple or Microsoft's own Picture-It application. Picture Library provides the ability to perform basic image-editing tasks, such as cropping, red-eye removal, colour and brightness adjustments, resizing, autocorrection, etc.
- It also provides image management facilities including keyword-based searching, browsing, saving and printing.
Conceptual diagrams
Word, Microsoft Excel, and PowerPoint include a new gallery of conceptual diagrams. Choose from diagrams such as Pyramid for showing the building blocks of a relationship, Radial for showing items in relation to a core element, and more.
Word, Microsoft Excel, and PowerPoint include a new gallery of conceptual diagrams. Choose from diagrams such as Pyramid for showing the building blocks of a relationship, Radial for showing items in relation to a core element, and more.
Voice commands and dictation
In addition to mouse and keyboard methods, you can now select menu, toolbar, and dialog box items by speaking. You can also dictate text. This feature is available in the Simplified Chinese, English (U.S.), and Japanese language versions of Microsoft Office, and has some special hardware requirements.
In addition to mouse and keyboard methods, you can now select menu, toolbar, and dialog box items by speaking. You can also dictate text. This feature is available in the Simplified Chinese, English (U.S.), and Japanese language versions of Microsoft Office, and has some special hardware requirements.
Support for handwriting
- You can use handwriting recognition to enter text into an Office document. You can write by using a handwriting input device — such as a graphics tablet or a tablet-PC — or you can write using your mouse. Your natural handwriting is converted to typed characters. In Word and Microsoft Outlook, you can also choose to leave text in handwritten form.
- Improved fidelity of pictures and drawings
- In Office 2003, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher are using an improved graphics system (GDI+). With this new graphics system, shapes and WordArt have smoother outlines and adjustable levels of transparency with true blending. Digital pictures stay sharper and clearer when you resize them.
Accessibility
Office 2003 programs support Microsoft Active Accessibility 2.0. This technology makes accessibility aids, such as screen readers or screen enlargers, more effective.
Office 2003 programs support Microsoft Active Accessibility 2.0. This technology makes accessibility aids, such as screen readers or screen enlargers, more effective.
Find printers
If your organization uses Microsoft Windows 2000 and the Active Directory directory service (or the forthcoming Windows Server 2003), you can search for printers across your network from the Print dialog box in Office 2003 programs.
If your organization uses Microsoft Windows 2000 and the Active Directory directory service (or the forthcoming Windows Server 2003), you can search for printers across your network from the Print dialog box in Office 2003 programs.
Storing documents with Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 or newer
- You can store Microsoft Office documents on Exchange Server 2000 or newer releases and access them through the File Open, File New, and File Save dialog boxes, as you would any other Office document.
- Web documents and Web sites
- Target your Web publishing efforts
- Microsoft says you can "save your Microsoft Office documents as Web pages for versions 3.0-6.0 of various Web browsers and give your readers the best possible viewing experience." As detailed in the Word 11 section of this review, our tests showed that the program doesn't quite live up to this hype. It's better than its predecessor, though.
Share your Office documents over the Web
From any Office program, you can save documents to Web sites on MSN. This gives you an instant collaboration space where you can share files with other people.
From any Office program, you can save documents to Web sites on MSN. This gives you an instant collaboration space where you can share files with other people.
Save a Web site as a single file
A special Web archive file format is available in Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Publisher, and Microsoft Word. This file format lets you save all the elements of a Web site, including text and graphics, into a single file. It is essentially the same feature as known as "Web archive" in Office XP; here, it's called "Single File Web Page."
A special Web archive file format is available in Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Publisher, and Microsoft Word. This file format lets you save all the elements of a Web site, including text and graphics, into a single file. It is essentially the same feature as known as "Web archive" in Office XP; here, it's called "Single File Web Page."
Package for CD
Formerly known as Pack and Go, this feature has been reworked for PowerPoint 2003 and is now called "Package for CD." Depending on how you feel about Microsoft's "Wizard-based" approach to many complicated functions, the changes here aren't necessarily for the better. The Office XP implementation was essentially controlled through a single Wizard-driven interface, with several task-oriented icons ("Pick files," "Choose Destination" and so on) you could click on to jump to specific tasks, or you could simply walk through the steps with the wizard, as it helped you collect your files for sending to a service bureau, laptop computer, or some other remote location. PowerPoint 11 eschews that approach for a more conventional dialog, with "Copy to CD," "Add Files..." and "Copy to Folder..." buttons providing, it would seem, more direct control over basic operations, but perhaps a little less hand-holding for novices.
Formerly known as Pack and Go, this feature has been reworked for PowerPoint 2003 and is now called "Package for CD." Depending on how you feel about Microsoft's "Wizard-based" approach to many complicated functions, the changes here aren't necessarily for the better. The Office XP implementation was essentially controlled through a single Wizard-driven interface, with several task-oriented icons ("Pick files," "Choose Destination" and so on) you could click on to jump to specific tasks, or you could simply walk through the steps with the wizard, as it helped you collect your files for sending to a service bureau, laptop computer, or some other remote location. PowerPoint 11 eschews that approach for a more conventional dialog, with "Copy to CD," "Add Files..." and "Copy to Folder..." buttons providing, it would seem, more direct control over basic operations, but perhaps a little less hand-holding for novices.
Open Office Web pages for editing from the browser
- Office programs recognize the HTML pages that they generate. You can open an Office document that you've saved as a Web page in the program it was created in, right from Microsoft Internet Explorer.
- Error prevention and recovery
- Document recovery and safer shutdown
- Documents you are working on can be recovered if the program encounters an error or stops responding. The documents are displayed in the Document Recovery task pane the next time you open the program.
- We tested this feature when Word stopped responding during one of our tests. Lo and behold, it actually worked! We were able to recover the document we were working on and re-activate Word with minimal interruption. Your results may vary, of course.
- Office Safe Mode
- Microsoft Office XP programs can detect and isolate startup problems. You can bypass the problem, run your Office program in safe mode, and keep getting your work done.
- Office crash reporting tool
- Diagnostic information about program crashes can be collected and sent to your company's information technology department or to Microsoft, allowing engineers to correct these problems so they don't interrupt you again.
- Security
- Digital signatures
- You can apply a digital signature to Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint files to confirm that the file has not been altered.
- In Word, for example, a new Permission... entry in the File menu brings up a dialog (or the accursed Clippy, if enabled) allows you to present sensitive documents and email messages from being forwarded, edited or copied by unauthorized individuals. To use this feature, you must install Windows Rights Management client software, available from the Microsoft web site.
- Increased protection against macro viruses
- Network administrators can remove Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, the programming language of Microsoft Office, when deploying Office. This can decrease the possibility of viruses spreading via Office documents.
InfoPath
This program, known as XDocs during the beta cycle, is essentially a competitor to Adobe's PDF format, aimed at providing an XML-based variety of "digital paper," capable of allowing Office users to easily share documents with non-Office users. Its functional similarity to Adobe's offering is not coincidental -- the corporate vice president of the Information Worker Product Management Group at Microsoft, in charge of the product, is Joe Eschbach, formerly Adobe's e-paper czar. According to a report at News.com, Microsoft will not include InfoPath and OneNote as part of the Office suite sold at retail or installed on new computers -- InfoPath will only be offered as part of Office 2003 Professional Enterprise Edition, old exclusively to volume licensees. Earlier reports had hinted that Microsoft might not bundle the program with Office or make them available separately. Read more....
This program, known as XDocs during the beta cycle, is essentially a competitor to Adobe's PDF format, aimed at providing an XML-based variety of "digital paper," capable of allowing Office users to easily share documents with non-Office users. Its functional similarity to Adobe's offering is not coincidental -- the corporate vice president of the Information Worker Product Management Group at Microsoft, in charge of the product, is Joe Eschbach, formerly Adobe's e-paper czar. According to a report at News.com, Microsoft will not include InfoPath and OneNote as part of the Office suite sold at retail or installed on new computers -- InfoPath will only be offered as part of Office 2003 Professional Enterprise Edition, old exclusively to volume licensees. Earlier reports had hinted that Microsoft might not bundle the program with Office or make them available separately. Read more....
Analysts caution that InfoPath is much more complicated than most users might expect, however. Says Gartner analyst Michael Silver in a report at news.com, "This is not a product an end user can use right out of the box. There is a lot of programming and infrastructure (that) enterprises will have to put in place before they can use it."
Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler agreed with that assessment. "It's not an end-user tool," he said. According to Silver, Microsoft is in the process of repositioning Office as a "platform," like Windows, for which developers can create applications.
OneNote
This new note-taking application apparently won't be included in any of the six editions of Office 2003 announced by Microsoft in April 2003; nevertheless, it is a member of the branded "Office family" of products. OneNote wasn't in the beta 2 version of Office Professional we tested. According to Microsoft, OneNote "enables you to capture, organize, and reuse your notes" and "helps you capture information in multiple ways and then organize and use it according to your needs."
This new note-taking application apparently won't be included in any of the six editions of Office 2003 announced by Microsoft in April 2003; nevertheless, it is a member of the branded "Office family" of products. OneNote wasn't in the beta 2 version of Office Professional we tested. According to Microsoft, OneNote "enables you to capture, organize, and reuse your notes" and "helps you capture information in multiple ways and then organize and use it according to your needs."
The company says OneNote provides flexible notebook-like qualities, fast and easy search features, the ability to synchronize notes with audio recordings, and the ability to be used on multiple devices including desktop, laptop and Tablet PCs. A beta version will be made available this spring. The OneNote web site says Microsoft, has received more than 190,000 unique visitors in the past four months, all seeking information on the product, with nearly 30,000 people registering to receive the software.
SharePoint Personal
This "new" feature has been kicking around in Office since 1999, but almost nobody has figured out how to use it. After we tried and failed, we asked our local Microsoft rep how to get it working. He confessed he hadn't been able to get it working it, either. He asked his technical support technician, who mumbled something about needing SharePoint Server (which isn't strictly true.)
This "new" feature has been kicking around in Office since 1999, but almost nobody has figured out how to use it. After we tried and failed, we asked our local Microsoft rep how to get it working. He confessed he hadn't been able to get it working it, either. He asked his technical support technician, who mumbled something about needing SharePoint Server (which isn't strictly true.)
Microsoft aims to improve this situation this time around with a locally installed version of SharePoint Team Services -- now renamed Windows SharePoint Services -- in Office 2003. It is designed to allow teams to share information, collaborate on documents and co-ordinate team knowledge.
Word 11
Some had hoped that Word 11 -- officially known as Office Word 2003 -- would take a cue from FrontPage 2002 (a successor is mysteriously absent here) and be less reckless with the code it adds to and removes from documents saved as web pages. As our tests show, this is not the case. Click to view sample code: Analysis-FP2002vsWord2003.txt. Even the "filtered" code, which Microsoft says removes any Office-specific tags, adds a lot of extra tags to a file when opened and immediately resaved. Worse, it strips out some standard tags that can change a page's layout in unexpected ways. In one of our tests, it removed the <blockquote> tags that are commonly used (in fact, Microsoft's own FrontPage uses this method!) to produce margins on a page very much like the one you are reading here.
Some had hoped that Word 11 -- officially known as Office Word 2003 -- would take a cue from FrontPage 2002 (a successor is mysteriously absent here) and be less reckless with the code it adds to and removes from documents saved as web pages. As our tests show, this is not the case. Click to view sample code: Analysis-FP2002vsWord2003.txt. Even the "filtered" code, which Microsoft says removes any Office-specific tags, adds a lot of extra tags to a file when opened and immediately resaved. Worse, it strips out some standard tags that can change a page's layout in unexpected ways. In one of our tests, it removed the <blockquote> tags that are commonly used (in fact, Microsoft's own FrontPage uses this method!) to produce margins on a page very much like the one you are reading here.
The Open button in the File>Open dialog (seen in this screenshot) now has a small arrow signifying more options. These include the ability to open the document in the default browser, open and repair, or open as a read-only document.
If a spreadsheet is opened, the option to "Open with Transform" is also available. Note, also, the addition of ".url" as one of the supported file types. When saving files, "XML" is now a supported file type -- but only available in the Enterprise and Pro editions.
As detailed in the Compatibility section, below, this feature comes with some caveats.
In the view menu (and available via a new "book" icon in the lower left of a document window) is a new "Reading" option that presents documents in a side-by-side screen layout format. In this mode, a new set of toolbar icons are revealed, allowing you to annotate documents with voice or text comments, add "highlighter" markups, track changes, and optionally view PDF-like thumbnails of a document in progress.
PC Plus has a First look at Office 11 with additional details on Word 11.Access 2003
Access 11
Access gets a visual makeover, and more wizards, as this screenshot shows. The Themes item, shown here, adapts pages with different page backgrounds and font styles, similar to those seen in PowerPoint.
Access gets a visual makeover, and more wizards, as this screenshot shows. The Themes item, shown here, adapts pages with different page backgrounds and font styles, similar to those seen in PowerPoint.
Various icons in the floating tool palette (seen here in the lower left corner of the screen) allow the easy incorporation of various data types, including video, Excel spreadsheets, list boxes, and so on. (Three "Eight Ball" icons!?) A Web page preview shows how the data will look when published to the Web.
As did its predecessor, Access 2003 includes a "report snapshots" feature and a utility Microsoft calls "Snapshot Viewer."
According to the Help file distributed with the viewer, a report snapshot is a file (.snp extension) that contains a high-fidelity copy of each page of a Microsoft Access report and that preserves the two-dimensional layout, graphics, and other embedded objects of the report.
Snapshot Viewer is a program that you can use to view, print, and mail a snapshot, such as a report snapshot. Snapshot Viewer version 9.0 consists of a stand-alone executable program, a Snapshot Viewer control (Snapview.ocx), a help file, and other related files. By default, Snapshot Viewer is automatically installed by Microsoft Access 2003 the first time you create a report snapshot. You can also install Snapshot Viewer from the Setup program, or from a World Wide Web software download page located at the Microsoft Access Developer's Web site.
You can use the Snapshot Viewer control to view a snapshot from Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.0 or later or from any application that supports ActiveX controls, such as Access or Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications.
If you print and distribute reports to users inside or outside your organization, using report snapshots can save considerable time and money. Instead of photocopying and mailing printed Microsoft Access reports, you can electronically distribute and publish them using either electronic mail or a Web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. Your users can easily and quickly view the reports online and only print the report pages they need. This is especially useful when your reports contain color and images, such as charts and pictures.
Outlook 11
At this writing, more is known about Outlook 11 than most other components of the suite, thanks to a widely leaked beta version that traveled the web in early 2003. The software enhances the security of the notoriously insecure Outlook email client and improves junk mail filtering capabilities and other new features designed to take advantage of new features in MS Exchange 2003.
At this writing, more is known about Outlook 11 than most other components of the suite, thanks to a widely leaked beta version that traveled the web in early 2003. The software enhances the security of the notoriously insecure Outlook email client and improves junk mail filtering capabilities and other new features designed to take advantage of new features in MS Exchange 2003.
A new Outlook icon appears by default in the Windows XP taskbar, along with another (at least in the beta) providing access to various online resources. As seen in the screen capture here, it provides options to alert you when new mail arrives and show various network alerts and messages.
Ooutlook 2003 adds Junk mail filtering. Click to enlarge....The Junk mail filtering options are similar to -- and undoubtedly based upon -- those provided by the Microsoft-owned Hotmail service.
Various levels of filtering are available. The system defaults to the "low" setting. "High" catches more spam, while the Trusted Lists Only option allows only mail from people specifically permitted (and defined in the other tabs seen in this dialog).
DRM
It's official: Office 2003 will have Digital Rights Management, reports CRN. According to the "Information Rights Management" (IRM) section of the Office 2003 beta documentation, the software provides a "persistent file-level technology that lets the user specify permission for who can access and use documents or e-mail messages."
It's official: Office 2003 will have Digital Rights Management, reports CRN. According to the "Information Rights Management" (IRM) section of the Office 2003 beta documentation, the software provides a "persistent file-level technology that lets the user specify permission for who can access and use documents or e-mail messages."
Use of these DRM features requires Windows 2003 Server, and a premium client access for IRM. In addition, documents with controls can only be opened by users with Office 2003.
Here’s what Microsoft Help has to say on the topic:
You can create content with restricted permission using Information Rights Management only in Microsoft Office Professional Edition2003, Microsoft Office Word2003, Microsoft Office Excel2003, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint2003.
Today, sensitive information can only be controlled by limiting access to the networks or computers where the information is stored. Once access is given to users, however, there are no restrictions on what can be done with the content or to whom it can be sent. This distribution of content easily allows sensitive information to reach people who were never intended to receive it. Microsoft Office2003 offers a new feature, Information Rights Management (IRM), which helps you prevent sensitive information from getting into the hands of the wrong people, whether by accident or carelessness. IRM essentially helps you control your files even after they have left your desktop!
Creating content with restricted permission
IRM allows an individual author to create a document, workbook, or presentation with restricted permission for specific people who will access the content. Authors use the Permission dialog box (File | Permission | Do Not Distribute or Permission on the Standard toolbar) to give users Read and Change access, as well as to set expiration dates for content. For example, Bob can give Sally permission to read a document but not make changes to it. Bob can then give John permission to make changes to the document, as well as allow him to save the document. Bob may also decide to limit both Sally and John’s access to this document for 5 days. Authors can remove restricted permission from a document, workbook, or presentation by simply clicking Unrestricted Access on the Permission submenu or by clicking Permission again on the Standard toolbar.
Additionally, administrators for companies can create permission policies that are available in Microsoft Office Word2003, Microsoft Office Excel2003, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint2003, on the Permission submenu and define who can access information and what level of editing or Office capabilities users have for a document, workbook, or presentation. For example, a company administrator might define a policy called “Company Confidential,” which specifies that documents, workbooks, or presentations using that policy can be opened by users inside the company domain only. Up to 20 customized policies can be displayed (in alphabetical order) on the Permission submenu at one time so that individual authors can use them for the content they create.
Compatibility
Office 2003, as our code analysis shows, relies heavily on Extensible Markup Language (XML) in addition to existing proprietary formats, allowing files saved in the XML format to be viewable through any standard Web browser. On the surface, that would appear to be a big change for a company often accused of pushing proprietary, "closed" solutions. However, Microsoft executives have already acknowledged that the company's XML support in Office is governed by a proprietary schema and that XML documents created by Office 11 applications might not be readable in competing products. Thus, it looks like the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Office 2003, as our code analysis shows, relies heavily on Extensible Markup Language (XML) in addition to existing proprietary formats, allowing files saved in the XML format to be viewable through any standard Web browser. On the surface, that would appear to be a big change for a company often accused of pushing proprietary, "closed" solutions. However, Microsoft executives have already acknowledged that the company's XML support in Office is governed by a proprietary schema and that XML documents created by Office 11 applications might not be readable in competing products. Thus, it looks like the more things change, the more they stay the same.
It's worth mentioning that the company pulled a fast one by yanking XML features found in beta 2 of the package, sent to corporate preview customers since March, from the final editions of Office 2003 Standard, Small Business, Basic and educational editions. Thus, some of the features we reported on in the April 5th draft of this report are no longer in the standard Office package. Caveat emptor.
We'll report our findings on this critical aspect of Office 2003 when our tests are complete. Hopefully, we'll be able to track down more information on what the heck happened to FrontPage, too. This former member of the Office XP Suite seems to have vanished completely from the new Office family.
Pricing and Availability
Although official pricing hasn't yet been confirmed by Microsoft, an apparent e-commerce mixup on the Amazon.com website in Aug. 2003 pegged the price at US$560 for Microsoft Office 2003 for Windows XP, which comprises Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. The Professional edition, which adds Outlook, Publisher and Access, will reportedly sell for US$690. Microsoft is expected to ship the product on Oct. 24, 2003. A complete list of prices is available at Amazon.com's U.K. store.
Although official pricing hasn't yet been confirmed by Microsoft, an apparent e-commerce mixup on the Amazon.com website in Aug. 2003 pegged the price at US$560 for Microsoft Office 2003 for Windows XP, which comprises Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. The Professional edition, which adds Outlook, Publisher and Access, will reportedly sell for US$690. Microsoft is expected to ship the product on Oct. 24, 2003. A complete list of prices is available at Amazon.com's U.K. store.
Conclusion
Overall, we'd have to say that, after many hours of working with the new Office 2003 apps, we prefer the task-oriented, full-featured sidebar approach of Office XP to the dumbed-down approach favoured by Office 2003, in which you typically see only the most commonly required commands. This, of course, is clearly an issue of personal preference. There's probably a way to customize the help panel options to see more than the "top three" items typically displayed here by default. Still, we can imagine that, in Microsoft's relentless focus group testing, novice users responded well to this feature-reduced interface. Depending on what you are looking for from an office suite costing several hundred dollars, these changes may be just the ticket. :
Overall, we'd have to say that, after many hours of working with the new Office 2003 apps, we prefer the task-oriented, full-featured sidebar approach of Office XP to the dumbed-down approach favoured by Office 2003, in which you typically see only the most commonly required commands. This, of course, is clearly an issue of personal preference. There's probably a way to customize the help panel options to see more than the "top three" items typically displayed here by default. Still, we can imagine that, in Microsoft's relentless focus group testing, novice users responded well to this feature-reduced interface. Depending on what you are looking for from an office suite costing several hundred dollars, these changes may be just the ticket. :
For Further Reading
eWeek: Office 2003 to Come in Six Flavors [Apr. 2, 2003]
CNET News.com: Microsoft sets Office bundling terms: Microsoft will not include InfoPath and OneNote as part of the Office suite sold at retail or installed on new computers. [Apr. 2, 2003]
News.com: Microsoft limits XML in Office. Whether Office 2003 customers get all the features they expect may depend on which version they buy. [Apr. 11, 2003]
Microsoft.com: Free resource: Resumes for Specific Situations | Job-Specific Resumes | Cover Letters for Specific Situations | Job-Specific Cover Letters, etc. [Jan. 24, 2004]
eWeek: Office 2003 to Come in Six Flavors [Apr. 2, 2003]
CNET News.com: Microsoft sets Office bundling terms: Microsoft will not include InfoPath and OneNote as part of the Office suite sold at retail or installed on new computers. [Apr. 2, 2003]
News.com: Microsoft limits XML in Office. Whether Office 2003 customers get all the features they expect may depend on which version they buy. [Apr. 11, 2003]
Microsoft.com: Free resource: Resumes for Specific Situations | Job-Specific Resumes | Cover Letters for Specific Situations | Job-Specific Cover Letters, etc. [Jan. 24, 2004]
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