Office 97 Professional

RETOOLED MS OFFICE 97 STILL THE LEADER

A Review of Office 97 Professional

by Rich Cunningham

When I first made the move to the IBM platform, away from my tried and true

friend of the computing world, the Atari TT030, I looked for one program

that I would be able to learn and master. One program that would allow me to

do all my functions at work such a word processing, database, spreadsheets,

that sort of thing. I wanted a product that would be around and continue to

develop as the state of computing developed. I chose Microsoft Office, and

have never regretted it. The latest version of this suite of products still

justifies my belief that Microsoft still has a winner on its hands.

The latest version, called (appropriately), Microsoft Office 97, is

available in many flavors, sizes and shapes. The one under review today is

the Professional version with Bookshelf Basics. The suite comes in Standard

and Professional editions. The programs included are Word 97 (word

processing), Excel 97 (spreadsheet), PowerPoint 97 (presentations), Outlook

97 (mail/exchange/Schedule +), and Access 97 (database, only in the

Professional version). All the programs, with the exception of Outlook, are

proven solid, products with an excellent track record for performance.

Rather than give an exhaustive and boring review of how great this product

is, or what problems are in it, I want to share some of the experiences I

have had with it. Then, by highlighting some of the changes in the

programs, show how this new version will set new standards that will affect

all computer users.

One of the features and changes I like in the Office suite is the combining

of the Exchange and Schedule + programs. Exchange replaced MS Mail, and now

it has been replaced by Outlook. This is program that allows the exchange of

email (both Internet and Intranet), scheduling functions, calendar, task

management, and journals. In short it is a desktop information manager. My

experience with it was using it as a replacement for the mail component of

MS Internet Explorer. This allowed me to not only get my email from the

Internet, but now store it in a location that is accessible by other

programs. For example, I get a message from a vendor regarding delivery of a

part. By using Outlook, I can take this message from the outside world, and

retransmit over our hospital Intranet using :CC Mail. I can also store it as

a Word document, and later cut and paste it to a memo or other written

report. In face, it is possible to use Word as the default editor/composer

for email. I liken that to using a flame-thrower to light a barbecue, but it

serves the purpose.

Improvements in this suite of programs run rampant throughout. I saw a story

on the news (no, not on MSNBC) that this is the biggest program to come out

of Redmond since Windows 95. Office 95, released at the same time, was an

attempt to get 32-bit versions of the suite out, to take advantage Windows

95. In the intervening 18 months since its release, there have been a

seemingly endless string of patches and improvements to these programs.

Office 97 will hopefully put an end to this, as it is a very well put

together program. Which leads me to my second point, where is all this

taking us?

My main opinion, after installing Office 97, is that the day is coming

closer and closer when the computer desktop and the Internet will become

one. The functionality of Office as a stand-alone product is unrivaled. But

within it are all the tools and foundations for working seamlessly creating

documents that can be used on the Internet. There are built-in options that

allow interchange of data not only with other programs in the suite, but

also other Microsoft products such as Front Page 97, Publisher 97, Internet

Explorer 3.0, and of course Windows 95. I can see down the road that someday

these products will be available under one package. Microsoft is already

leaning that direction with the pending release of the Visual Studio, which

includes versions of Visual C++, Visual FoxPro, Visual Basic, Visual Java,

in fact just about any Visual product available.

The program takes full advantage of the new Microsoft IntelliMouse, a new

concept in computer rodents. Instead of a little used middle button, there

is a rotating wheel that adds many commands and options literally under

one’s fingertip. In Office, it can be used to scroll through documents by

rotating the wheel. Other functions are available as well. The mouse is

included in one of the Professional upgrade versions, but not in the full

version. There is also a version of Bookshelf Basics included in the

Professional upgrade, which includes a dictionary, thesaurus, and a

dictionary of quotations. There are also several upgrades and patches that

are included in an added value pack on the CD. These are very important to

look at. For example, if you have the MS Plus! Pack installed, you will need

to replace the Themes.exe file, since the new version of Office changes how

this program works with .jpg files. Not doing this will cause you to have

problems changing your desktop themes.

So if you are a current MS Office user, run, don’t walk to get this upgrade.

If you have never used the Office suite before consider upgrading. The lists

of products that are in the upgrade path are staggering: it seems as if

every word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation or scheduling

program qualifies. But check the box before buying. And enjoy using the best

collection of office programs available.

Multimedia Cafe Scorecard

Product:	Office 97 Professional
Company:	Microsoft Corporation 1 Microsoft Way Redmond WA
Cost:	Standard Upgrade CD $229.99 Standard Full Version CD $469.96 Professional Upgrade CD $329.93 Professional Upgrade CD w/IntelliMouse $339.96 Professional Full Version CD $549.95

System Requirements:

IBM: 486 or greater microprocessor; Windows 95 or NT 3.51 (Service Pack 5)
or later; 8mb ram (Windows 95), 12mb (Access on Windows 95), 16mb (Windows
NT); 73 to 191mb hard disk space (121mb for typical install); CD ROM; VGA or
higher resolution (SVGA 256 colors recommended); MS IntelliMouse or
compatible pointing device: modem and internet connection optional
(Note: 3.5-inch disks are available on a free exchange basis, but do not
include a lot of the goodies from the CD)

Breakdown:

INTERFACE 5
EASE OF USE 5
CONCEPT 5

Overall Score: