First Look Microsoft Office 2003

Office 2003 is designed to support the entire life cycle of an idea-from that first spark in the back of your head to the brainstorming meeting with Product Development to the project management and final production of the end result. Each aspect of Office-the core applications, online services, customizability of key features, instant communication, and underlying XML support-provides ways to capture, explore, contribute, and build on your ideas. With an emphasis on communication and collaboration, the vision for Office 2003 includes these important aspects of working with information effectively:

• Capturing ideas wherever and whenever they spring up. Support for the Tablet PC in all core applications lets you jot notes on your Tablet (or on your Pocket PC) in a meeting and then e mail them directly to team members; you can save, store, and file information in a variety of ways, including as XML, which gives you the ability to pull it into an almost unlimited number of forms.

• Communicating instantly with integrated messaging. Windows Messenger is now built right into Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 (and appears as smart tags when you type recognized names in application documents), which means you can see whether others on your contact list are online. If they are, you can ask a quick question or send a fast update while you're thinking about it.

• Collaborating more effectively with enhanced team features. Improved collaboration features in the major applications as well as improvements in SharePoint Team Services make working with others both inside and outside your organization easier to manage than ever. Using new meeting and document workspaces, you can gather and discuss (and revise) anywhere you have access to the Web; you can also customize templates for your SharePoint site, compare calendars, set alerts, and create customized lists for the way you organize and view your site.

• Creating a personalized collection of services you need and want. The new MyOffice site, available only to Office users, is an online collection of supports and services that help you answer questions about Office and extend its core functionality through complementary products and services that facilitate your work process-in the best way for you.

• Making your data go further with XML.XML (Extensible Markup Language) has changed the way we work with information by separating the data-the document's structure and meaning- from its format (Microsoft Office Word 2003 document, Microsoft Office Excel 2003 spreadsheet, Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Web site, and so on). Because the data is stored separately using a structured, self-describing language, the data itself can be used in different forms to produce a variety of end results. This allows you to use the same data to create a brochure, a Web site, a PivotTable, a Microsoft Office Access 2003 report, and so on. You save time creating what you want to create instead of copying existing documents, removing formats, and starting over. Smart Documents use XML to bring this enhanced functionality to Word and Excel, and InfoPath enable you to prepare sophisticated forms to gather and reuse information.

• Simplifying the upgrade and deployment process.Adding new software always involves a learning curve and, depending on the size and structure of your organization, can be a major undertaking. Office 2003 takes a shot at resolving upgrade challenges by adding a new Custom Installation Wizard and Custom Maintenance Wizard for corporate deployment. For individual users, the Setup interface and process have been improved, stabilized, and expanded to be more accessible for all users.

• Protecting valuable business information with IRM.Information Rights Management features enable you to grant or restrict the ability to print, forward, edit, and copy documents. This ensures the integrity of your intellectual property and allows you to grant permissions to selected people rather than making it available to all who have access to your system.

Throughout the rest of this chapter, we'll look more specifically at how Office 2003 meets the needs of individual information workers and small and large organizations by offering new and improved products and services that make communication, collaboration, and data application easier and more flexible.