MS introduces ‘Office System’

SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp., on Tuesday said the latest versions of its Office programs will be made available on Oct. 21, later than the summer time frame the company was aiming for.

Microsoft has been testing the software, which includes word processing and spreadsheet programs, for a more than a year. Microsoft Office 2003 and its related programs accounted fiscal year.

Microsoft said Office would be pre-installed on some manufacturer's computers by the end of September.

The Redmond, Washington company had taken an extra three months to test Office with users, pushing it past its scheduled launch sometime this summer.

The main Office programs include Word for creating documents, Excel for spreadsheet calculations, PowerPoint for presentations, and Outlook for e-mail, scheduling and contacts as well as an array of other business-specific programs.

The company said that it has developed "the most innovative and stable Office products to date" and describes it as the Office System, or a family of software meant to work closely together.

Among the new features in Office are tools to control the increasing flood of spam, or unsolicited e-mail.

Office's programs will also include a new feature called a Research Task Pane that allows users to quickly access information in databases, the Internet and their computers.

Other new products in the Office family are InfoPath and OneNote. InfoPath allows users to create XML-based forms that make it easier to exchange and share data over the Web. OneNote allows users to take notes and use digital ink on Tablet PCs.

The system also includes Project software for managing large and complicated corporate projects, Access to create databases and Visio to create flowcharts and diagrams.

"Microsoft is pulling away from the notion that there's a lot more they can do to make individuals productive towards making groups of people more productive," said Rob Helm, director of research at Directions on Microsoft, an independent researcher.

Many of Microsoft's large corporate customers, however, have already paid for the right to upgrade to the latest version of Office.

But since many of the newest features of Office require upgrades to the server software used to manage computer networks, Helm said that main challenge for Microsoft would be to convince companies to make investments during a period of tighter technology budgets.

Microsoft's Office also faces competition from low-cost competitors such as OpenOffice and StarOffice.

Microsoft said it will launch several different editions of Office, including a standard edition for $399, a professional edition for $499, and small business edition for $449. There is also an education Student and Teacher Edition for $149.

Upgrades from previous versions are usually $50 to $70 cheaper and each of the individual Office programs will be available separately, Microsoft said.

Microsoft shares closed up 92 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $26.62 on the Nasdaq.

© Reuters