Introduction

Overview

The release of the 2007 Microsoft Office system is another milestone for Microsoft’s suite of business productivity software. First, many of the Microsoft Office system programs have a significantly different user interface, which Microsoft has branded the Microsoft Office Fluent interface to denote its ease of use; the manner in which commands and tools you need to accomplish your work flow smoothly into view when you need them (and hide gracefully when you don’t); and how it readily presents you with previews and options that make tasks like analysis, editing, and formatting much easier to understand and perform.

The Microsoft Office system continues to grow as well as evolve. The 2007 release consists of several editions (Office Standard 2007 and Office Professional 2007 are two examples) that each comes with a specific mix of desktop programs. The number of desktop programs has grown as well and now includes programs such as Microsoft Office Groove 2007 (a collaboration and information sharing application) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 (a Web site design and solution development tool). The 2007 Office release has updated versions of Microsoft Office InfoPath, Microsoft Office OneNote, and Microsoft Office Visio. It includes real-time communication tools as well as desktop publishing, accounting, and project management programs. And the 2007 Office release features redesigned and newly enriched versions of its most widely used programs-Microsoft Office Access, Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office Outlook, Microsoft Office PowerPoint, and Microsoft Office Word.

The 2007 Microsoft Office system also includes server products, such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, that have further transformed the Microsoft Office system into a platform on which software developers and users can build and work with collaboration tools, collect business intelligence, manage business processes and content, and more. But this is just a glimpse of the extent to which the 2007 Microsoft Office system addresses the needs and habits of organizations and individuals that depend on software and information technology for their business and in their personal lives.