Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is a proprietary commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in 1989. This has been the backbone of all the office documentations since its inception. Over the years, Office applications have grown substantially closer with shared features such as a common spell checker, OLE data integration and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications scripting language. Microsoft also positions Office as a development platform for line-of-business software under the Office Business Applications brand.

Applications in office suite: 

• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Powerpoint 
• Microsoft  Access(new)
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft OneNote 
• Microsoft Publisher(new) 

Some of these are also available in Microsoft Works. Initially, Word is considered as most important program of office. The first version being released in the autumn of 1983, was for the MS-DOS operating system and had the distinction of introducing the mouse to a broad population. Word 1.0 could be purchased with a bundled mouse, though none was required. Later on many applications were added and considered as vital in the office package based on their usage and necessity.


Other Desktop Applications of office: 

• Microsoft Access — database manager
• Microsoft InfoPath — an application to design rich XML-based forms
• Microsoft OneNote — note-taking software for use with both tablet and conventional PCs
• Microsoft Project — project management software to keep track of events and to create network charts and Gantt charts (not bundled in any Office suite)
• Microsoft Publisher — desktop publishing software mostly used for designing brochures, labels, calendars, greeting cards, business cards, newsletters, and postcards.
• Microsoft SharePoint Workspace (formerly known as Groove) — a proprietary peer-to-peer collaboration software leveled at businesses
• Microsoft Visio — diagram and flowcharting software (not bundled in any Office suite)
• Microsoft Office InterConnect — business-relationship database available only in Japan
• Microsoft Office Picture Manager — basic photo management software replaced Microsoft Photo Editor

 System Requirements for Latest Standard Version (2010):

1. 500 MHz or faster processor
2. 256 MB RAM; 512 MB recommended for graphics features and certain advanced functionality.
3. 3.0 GB of available disk space
4. Windows XP ( SP3) (32-bit), Windows 7, Windows Vista with Service Pack (SP) 1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2 and Windows Server 2008, or later 32- or 64-bit OS.
5. Graphics hardware acceleration requires a DirectX 9.0c graphics card with 64 MB or more video memory.

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