TOGETHER with the much talked-about launch of Windows 95, Microsoft last week rolled out the new version of Office, called - quite naturally - Office 95.
A few years ago Microsoft decided to bundle some of its most popular applications into one package and call it the Microsoft Office. Since then, the sales of Microsoft Office have skyrocketed.
The advantages of running a suite of programs such as Office have been clear for many years now; the various applications interact better with each other, the user interface is usually standard so that each program has the same look-and-feel and, of course, it is usually cheaper buying a word processor, spreadsheet, database and other tools as one package than it is to buy them all separately.
So what makes Office 95 special? It is designed to take advantage of the 32-bit operating system, Windows 95. Michael Aldridge, applications product manager for Microsoft in Hong Kong, believes there will be many new benefits to users who upgrade to both Windows 95 and Office 95.
'I think the most exciting thing about Office 95 is that we are the first software suite that runs completely in Windows 95 or Windows NT, right out of the box.' In the past Microsoft had two versions of a product, one for Windows and one for Windows NT. Now it is possible for the same package to recognise which operating system is being used and to install the appropriate version.
'We have, for example, expanded IntelliSense technology in all of the Office 95 applications,' he said.
'IntelliSense is a technology that Microsoft has been using to make it easier for the beginner to interact with the computer. AutoCorrect was once only a feature of Microsoft Word 6; now it is part of all the products that ship with Office 95.' 'The other really exciting thing is the new user assistance. We can now allow customers to learn applications on their own, without the need for manuals or even people to talk to.' This is achieved through the Answer Wizard. Customers can ask questions in ordinary English and the Answer Wizard will bring up the correct help file and in some cases actually show you how to do it.