Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 Upgrade [OLD VERSION]

Word 2003 includes development tools that add dynamic features to documents making them powerful than ever. The power beneath all this is XML, allowing the user to embed components for updating data in documents such as stock quotes. Word 2003 offers simple, familiar yet improved features regular users are accustomed to. Majority of the features in Word 2003 are aimed primarily toward businesses and the Enterprise. But are still necessary for the average user because of the control over information across all the Office applications. Tools such as Information Rights Management (IRM), (this controls the flow of information to specific users), persons can be restricted on how they use your Office files; whether it's printing or sharing, very powerful! Reading view is an enhanced mode of print preview; documents are laid out in virtual pages reducing the need to print. The Task Pane is also improved by offering resources to look up information on a particular topic being typed; this is a feature across the core Office applications. Lots of other great features make Word 2003 a worthy upgrade.

Excel is a XML mammoth because of the integration with the language. The ability to migrate data between different storage sources and extraction of information to make it flexible in different scenarios. Tables can be transferred back and forth between applications such Word with ease. Excel can continually use the tables from documents as a data source for further expandability. It's the flexibility for data exchange that makes Excel 2003 very powerful.

Outlook, is so revamped, this alone is a worthy upgrade. Three panes in Outlook 2003 make e-mail an enjoyable experience. The Mail Pane holds all of the necessary tools found in prior versions of Outlook such as the Outlook Bar, and the different folders such as inbox, calendar, etc. The second pane gives an expanded view of the different items listed in the Mail Pane, like your incoming mail, contacts and calendar, which makes reading these information resources easier on the eye and productive by providing a better view. Reading your e-mail in the third pane (Preview Pane), the user views the message in portrait layout, more content is seen compared to prior versions. Its even better to view e-mails with "Clear Type" turned on for Windows XP users. Other features such as improved Virus and Spam protection makes Outlook 2003 a great upgrade. Outlook is not placed on the desktop by default, it can also be minimized to the system tray in Windows, for users connected to an Exchange Server, this displays all the network settings available.

PowerPoint 2003 offers the same features of version 2002, but what makes it an enticing upgrade is the package to CD feature that allows users to save presentations onto CD-ROMS. The PowerPoint Viewer included with each Package to CD allows it to be played on other computer systems even if PowerPoint is not installed. Windows media integration is also in PowerPoint 2003, which makes watching presentations more fun and exciting. The effects are fantastic when combined with these elements. The ability to integrate videos into Presentations to create home movies has long been a request of users, even if they have a DVD burner. For the PowerPoint 2000 user this is a worthy upgrade that provides simple yet Powerful tools to take presentation graphics to a new level.

This new version of Access is also XML integrated, enhanced features such as extraction of data from multiple tables, Access 2003 also improves Smart Tag integration. The ability to design solutions within the program makes web services a powerful resource for the enterprise; the flawless integration with Microsoft SQL makes information sharing a productive experience. This makes data storing and retrieval an easy way to control how data is implemented across many scenarios using personalized solutions, allowing your information to have a stronger impact across the Enterprise.

Publisher has become a mainstream Office application because of its integration with other Office programs. It connects to product databases; the Mail Merge feature is much improved because it's the same one as Microsoft Word, which offers greater ease of use. The Start Center is awesome, which makes starting publications an organized experience for the user. The interface is less cluttered and more customizable. You can rename pages like Workbooks for better searching, if you are typing large publications. The website features are easier to use; it provides satisfactory integration with FrontPage, for converting websites created in Publisher. With a total of 45 design master sets, users can create attractive e-mails that are fully compatible with many messaging services. The ability to merge data sources using text and images is great. Compatibility goes back to Publisher 2000, which is a draw back for users who might be using Publisher 98 or under.

Outlook Business Contact Manager is an application that offers features for Small Businesses for generating customer reports and e-mailing customers.

Picture Manager has replaced Photo-Editor; it has better image editing tools, more functionality and ease of use.

Office 2003 is a worthy upgrade for many users, especially persons still in an existing Office 97 or 2000 user base. The tools it provides offers a powerful productivity experience that makes information accessible, controllable and connected for you the user.

The suite and all the Office 2003 applications are supported only on Windows 2000 Service Pack 3, Windows XP all editions.


Best of Class   October 2, 2003
 17 out of 33 found this review helpful

I am using Microsoft Office 2003 Professional Enterprise edition, obtained through an MSDN subscription.
Microsoft Office System 2003 will prove to be the best in its class. The Microsoft Office Family has been revamped to provide industry standard XML and .NET support. Files can be easily shared between applications in the Office System family.

Microsoft Office now includes a new research tool that allows you to easily search for information. You can search research books (thesaurus, dictionaries) and web resources. Third party developers are creating even more sources (like Google) that will make this an essential tool for anyone writing reports.

Microsoft Outlook has been revamped with a new and improved interface. It is now easy to categorize messages, calendar items, contacts and more. These items can then be sorted by category! Outlook 2003 is easier to use than any previous version.

Microsoft Office 2003 is a complete solution for the home and business user alike. It is an essential tool for students and developers. The wave of the future is XML and Microsoft is beginning to shape that future today.

If you are new to Microsoft Office this is an essential product. This is a nice upgrade from Office 2000 or XP, but mostly for developers and businesses. If you want to harness the power of XML or .NET this is for you.

Microsoft Office System 2003 will only run on systems with Windows 2000 or XP installed.


Very nice...but worth the price?   September 21, 2003
 57 out of 57 found this review helpful

The beta version arrived at my house, was installed, and had lots of bells and whistles. Fancy colors, buttons, etc. However, I am not sure that the changes are worth the kind of cash proposed by Microsoft's suggested retail price. Word, Access and Excel are basically the same programs as XP, Powerpoint has a few nicer features (it always has had nice features), and Outlook does have some data management not previously available. As a small business operator, I have found it much easier to track business contacts, emails, etc. I also have a FrontPage designed website. The new FrontPage has a nifty "split" screen which allows you to look at your HTML coding along with the actual published page, both at the same time. The new FrontPage also makes general HTML tagging, coding, and changing much more user friendly. However, it suffers from the traditional Microsoft misery; namely, the online help is virtually useless. This is also true for Publisher. You will spend lots of frustrating moments with both of those programs.

...


Absolutely great!   September 18, 2003
 125 out of 133 found this review helpful

I have been using office since 1992 and frankly I was getting a little tired of the same look and feel. Well, after win xp came out I knew it was only a matter of time before Microsoft made office look and feel more lively.

Well, as soon as the beta version became available in June I purchased my copy of the 2003 Office and the whole bundle of the other products. I was a little reluctant to use the beta version for safety and stability reasons but I have to say that except for FrontPage 2003, ALL other software is 100% stable as a beta version. This only goes to show that the product really was programmed well.

Not a lot of change in the word and excel except for a few new things. However, outlook now looks fantastic and is incredibly productive. What a wonderful change... The look and feel of outlook is finally modernized and it is very useful in the office. I am CEO of a small company and we always struggled to keep a good track of our customers. With outlook 2003' contact manager that is now a snap. For example, every time you send an email to a client that you have previously registered in outlook as a customer, the email automatically becomes attached to that account. So, tomorrow you can just go the customers account and you will see all the emails they sent you and the ones you sent them all in one place. I love that!
PowerPoint has also gotten nicer. Many more transitions and themes. All around PowerPoint has always been a good piece of software and you can't fix something if it ain't broken.
Access looks great too. I think outlook and access both got a lot of things changed. I must say we use mysql for our company but if you are an access person, you will like the changes.
All and all I would absolutely recommend a change if you have a 2000 or older version of office. BUT if you are happy with your office xp now, really don't waste your money in this poor economy.
Hope this helps!