what is ms office

Microsoft Office is an office suite of desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and OS X operating systems, announced by Bill Gates of Microsoft on August 1, 1989 at COMDEX in Las Vegas. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of Office contained Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. 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. Office is reported to now be used by over a billion people worldwide.^[3]
The current versions are Office 2013 for Windows, released on October 11, 2012;^[4] and Office 2011 for OS X, released October 26, 2010.^[5] On 24 October 2012, the RTM final code of Office 2013 Professional Plus was released to TechNet and MSDN subscribers for download.^[6] On 15 November 2012, the 60-day trial version of Office 2013 Professional Plus was released for download.^[7]
A version of Office called Microsoft Office Mobile is available for Android phones, iPhone and Windows Phone.^[8]

Contents

• 1 Components
  • 1.1 Word
  • 1.2 Excel
  • 1.3 Outlook/Entourage
  • 1.4 OneNote
  • 1.5 PowerPoint
  • 1.6 Other desktop applications
  • 1.7 Server applications
  • 1.8 Web services
• 2 Common features
• 3 File formats and metadata
• 4 Extensibility
• 5 Versions available
  • 5.1 Compatibility
  • 5.2 Licensing
  • 5.3 Support
• 6 Discontinued applications and features
  • 6.1 Discontinued server applications
  • 6.2 Discontinued web services
• 7 Version history
  • 7.1 Windows versions
  • 7.2 Mac OS versions
• 8 Password protection
• 9 References
• 10 External links

Components

Word

Main article: Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is a word processor and was previously considered the main program in Office. Its proprietary DOC format is considered a de facto standard, although Word 2007 can also use a new XML-based, Microsoft Office-optimized format called .DOCX, which has been standardized by Ecma International as Office Open XML, and its SP2 update supports PDF and a limited ODF.^[9] Word is also available in some editions of Microsoft Works. It is available for the Windows and OS X platforms. The first version of Word, 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. Following the precedents of LisaWrite and MacWrite, Word for Macintosh attempted to add closer WYSIWYG features into its package. Word for Mac was released in 1985. Word for Mac was the first graphical version of Microsoft Word.

Excel

Main article: Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that originally competed with the dominant Lotus 1-2-3, and eventually outsold it. It is available for the Windows and OS X platforms. Microsoft released the first version of Excel for the Mac OS in 1985, and the first Windows version (numbered 2.05 to line up with the Mac and bundled with a standalone Windows run-time environment) in November 1987.

Outlook/Entourage

Main articles: Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Entourage

Microsoft Outlook (not to be confused with Outlook Express) is a personal information manager and e-mail communication software. The replacement for Windows Messaging, Microsoft Mail, and Schedule+ starting in Office 97, it includes an e-mail client, calendar, task manager and address book.
On the Mac OS, Microsoft offered several versions of Outlook in the late 1990s, but only for use with Microsoft Exchange Server. In Office 2001, it introduced an alternative application with a slightly different feature set called Microsoft Entourage. It reintroduced Outlook in Office 2011, replacing Entourage.^[10]

OneNote

Main article: Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote is a note-taking and free-form information gathering program, used with both tablet and conventional PCs. It gathers users' notes (handwritten or typed), drawings, screen clippings and audio commentaries. Notes can be shared with other OneNote users over the Internet or a network. Initially introduced as an optional Windows product that was not included in any of Microsoft Office 2003 editions, OneNote became a core component of Microsoft Office. With the release of Microsoft Office 2013, OneNote was included in all Microsoft Office offerings. OneNote is available as a freeware web application on SkyDrive or Office Web Apps, as a Windows desktop application, as a mobile app for Windows Phone, iOS, Android, and Symbians, and as a Metro-style app for Windows 8 or later.

PowerPoint

Main article: Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program for Windows and OS X. It is used to create slideshows, composed of text, graphics, and other objects, which can be displayed on-screen and shown by the presenter or printed out on transparencies or slides.

Other desktop applications

Other desktop applications included in Microsoft Office suite include:

• Microsoft Access: database manager for Windows
• Microsoft InfoPath: Windows application for designing and distributing rich XML-based forms
• Microsoft Publisher: desktop publishing app mostly used for designing brochures, labels, calendars, greeting cards, business cards, newsletters, and postcards
• Microsoft Lync: integrated communications client for conferences and meetings in real time (known as Microsoft Office Communicator in Office 2007, bundled with Professional Plus and Enterprise editions^[11])
• 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 Visio: diagram and flowcharting program not bundled in any Office suite

The following applications are no longer part of Microsoft Office family:

• Microsoft FrontPage: a discontinued HTML editor for Windows. It is no longer being produced, as the expansion of the web proved that it is very difficult for one program to handle everything related to web content development. It was replaced by Visual Studio (for web developers), Microsoft SharePoint Designer (for SharePoint developers), Internet Explorer Developer Tools (for testers) and Microsoft WebMatrix (for enthusiasts).
• Microsoft SharePoint Designer: a specialized HTML editor for Windows that develops SharePoint sites, now part of Microsoft SharePoint family and offered as an independent freeware download
• Microsoft SharePoint Workspace: a discontinued desktop application for Windows designed for document collaboration in teams with members who are regularly offline or who do not share the same network security clearance
• Virtual PC for Mac: a discontinued Mac program that was once part of Microsoft Office for Mac

Server applications

• Microsoft SharePoint: collaboration server
  • Excel Services
  • InfoPath Forms Services
  • Microsoft Project Server: project management server
  • Microsoft Search Server
• Microsoft Lync Server (formerly Office Communications Server and Live Communications Server) — real time communications server

Web services

• Office Web Apps: A suite of web-based versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint
• Microsoft Office website: The official website of Microsoft Office
• Microsoft Update: Web site. Patch detection and installation service for Microsoft Office.
• Microsoft Office 365: Subscription-based software services that licenses Microsoft Office products for on-premise or cloud-based use.

Common features

Most versions of Microsoft Office (including Office 97 and later) use their own widget set and do not exactly match the native operating system. This is most apparent in Microsoft Office XP and 2003, where the standard menus were replaced with a colored flat looking, shadowed menu style. The user interface of a particular version of Microsoft Office often heavily influences a subsequent version of Microsoft Windows. For example, the toolbar, colored buttons and the gray-colored '3D' look of Office 4.3 were added to Windows 95, and the Ribbon, introduced in Office 2007, has been incorporated into several applications bundled with Windows 7.
Users of Microsoft Office may access external data via connection-specifications saved in "Office Data Connection" (.odc) files.^[12]
Both Windows and Office use Service Packs to update software, Office used to release non-cumulative Service Releases, which were discontinued after Office 2000 Service Release 1.
Programs in past versions of Office often contained substantial Easter eggs. For example, Excel 97 contained a reasonably functional flight-simulator. Versions starting with Office XP have not contained any easter eggs in the name of Trustworthy Computing.

File formats and metadata

Microsoft Office prior to Office 2007 used proprietary file formats based on the OLE Compound File Binary Format.^[13] This forced users who share data to adopt the same software platform.^[14] In 2008, Microsoft made the entire documentation for the binary Office formats freely available for download and granted any possible patents rights for use or implementations of those binary format for free under the Open Specification Promise.^[15] Previously, Microsoft had supplied such documentation freely but only on request.
Starting with Office 2007, the default file format has been a version of Office Open XML, though different than the one standardized and published by Ecma International and by ISO/IEC. Microsoft has granted patent rights to the formats technology under the Open Specification Promise^[16] and has made available free downloadable converters for previous versions of Microsoft Office including Office 2003, Office XP, Office 2000^[17] and Office 2004 for OS X. Third-party implementations of Office Open XML exist on the Windows platform (LibreOffice, all platforms), OS X platform (iWork '08, LibreOffice) and Linux (LibreOffice and OpenOffice.org 3.0). In addition, Office 2010 and Service Pack 2 for Office 2007 supports the OpenDocument Format (ODF) for opening and saving documents.
Microsoft provides the ability to remove metadata from Office documents. This was in response to highly publicized incidents where sensitive data about a document was leaked via its metadata.^[18] Metadata removal was first available in 2004, when Microsoft released a tool called Remove Hidden Data Add-in for Office 2003/XP for this purpose.^[19] It was directly integrated into Office 2007 in a feature called the Document Inspector.

Extensibility

A major feature of the Office suite is the ability for users and third party companies to write add-ins (plug-ins) that extend the capabilities of an application by adding custom commands and specialized features. One of the new features is the Office Store.^[20] Plugins and other tools can be downloaded by users.^[21] Developers can make money by selling their applications in the Office Store. The revenue is divided between the developer and Microsoft where developer gets 80% of the money.^[22] Developers are able to share applications with all Office users (who Microsoft says number at 1 billion).^[22] One such example of Office app is a heat map for Excel. The app travels with the document, and it's up to the developer what the recipient will see when they open it. They'll either have the option to download the app from the Office Store for free, start a free trial or be directed to payment.^[22] With Office's cloud abilities, IT department can create a set of apps for their business employees.^[23] When employees go to the Office Store, they'll see their company's apps under My Organization. The apps that employees have personally downloaded will appear under My Apps.^[22] Developers can use web technologies like HTML5, XML, CSS3, JavaScript, and APIs for building the apps.^[24] An application for Office is a webpage that is hosted inside an Office client application. User can use apps to amplify the functionality of a document, email message, meeting request, or appointment. Apps can run in multiple environments and by multiple clients, including rich Office desktop clients, Office Web Apps, mobile browsers, and also on-premises and in the cloud.^[24] The type of add-ins supported differ by Office versions:

• Office 97 onwards (standard Windows DLLs i.e. Word WLLs and Excel XLLs)
• Office 2000 onwards (COM add-ins)^[25]
• Office XP onwards (COM/OLE Automation add-ins)^[26]
• Office 2003 onwards (Managed code add-ins – VSTO solutions)^[27]

Versions available

Compatibility

Microsoft supports Office for the Windows and OS X platforms. Beginning with Mac Office 4.2, the OS X and Windows versions of Office share the same file format, and are interoperable. Visual Basic for Applications support was dropped in Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac,^[28] then reintroduced in Office for Mac 2011.^[5]
Microsoft tried in the mid-1990s to port Office to RISC processors such as NEC / MIPS and IBM / PowerPC, but they met problems such as memory access being hampered by data structure alignment requirements. Microsoft Word 97 and Excel 97 however did ship for the DEC Alpha platform. Difficulties in porting Office may have been a factor in discontinuing Windows NT on non-Intel platforms.^[29]
Stuart Cohen, CEO of Open Source Development Labs, conjectured in 2006 that Microsoft would eventually release a Linux port of Office,^[30] but no release was ever published. Other operating systems were only supported by Microsoft Office Mobile, which supports the more popular features of Microsoft Office, and is available for Windows Mobile.

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2013)

Office for Windows support dates and supported platforms

Office	Windows version														Support end date
	3.1x	NT 3.51	NT 4.0	95	98	2000	ME	XP	WS 2003	Vista	WS 2008	7	8	WS 2012	Mainstream	Extended
4.3															?	?
95															?	?
97				SP1 +											August 31, 2001	February 28, 2002
2000				SP2 +											June 30, 2004	July 14, 2009
XP						SP2 +									July 11, 2006	July 12, 2011[31]
2003						SP3 +									April 14, 2009	April 8, 2014
2007								SP2 +	SP1 +						April 10, 2012	April 11, 2017
2010								SP3	SP2	SP1 +					October 13, 2015	October 13, 2020
2013											R2				April 10, 2018	April 11, 2023
Legend: Old version Older version, still supported Latest version

Office for Mac support dates and supported platforms

Office	68K	PowerPC						Intel			Support end date
	7.0–8.1	7.1.2	7.5–8.0	8.1–9.2.2	10.1	10.2–10.4	10.5	10.4	10.5–10.6	10.7–10.8
4.2.1											December 31, 1996[citation needed]
98											June 30, 2003[32]
2001											December 31, 2005[33]
v. X											January 9, 2007[34]
2004											January 10, 2012[35]
Office 2008											April 9, 2013[36]
Office 2011											January 12, 2016[37]
Legend: Old version Older version, still supported Latest version Yellow check mark indicates Mac 68k emulator, Classic Environment or Rosetta is required

Licensing

In addition to supporting retail sales and site-wide installations, Microsoft offers a "Home Use Program" (HUP) permitting employees of a participating organization access to home-use Microsoft Office products.^[38]
Post-secondary students may obtain academic software pricing on a University edition of Microsoft Office 365 subscription. Despite the name, college students are also eligible. It is limited to one user and two devices, plus the subscription price of $79.99 is valid for four years instead of just one. Apart from this, the University edition is identical in features to the Home Premium version. This marks the first time Microsoft does not offer physical or permanent software at academic pricing, in contrast to the University versions of Office 2010 and Office 2011.

Support

On October 15, 2002, Microsoft announced their Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy.^[39] Versions earlier than Office 2003 are no longer supported. For current and future versions of Office mainstream support will end five years after release, or two years after the next release, whichever time is later, and extended support will end five years after that.