IT@TT - Online

Are You XPerienced?

Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, you...just kidding on the last one, folks. But Microsoft seems to have run though the numbers. And has now taken cue from its users to change tack. The latest software versions of what was (previously) code named Whistler and Office 10, have now been anointed by Billy G WindowsXP and OfficeXP respectively. The XP stands for experience (what else). But this name change is not just to smoothen confusing identities. The implications are much greater. XP is the first step towards .NET; Microsoft's vision for a convergent computing future. .NET is still in the making but the first efforts will be rolled out soon.

Symbolising (user, and possible company) eXPerience, XP represents the rich feature set and extended user experience WindowsXP and OfficeXP offer. The two, presently in advanced beta testing, are set for release later this year; with Office XP in the second quarter and Windows during the latter half of the year. Of course, these schedules are wildly optimistic to confirmed Microsoft watchers. The WindowsXP Beta 2 has already missed one release date. There's little real information about what direction WindowsXP is taking. So we'll focus on OfficeXP for the present.

Microsoft's agenda for Office XP is two-fold. The first is of course to introduce .NET. The second to implement its new anti-piracy measures. In the two years that Office has spent in development, the focus has been on "access to hard-to-find functionality and new functionality." Office XP comes with a new look and new technology including support for digital signatures. It's also consigned hapless "helpers" (Office Assistants)like Clippy to an obscure corner of the suite where they will remain lost and forgotten except to a die-hard fan.

Addressing a user (and also it@tt reader demand), Hotmail has been integrated into the Outlook information manager. As has support for Microsoft's Messenger service. Now you will be able to see if any of your contacts are online so you can chat with them in real-time.

Company research found that most users spent a lot of time formatting content. So next in line was integrating content from the different suite components. (G Menon of it@tt has been 'scoping' out Office XP Beta 1 and finds it different. And less user intimidating). The new Office Task Pane and Smart Tag technology help find and use current and new tools in Office XP in a timely fashion. For instance, an error in a formula or a mistake in Word triggers Smart Tags which then provide options to resolve the problem. Also new in Office XP is Compress Pictures. You can now easily reduce image sizes on-the-fly. However, the venerale PhotEditor has been given a quiet burial.

Office XP now sports an "Ask a Question" box in the top right corner. You key in your questions without having to open the Answer Wizard or the now late unlamented Office Assistant. The Office Template Gallery lets you import numerous templates direct from the Web. And supports images, sounds and animations. Your data sources too have a place on your system. My Data Sources, resides in My Documents and maintains all data sources a user has accessed.

The application is good on Document Recovery too. Users can now save files when encountering an error. After an error has forced shutdown of a suite component, you can restart it and recover the document. Further in a move sure to enrage many, all errors are automatically reported to Microsoft or your comapny's IT department. Users can also shut down a non-responding application while attempting recovery. Within Excel and Publisher (Small Business version only) you can decide how regularly you want files saved.

Specific to Office XP is team collaboration. Ideal for content development teams is the Send for Review tool. Here reviewing tools are activated on delivery of a document and changes can be merged into the original on receipt. For improved collaboration, Office XP also provides support for Microsoft SharePoint; a virtual intranet solution. This runs on Windows 2000 Server and creates a virtual workspace with contacts, task lists, calendars and forums.

The XML (eXtended Markup Language) now finds a place in the updated versions of Excel and Access. You can import and export XML spreadsheets directly into these applications. The suite can also be installed straight from a Web Server.

Radhika Peddi
[email protected]

Top

Other Articles