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• October 29, 2003 •
Office Outlook 2003
Outlook is one of the applications that have undergone major changes over previous versions. What you'll probably notice first is that Outlook includes a new columnar user interface (Figure) that gives precedence to the currently selected email. According to Microsoft, this new view style, which essentially moves the preview pane from the lower right corner of the display to the entire right side of the display, provides 40 percent more viewing area than the previous scheme.
Finally Microsoft has added a Junk Mail filter to Outlook. The filter can be set from a new Junk E-mail button on the Preferences tab under the menu item Tools > Options. When you click this button, a new Junk E-mail Options dialog appears (Figure) where you can choose between various levels of protection such as:
You can optionally choose to automatically delete suspected junk email instead of moving it to the Junk E-mail folder.
Other tabs on the Junk E-mail Options dialog allow you to configure your Safe Senders list (which has an option to automatically include all of the users in your Contacts list), your Safe Recipients list, and a Blocked Senders list.
One negative thing is that all Outlook's rules (included Junk E-mail filtering) are based on email that is actually in your Inbox folder (so you already downloaded the email), that's why personally I stick with my server-based filters!
Another long overdue change is that Outlook will no longer show HTML email by default (Figure). External content is blocked by default, but can be easily enabled on a case-by-case basis, or as a general setting .
What will probably be annoying to long-time Outlook users is that some of the common keystrokes have changed. For example, in previous Outlook versions, you could access Advanced Find by using the key combination ALT+T+D, but that has now become CTRL+SHIFT+F.
Outlook's Calendaring function also got some updates. It now supports a Save As Web Page feature (Figure) that at least allows you publish a calendar online, but not in a format that can be used by other calendaring applications. It still doesn't support the industry-standard interoperability with iCal-based Web calendars.
There's one other catch: Microsoft knows it has made such a good product, the company has removed any upgrade pricing option, the only Office application that lacks such an option. So if you are thinking of buying only Outlook 2003, it will set you back $109 at retail.
Office PowerPoint 2003
The single biggest change to PowerPoint is that it finally has the document recovery features Word and Excel got in Office XP. PowerPoint users get new animation effects, organization charts, and diagram types, and use sounds and animations in Web-published presentations (Figure).
Office Access 2003
Access now ships with MSDE 2000 SP3, which enables you to create SQL Server-based database projects. Access also has limited XML support.
Office 2003 Editions Document Formats
Document formats in Office 2003 Editions are the same as those in Office XP, Office 2000, and Office 97, they are compatible with those versions.
Office System 2003 Bundles
Six Office System bundles will be available, including a new addition for small businesses and another to be installed on new PCs. The bundles are:
1 Business Contact Manager is an extension of Outlook that adds customer relationship management (CRM) information to contacts, calendars and e-mail.
2 Microsoft Office InfoPath streamlines the process of gathering information by allowing users to create and complete dynamic forms and submit them to the XML-enabled systems and business processes that need the information.
As with previous Office versions, the Office editions can be installed on up to two PCs, one on a desktop, and one on a notebook, though not to be used concurrently. The only exception is that the Office 2003 Students and Teachers Edition, which previously only allowed a single installation, will now be allowed concurrently on as many as three computers. This edition will also come with less restrictive licensing rules, that will let parents of students or children under age 18 legally buy the product. According to sources, this change makes the Office 2003 Students and Teachers Edition available to more than half of US households, and Microsoft expects this version to be its retail sales leader going forward.
Pricing and Availability
Estimated retail pricing (ERP) for the Microsoft Office 2003 Editions is unchanged from Office XP. A sampling of the U.S. ERP for the full product packages includes Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003, $149*; Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003, $399 (upgrade $279); Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003, $499 (upgrade $329) and Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003, $449 (upgrade $279). Prices for stand-alone programs inside the suite are unchanged at $229 (upgrade $109) for Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Office Excel 2003, Microsoft Office Access 2003 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003, and $109 for Microsoft Office Outlook 2003. The U.S. ERP for InfoPath 2003 is $199. OneNote 2003 has a U.S. ERP of $199, with a $100 mail-in rebate available for qualifying customers in North America.
A full price list for the products and servers in the Microsoft Office System is now available on the Microsoft Office Web site.
Evaluation Kits
Microsoft is offering Microsoft Office System Product Evaluation Kits. These trial kits are available worldwide and cost $7.95 US for the first kit and $4.95 US for each additional kit. The cost of the kits includes shipping and handling (some are available for free download).
You can order the following Microsoft Office System Product Evaluation Kits:
For additional information, read Microsoft Office System Product Evaluation Kits FAQ.
Should you upgrade?
That's not an easy question to answer. Personally I think Office 2000 and Office XP users who need to buy a retail upgrade should skip this one. If you're using an older Office version, this will be a great step forward. If you already use Outlook for email, you should at least consider upgrading to Outlook 2003, although it'll set you back $109 (Currently available at Amazon.com for $87.99, or £78.69 in the UK).
If the Student and Teacher Edition meets your needs, Office 2000 and Office XP users could consider that as an option. But remember: you'll have NO upgrade eligibility next time around, but then again, at $149 you'll save $130 on the Standard Edition upgrade price!
*Microsoft Office 2003 Student and Teacher Edition currently available at Amazon.com for $129, or £109.99 in the UK.
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