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• October 21, 2003 •

Microsoft Launches Office System

Microsoft Launches Office System Microsoft Corp. today announced the general availability of the new Microsoft® Office System which includes six suites, 11 products, four servers, one service and Solution Accelerator. The Microsoft Office System consists of the 2003 versions of the core Office suites and programs; updates to other information work programs such as Visio®, FrontPage®, Publisher and Project; two completely new programs, Microsoft Office OneNote™ and Microsoft Office InfoPath™; and four servers, including the new Office Live Communications Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003.

"The new Office System is a major leap forward for information workers," said Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect at Microsoft. "It makes information work more productive — and more profitable — by offering innovative new ways to communicate, to find and share information, and to manage complex projects."

Office System 2003 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:

  • Office 2003 Basic Edition - Only bundled with new PCs and include Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook
  • Office 2003 Standard Edition - Available at retail. Includes Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook
  • Office 2003 Professional Edition - Available at retail. Includes all of the Standard Edition plus Microsoft Access, Publisher, and Business Contact Manager1 for Outlook
  • Office 2003 Professional Enterprise Edition - Only available through volume licensing (the primary way that large enterprises purchase software) and will include all the applications from the Professional Edition, plus Microsoft InfoPath2
  • Office 2003 Small Business Edition - Available at retail. Includes all of the Standard Edition plus Microsoft Publisher and Business Contact Manager1 for Outlook
  • Office 2003 Students and Teachers Edition - Available through academic volume-licensing and retail. Same as Standard Edition, lower price

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.

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:

  • Office Professional Edition 2003 Evaluation Kit: Includes a 30-day evaluation copy of Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003, which includes:
    • Microsoft Office Word 2003
    • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
    • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
    • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
    • Microsoft Office Access 2003
    • Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
    • Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager
    • Resource & Information CD
    • Getting Started Guide
  • FrontPage 2003 Evaluation Kit: Includes a 30-day evaluation copy of Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003; a 180-day evaluation copy of Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003, Enterprise Edition; Microsoft Windows® SharePoint™ Services; Resource & Information CD; and Getting Started Guide.
  • OneNote 2003 Evaluation Kit: Includes a 60-day evaluation copy of Microsoft Office OneNote 2003; Resource & Information CD; and Getting Started Guide.
  • Publisher 2003 Evaluation Kit: Includes a 30-day evaluation copy of Microsoft Office Publisher 2003; Resource & Information CD; and Getting Started Guide.
  • Project Standard 2003 Evaluation Kit: Includes a 60-day evaluation copy of Microsoft Office Project Standard 2003; Resource & Information CD; and Getting Started Guide.
  • Visio 2003 Evaluation Kit: Includes 30-day evaluation copy of Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2003; Resource & Information CD; and Getting Started Guide.
  • InfoPath 2003 Evaluation Kit: Includes a 60-day evaluation copy of Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003; Resource & Information CD; and Getting Started Guide.
  • SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Evaluation Kit: Includes a 120-day evaluation copy of Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003; a 180-day evaluation copy of Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition; Resource & Information CD; and Getting Started Guide.
  • Live Communications Server 2003 Evaluation Kit: Includes a 120-day evaluation copy of Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003; a 180-day evaluation copy of Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition; Resource & Information CD; and Getting Started Guide.

For additional information, read Microsoft Office System Product Evaluation Kits FAQ.

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Last Updated: October 21, 2003