Evvectiveness of Microsoft Office

When personal computers were initially introduced, software was available on a task-by-task basis: users would purchase application software (such as a word processing program and a spreadsheet program), often from two different vendors, and use each program without consideration as to whether data could be shared or whether there was compatibility among the two programs. During that time, users would accept the limitations that the various programs imposed and use an application designed for one purpose in order to accomplish another. Thus it was possible to use Microsoft Word to create overhead transparencies for presentations since such an application was more cost effective than purchasing (and learning) yet another program. At the same time, the costs of the various computer hardware components needed to support an office suite was considerable and many companies and individuals were not able to justify the requisite level of expenditure.

During the 1980s, the cost of computer hardware decreased while the power of computer hardware increased, and software applications became more powerful and offered greater opportunity to companies such as Microsoft which found themselves in growing markets. Microsoft (and others) recognized the importance of building brand loyalty by standardiz

. . .
work on the same document since previous versions are not "lost" but can be maintained on the system and easily retrieved (Bethoney, 1996, p.ß104). Microsoft Word has competed with Word Perfect (now part of the Corel suite) for dominance of the word processing market since both were created for DOS. This competition heated up in the Windows environment, and users of one product tend to be passionate about the superiority of "their" product over the other. The features offered by both word processing programs are comparable, although the keystrokes required to achieve the same result vary from one program to the other, and users may be satisfied that either program provides considerable power and versatility for completing both simple and complex word processing tasks. Microsoft has continued to improve Word since its initial introduction, and although Word 97 was initially not backwards compatible with previous versions of Word (a problem which was resolved in subsequent service releases), this continues to be a popular and effective word processing application (Miller, 1997, p. 153). Microsoft Excel Microsoft Excel is the other "workhorse" product included in the Office 97 office suite and Microsoft has continued to refine
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Microsoft Word, Word Power, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power, Auto Summarize, Power Point's, Microsoft Office, Perfect Corel, Office Assistant, Office Access, word processing, office 97, microsoft word, microsoft office, presentation software, word excel, bethoney 1996, word processing programs, word 97, devoney 1997, power presentation, includes word excel, devoney 1997 83, bethoney 1996 104, power presentation software,
Approximate Word count = 2904
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)