Authors Note: This is the first of six reviews I will be presenting on the Microsoft Office 2003 Professional Edition. The reviews will include Outlook 2003, Word 2003, Excel 2003, Access 2003, PowerPoint 2003, and Publisher 2003, which are all separate applications under the Office 2003 Professional banner.

I have used some iteration of Word, Microsoft’s flagship word processor since the release of version 2.0 when it made the move to the Windows 3.11 environment and my word processor at the time, Word Perfect became, well, imperfect in its now infamous Windows release. That first release of Word for Windows was a straight forward basic word processor, but with each successive release the program has become more and more complicated; indeed for years, Mac and PC users have faulted Microsoft for piling on more and more features (most of then will go unused by the average user) with each software version in hopes of making customers feel that they're no longer current. It’s the hey, I gotta have that syndrome at work.

In my estimation this “piling on” has come close to ruining what started out as easy to use word processor for you and I; in time saddling the program with bloat, sluggishness and unwarranted complexity. Today’s Microsoft Word 2003 builds Web pages (not very efficiently I might add), queries databases, offers advice, conducts Internet searches, collaborates, and all but whitens teeth. One could argue that Word stopped being just a word processor sometime around the end of the first Clinton Administration.

Don’t get me wrong, Word 2003 remains a great overall word processor, but it is not perfect. It’s is not the best choice for documents hundreds of pages long for example, its scheme for numbering paragraphs is over-complex, and frustrating, and creating a watermark, or table of contents can still be a exasperating affair. As I stated above you can use Word 2003 for web editing, but I have found that it does not perform this function well; I still use NotePad to code my Web Pages. And advanced page layout is better left to a dedicated desktop publishing program or Web authoring tool like FrontPage, or DreamWeaver. It is for, well, document creation and editing that Word 2003 performs the best.

So with the release of Word 2003, I was less then enthused about upgrading from the (overly) feature rich Word XP, which represented a quantum leap in terms of feature set and functionality over Word 2000. I was soon to discover that Word 2003 is not so much an evolutionary change as it is a cosmetic makeover. The screen is fresh, with softer colors and tones throughout; even the fonts have a smoother edge to them, as do the toolbars and graphics.

The Product

Indeed, most of the changes in Word 2003 have to do only with the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) file format, which has been available in Corel WordPerfect Office 11.0 (yes Word Perfect is still around) since the beginning of this year. Outside of this, you will not find many new features, just enhancement to the Word XP architecture.

XML uses standard tags within files to index, search, combine, and reuse text, often in conjunction with a shared data server., such a Microsoft’ SharePoint Server. Users can now save, edit, and open XML documents that integrate with other applications throughout the corporate campus. Word 2003 also contains several enhanced document mark-up features and change/edit-tracking utilities that allow users to collaborate on revisions with others more simply; e.g. the ability to annotate text using a pen stylus on a Tablet PC is new in Word 2003, or use data in an Excel file to display the latest financial information on a company Web site. Utilizing XML at the corporate level might prove useful; however XML will not do much for most home users, small businesses, many midsize companies, and students fighting a term paper deadline.

Also new to Word 2003 is a new document view called “Reading Layout.” In the Reading Layout mode, Word displays the document as though it were on facing pages of a book, and enlarges every font so it's large enough to read. I personally do not use the Reading Layout, because I find the text too cumbersome to read and edit. Another welcome enhancement: side-by-side document display. This allows you to view two documents side by side, scrolling them in lockstep. All-n-all a very useful feature, heretofore missing in Word. Word Perfect on the other hand, has had this ability since the MS-DOS days. There's no better way to compare two documents, then to scan them line by line on the screen making changes on the fly.

The (very useful) "task pane" introduced in Word XP has been slightly enhanced in Word 2003. A new “Research Pane” allows you to check the Internet for word definitions, synonyms and translations, and the new “Protect Document Pane” allows you to declare certain portions of a document off limits to editing by anyone who doesn't know the password; before you had to password protect the entire document, not ideal for group collaborations. This feature could be used to for example to encrypt a portion, or portions of a contract that you consider nonnegotiable before forwarding it to opposing counsel for review. But be aware, only Word 2003 supports this feature, and if you send a document with this feature engaged and the other party does not have Word 2003 the entire file will be non-editable).

Smart Tags:

Microsoft introduced us to “Smart Tags” with the release of Office XP. Smart Tags are a set of buttons that are shared across the Office applications. These buttons appear when the user needs them, and quite frequently when you don’t. For example, you can the Name, Address, and Date Smart Tags to save time when writing letters or creating mailing labels. Whenever you need to enter a recipient’s address in a letter, Smart Tags can (sometimes) help. Smart Tags are recognizable initially because of a different type of underlining (purple); however each Office application may use them in different ways. Recognized email names can also be given Smart Tags, and thereafter when you right click on them, you will get options which among other things allow you to add them to your Outlook Contacts list. Smart Tags, for those inclined are also programmable with Visual Basic, so you can program your own to pull query data from a company database for instance.

Smart Tags, which are created using XML, and tier inclusion across the Office application suite could strengthen Microsoft's ability to tie its applications and operating systems to its own, or third party Web sites. For instance, a Smart Tag pull-down menu attached to a stock ticker in Excel 2003 or PowerPoint 2003, could lead to the MSN MoneyCentral Web site for the latest share price.

Improved Features At a Glance:

• New Reading Pane.

• Side-by-side document comparisons.

• Customize functionality with enhanced Smart Tags.

• Find facts quickly. Stay in Word to do your research. The Research task pane can bring electronic dictionaries, thesauruses, and online research sites into Word so that you can quickly find information and incorporate it into your documents.

• Get a head start on your work. Take advantage of resources on Microsoft Office Online—including professionally designed templates, add-ins, and online training—that you can access in Word. Using Office Online requires a connection to the Internet.
•
Communicate instantly with others. No need to leave Word to find out if an instant messaging (IM) contact is online—you can access IM and even initiate IM conversations in Word 2003.

• Find the help you need. From the Getting Started and Help task panes, you can access Assistance on Office Online.

Word 2003 and Tablet PC

Combining the digital pen and the ink & handwriting features of the Tablet PC, with Word 2003, to create and annotate documents, presentations, e-mail messages, and spreadsheets—without needing additional software has been made easy. Ink is integrated directly into all the applications in the Office 2003 Suite, allowing you to access more functions and use ink more effectively for creating files as well as annotating and drawing within your files. This smoother ink integration can help you:

Add handwritten notes to your work. Use your Tablet PCand digital pen to annotate documents and even slides in your own handwriting, allowing you to insert your handwritten notes with ease into Word 2003 (A canvas is an ink area in your Word document and you can draw anywhere inside it). Be aware however, that to annotate e-mail messages in Outlook 2003, you must use Word 2003 as your e-mail editor.

Show and hide ink markup. Using the “Reviewing” toolbar in Word 2003, you can show and hide ink markups the same way you can show or hide typed comments and revisions in Word 2003 typed documents. And it you are using the “Track Changes,” feature you can selectively view annotations by each reviewer.

Impressions

Despite to bloat I could not live without Word, I am after all, a writer, and Word 2003 makes this a seamless endeavor. Word is the application I find myself in most often throughout the day. And as Word has grown I have grown with it, utilizing more and more of it core feature set, but at the same time barely scratching the surface of this feature rich word processor. At times this has been a painful process, but overall the positives in Word 2003 outweigh the negatives.

I do not use a fair amount of the features in Word 2003on a consistent basis, but those I do use are helpful in many respects. Task Pane which was introduced in Word XP, is now available to me full time; under Word XP I had to bring it up manually. From the drop down box in Task Pane I can access Clipart, Clipboard (a feature I use quite often), Research, Mail Merge, Getting Started (I can access a list of the eight most recently opened documents from here) etc. Task Pane acts as a clearing house, a central location wherein the most commonly used tasks are just a click away.

Another useful feature is the tight integration of Word 2003 with third party applications such as Adobe Acrobat Professional 6.0, Avery Label Wizard, and Norton Antivirus. Both Acrobat Professional 6.0, and Avery Label Wizard create tool bars and macros that can be access the programs on the fly. Since I am using Acrobat Professional 6.0 more and more these days, this integration is very useful to me.

Speaking of toolbars, Word 2003is festooned with them; standard, formatting, drawing, editing, reviewing, database, email, forms, and tables are just nine of the twenty toolbars Word 2003 makes available to you. Some like the Adobe Acrobat toolbar are small, but others like the formatting toolbar are quite large. All of the toolbars can float on the screen or be anchored to the top, sides or bottom of the screen. I find the formatting toolbar to be the most useful, wherein text formatting, font style, font size, font features (bold, italics, and underline), paragraph justification, bullets, etc. can easily be applied to a document.

Clipart has been improved. No longer are you stuck with the images that came with the program. For users of Office 2003 Professional, Microsoft included a second CD with just media content; i.e. Clipart, which can be installed on the hard drive for easy access. Clipart can also be downloaded via the Internet from Microsoft’s Office website, where a whole library of files is located. My spouse has found this feature particularly useful when she lacks adequate Clipart to complete a craft project, literally hundreds of more images are available on-line.

Lastly, Microsoft has greatly simplified the process of software upgrades by providing a convenient link to the Office website from the menu-bar (Help/ Microsoft Office Online). If you are connected to the Internet when this link is clicked, Internet Explorer launches and take you to the Microsoft Office On-line site, wherein you can update your instance of Word, and access clipart, templates, stationary, white papers, tools & tips, and a whole lot more.

Conclusions:

In the final analysis I could not in good conscience recommend against Word 2003 because it does what it is supposed to do, allow you to product world class documents. The program bloat while at time frustrating to no end, does not make Word 2003 unusable, or any less a word processor with substance and a feature set worth exploring further. Is it worth an upgrade from say Word XP to Word 2003? It depends. If you use Word in a corporate environment where collaboration is fundamental to your mission, then yes Word 2003 with is emphasis on collaborative tools is worth the upgrade. But if you are a home, small business user, or even a medium sized business, then the upgrade might no be worth the cost; I would stick with your current version of Word.


System Requirements
• Minimum Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP or later, Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3 or later.
• Minimum Processor Type: 233 MHz
• System requirements details: Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3 or later 64MB Ram, 150 MB Hard drive space; Microsoft Windows XP or later 64MB Ram, 150MB Hard drive space.

Other Reviews in this series:

Microsoft Outlook 2003: http://www.epinions.com/content_139434167940

Microsoft Publisher 2003: http://www.epinions.com/content_140382277252


Recommended: Yes