I am not a computer expert, but I am an expert when it comes to the different versions of Office. I have used Office versions nearly everyday since Office 95. I have been impressed (and sometimes let down) by the steps that Microsoft have taken since that venerable first release. Office XP was better than Office 2000, but not by all that much. Is there a big difference between Office XP and Office 2003? Well, it depends. More about that in a bit.

As with all Microsoft products, you can expect the system requirements to continue climbing with each new release.

Office 2003 has the following system requirements:

Computer and Processor: Personal computer with an Intel Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) or higher processor, Pentium III recommended

Memory: 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or above recommended

260 – 400 MB of hard drive space depending on version and applications installed.

Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional (Service Pack 3) or Windows XP (that’s right, this software will not run on Windows 98 or ME – WHY?!)

Those are the system requirements. Take them with a grain of salt. Microsoft is renowned for its ability to produce software that eats all available resources, and Office 2003 is no exception. The above are the bare minimum requirements to run Office 2003, but if your computer is at or near the minimum requirements, it might be time to consider upgrading the hardware before buying this monster suite.

As with previous versions of Office, there are a number of available packages and prices.

Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 (New $499, Upgrade $329)

Word 2003
Excel 2003
PowerPoint 2003
Access 2003
Publisher 2003
Outlook 2003 with Business Contact manager

Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 (New $449, Upgrade $279)
Word 2003
Excel 2003
PowerPoint 2003
Publisher 2003
Outlook 2003 with Business Contact manager

Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003 (New $399, Upgrade $239)

Word 2003
Excel 2003
PowerPoint 2003
Outlook 2003

Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003 (New $149 US, no upgrade available – WHY?!)

Word 2003
Excel 2003
PowerPoint 2003
Outlook 2003

Keep in mind that many individual applications can be bought separately (Word 2003 for example); in terms of price the suite is a much better deal.

About XML

XML (Extensible Markup Language) has been around a long time. To put it simply, xml is a flexible text language that is easily understand by many different applications on different platforms. It would seem that even Microsoft understands the importance of interoperability. Office 2003 allows users to save in .xml format, so that data produced in Office applications will be easily understand across operating systems, database programs, as well as individual application. For corporations, universities and anyone who uses a database, this will be a huge improvement over Office XP. It is about time! Microsoft has been way behind in terms of integration and interoperability, so this improvement has been needed for a very long time. Microsoft was way behind the curve on this aspect, and it is finally good to see that at least in terms of interoperability, Microsoft has climbed out of the Dark Ages.

Information Rights Management

Another feature found in Office 2003 is integrated Information Rights Management (IRM). Basically this is a protection system that allows users to specify how content is shared, and who can access it. I have a gut feeling that this is probably an immature capability, and there are already rumors going around that there are ways to circumvent this “security” feature. In reality I think this new element in Office will probably not be mastered for another edition or two. The addition of this added feature probably speaks more about Microsoft’s paranoia about intellectual property rights than it does about helping end users become more productive. How many people *really* need to completely lock down their Word documents? It would be nice for a Christmas shopping list, though.

Word

Word has been the rock of all office apps since 97, and this version is no different. While the other applications in Office 2003 seem to be more developed than in earlier versions, Word 2003 seems very similar to Word XP. There are some advantages to this version, though. While I really am fond of Word XP, Word 2003 is a step up. Why? First of all, it seems more stable than Word XP. What do I mean? Well, Word XP often freezes on me, and that has yet to happen with Word 2003. The various menus seem to be more “snappy” but that could be because this is a clean install and the program hasn’t had time to decay. What else is there to like about Word 2003? Well, certainly the integrated search panes and updated thesaurus/dictionary. The built in searching capabilities in Word 2003 is a giant upgrade – though I would like it to be able to search through more kinds of documents (PDF files stored on a local drive for example). For me, though, the added search functions and the upgraded thesaurus and dictionary are HUGE, though I cannot imagine an average home user desperate for this kind of added functionality. Another first-rate aspect of Word 2003 is the XML functionality. This means that a document written in Word 2003 can be understood by, or integrated with, for example, many database programs. For me this is important, as I am building a rather large database and want to be able to do quick searches through mountains of data. Word 2003 allows this. Another plus to Word 2003 is the user interface. It would seem that Microsoft has finally gotten together with some ergonomic specialists. You can actually view documents side by side in this version – which is a much more natural (it is just like reading a book). The toolbars are similar to Word XP, though the toolbars themselves are more flexible and can be adjusted more easily. One more thing about Word 2003 – you are able to set the “rights management” of your documents. What does this mean? Well, you can set a password to a document, preventing those without the password from opening it. You can also set a date of expiration. While a neat idea, I think that Microsoft has been talking too long to the RIAA. This is not Hollyword. Having said that, though, Word 2003 is an important upgrade for those who live and die by this application.

Outlook

Wow! Everything has changed here! This is where I found the biggest changes between Office XP and Office 2003. The user interface has been completely reworked, and that is a great thing! Yes, Outlook is now pretty, but how does it perform? It seems quicker and generally snappier than previous versions, although that was never a problem for me. This version is much more stable, and doesn’t crash or freeze life Outlook XP. Outlook has addressed Spam in a major way, and Outlook 2003 has an integrated spam filter that rivals all of the leading competitors. The amount of spam I now receive has been cut by at least 50%. While that might not seem like a large number, it is if you consider how many hours that will save over the course of a year. The new filter will lead to more productivity, and that is what we are all after. Earlier versions of Outlook had some serious problems with security, and I cannot speak to any security changes in this version. Outlook 2003 is supposed to be much better at blocking those attachments that can open the door for a bug or two. I can’t speak about this, but it is something that Microsoft needs to continually monitor. It seems that Microsoft has done their homework though, as all aspects of Outlook seem improved. Let’s hope that there are no more serious issues with security in Outlook. What else is new in Outlook 2003? The calendar has been improved, though calendar data produced in Outlook is still inaccessible by non Microsoft applications (bummer). It is also easier to find archived messages in this version. Overall, I am very impressed with this version of Outlook. This application has grown the most since Office XP. It has been completely redone, and feels very polished. This app will be open and on my desktop, I can tell you that much.

PowerPoint

There have been many minor improvements to PowerPoint 2003. This version includes new animation effects and organization charts. It also includes ways to more easily integrate sound and animation to presentations, which I imagine could be quite useful. The document recovery feature is improved in this version, which was unexpected and welcomed. PowerPoint 2003 seems more stable than PowerPoint XP, though this version has crashed on me twice. Overall, though, PowerPoint 2003 is a minor upgrade. The new features are neat, but not that crucial in my book. If you work with PowerPoint and already have PowerPoint XP, then this upgrade is not that crucial.

Excel

I am the least familiar with this application, admittedly. The XML support has been included here, but I don’t crunch numbers that often to really take advantage of this feature. I can imagine for some people this might be important.

Access

Yep, like other Office 2003 applications, Access supports XML functionality. I personally have never been a big fan of Access. I use Filemaker. It is easier to use. Access also has a very step learning curve. I don’t have time to learn a new program, so for me, Access is not that important. I will stick with what has worked for me, and that is Filemaker.

Conclusion

There are so many changes in this version that it is difficult to summarize. Most of the upgrades in the individual applications are incremental (which says a lot about the developmental maturity of Office XP). Outlook has been completely rebuilt, though. If you are one of those people (like me) who have Outlook open and on the desktop all day, then this application alone is worth the complete upgrade. Individual user needs vary tremendously, but I think Office 2003 is a worthwhile upgrade for many. Every application has been improved. Outlook 2003 is scary good, and Word 2003 is rock solid. If you use earlier versions of either of these products on a regular basis, you will want this version. Office 2003 does feels like it was made for corporate offices. I wish Microsoft would quit thinking in terms of “professional” and “home.” Just like OneNote tends to blur the distinction between Outlook and Word, maybe it is time to remove the division between “home” and “professional”. Many of us are professionals who work at home. That is a philosophical issue with Microsoft and not an issue with Office 2003, though.

Is Office 2003 worth the price when there are so many alternatives out there (some of them free)? Well, if you only type a letter once in a while, then consider other alternatives (Open Office, Corel, Star Office) or stick with your present office suite as the cost of Office 2003 is just too prohibitive. If you use any of the core Microsoft Office applications with any regularity, though, you will find Office 2003 will make you more productive. In the end that is what it is all about.


Recommended: Yes