New Features in Office 2003, Part 2: Connecting Information

OFFICE 2003 RECOMMENDED READING

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Preventing E-Mail Overload

1. E-Mail Desktop Alerts
   Announcements inform you immediately of new e-mail messages coming in, no matter which program you are using. You can open or delete the e-mail message from this notification window.

2. E-Mail Reading Pane     IMPROVED
   Outlook 2003 makes it easier to read messages, including long ones. The Reading Pane displays twice as much content as before and reduces the need to scroll to read e-mail messages.

3. Enhanced privacy features     IMPROVED
   To help protect privacy and combat Web beacons, Outlook 2003 can block the download of external content from the Internet. If an e-mail message tries to connect unannounced to a Web server, Outlook blocks that connection until you decide to view the content. This feature also helps prevent you from viewing potentially offensive messages. If you're on a slow connection, it allows you to decide whether an image warrants the time required to download it.

4. Safe Senders/Block Senders lists     IMPROVED
   Automatically move junk e-mail messages to a folder so you can decide later whether to keep or delete the messages. The Safe Senders list tells the filters not to flag messages from senders as junk messages. The Block Senders list filters out e-mail from that sender altogether.

5. Improved junk mail filtering     IMPROVED
   The improved Junk E-Mail Filter can help you prevent junk e-mail messages from cluttering your Inbox. Microsoft provides updates to the filter periodically from Office Online so that it continues to be effective.

Organizing Your E-Mail Inbox

7. Arranged By conversation
   Along with grouping messages by date, size, subject, and other criteria, Outlook 2003 offers a "Conversation" option. Catch up on e-mail using a conversation-oriented view that shows only unread or marked e-mail and the specific messages that are being responded to.

8. Quick Flags
   Tag messages by priority or time sensitivity, and then find them in whatever folder they reside. When you need to follow up on an e-mail message, flag it in one of six colors so that it's easy to find. The For Follow Up folder shows all Quick Flagged messages, regardless of the folder they are in.

9. Search Folders
   Find e-mail messages that meet specific search criteria regardless of where the messages are stored. You no longer need to rerun common searches; instead turn your commonly used searches into Search Folders and click on them whenever you need them.¹

Saving Time With Tools

10. Research and Reference task pane
    Do research without leaving the program in which you're working. The Research task pane brings electronic dictionaries, thesauri, online research sites, and proprietary company information into Excel 2003, Outlook 2003, PowerPoint 2003, and Word 2003.²
11. Office Online services     IMPROVED
    Office 2003 Editions offer new and improved integration with Office Online services. More powerful, better integrated, and with an improved online interface, these services are seamlessly available in programs in Office 2003 Editions.³
12. Help improvements available in a task pane     IMPROVED
    Regularly updated articles and information help users accomplish their goals by making Help and useful online resources easily accessible from Assistance on Office Online in the Help task pane.
13. Task panes     IMPROVED
    Perform important tasks from a single location in your document. Task panes give you access to online help and templates and allow you to view open documents in that particular application, view Clipboard contents, format documents, and complete other tasks.

Application-Specific Improvements

14. Word 2003 Reading Layout view
    The Reading Layout view makes it easier to read documents online. It optimizes the document for reading on screen, including larger text, shorter lines, and pages that fit exactly on the screen.
15. Excel 2003 list integration with Windows SharePoint Services
    Save time using Excel with Windows SharePoint Services. Select ranges of data in Excel spreadsheets to create lists in sites created with Windows SharePoint Services. If the list is linked to the Windows SharePoint Services site, any changes made to the data in the Excel worksheet are reflected in the Windows SharePoint Services site when synchronized. Excel can also be used to edit or print existing Windows SharePoint Services lists.⁴
16. Excel 2003 enhanced statistical functions     IMPROVED
    Excel 2003 offers enhancements in collinearity detection, calculations of sum of squared deviations, normal distributions and continuous probability distribution functions.
17. PowerPoint 2003 Package for CD
    Package a PowerPoint presentation to a CD for broader sharing or distribution. When the recipient inserts the CD into their CD drive, the presentation automatically launches in slide-show mode using the improved PowerPoint Viewer.
18. PowerPoint 2003 smart tag support
    Smart tags are now in PowerPoint. When a name, address, or other key phrases comes up, a smart tag icon appears that can provide additional information and options so that you can complete tasks more quickly.
19. PowerPoint 2003 enhanced multimedia support     IMPROVED
    PowerPoint 2003 supports additional play list formats and playback of full-screen video. Play video full screen and use playback to stop, start, rewind, or find screens from within a slide show. Supported file types include ASX, WMX, M3U, WVX, WAX, and WMA. If a media codec is not available, PowerPoint and Windows Media Player will attempt to download it.
20. Improved error checking in Access 2003     IMPROVED
    The new error checking feature flags common errors in forms and reports, making testing and fixing errors faster than ever. Once flagged, you can have the option to correct errors, saving more time than ever.
21. Field property changes in Access 2003     IMPROVED
    Field properties and all the forms or reports that have controls bound to them are updated automatically for accurate information.

Improving Performance and Administration

22. Intelligent network detection
    Local caching downloads all necessary information to your computer as it comes in—so you're not affected by network performance issues. When the mail server is unavailable due to network, maintenance, or outage conditions, you can continue to work without interruption.⁵
23. Outlook 2003 connectivity performance enhancements     IMPROVED
    Outlook 2003 stays connected even when you roam between network connections, making it easier to switch between working at the office or remotely. Outlook 2003 adapts for bandwidth availability. You can also choose when to download large messages, when to synchronize your Inbox and mobile device, and other ways to improve how you work in different networks.
24. Application and document recovery     IMPROVED
    Should an error occur, you'll have the option to save the files you're working on when the error occurs. The recovered document(s) is displayed in the Recovery task pane.
25. File Format Compatibility     IMPROVED
    Backward compatibility between Office 2003 Editions, Office 2003, Office 2000, and Office 97 (with the exception of Access 97) lets users of all four versions seamlessly share documents. Access 2003 uses the Access 2000 file format by default.

Working Mobile

26. Inking support for the Tablet PC
    If you use a Tablet PC, you can use a digital pen to annotate files in your own handwriting. Take notes, insert diagrams, or send files with comments to others.
27. Handwriting integration with mobile devices     IMPROVED
    Notes you take on a handheld computer can be uploaded to programs in Office 2003 Editions as text. Write directly in Word and save your work as a handwritten document or convert it to text or typed characters.

Harnessing Information from the Programs You Use Most

28. Programmable task panes
    Extensible Markup Language (XML) enables developers to create solutions that incorporate information from a variety of sources into Access 2003, Excel 2003, and Word 2003 files. Programs in Office 2003 Editions can automate virtually any task involved with creating files such as reports, spreadsheets, and forms. Using Office Professional Edition 2003, you can customize schemas and task panes to integrate with other programs or XML data sources.
29. XML support in Word 2003
    Word 2003 supports customizable XML schemas, enabling you to open business documents that contain XML data and work with them like any other document. In addition, you can save and open XML files in Word 2003 to integrate with key business data in the organization.
    
    Note: In all Office 2003 Editions, Word 2003 documents can be saved in a native XML file format which can be manipulated and searched using any program that can process industry standard XML. With Office Professional Edition 2003, companies can also use customized XML formats—or schemas—to enable easier and more advanced information creation, capture, exchange, and reuse.
30. Excel 2003 Visual XML Mapping tool
    Use the visual mapping tool to map a user-specified XML schema to fields in an Excel spreadsheet. The visual mapping tool makes it easy to bring XML data into a spreadsheet.
    
    Note: The Visual XML Mapping tool is available in Office Professional Edition 2003.
31. InfoPath 2003
    Use Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 to streamline and control the gathering of information that your team or organization can reuse across processes and organizations. InfoPath provides support for XML, XML Web services, and custom XML schemas. Use dynamic rich authoring and built-in validation in a WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get") environment. InfoPath 2003 is available in Microsoft Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003. Read the InfoPath 2003 overview.
32. Support for custom defined XML schemas     IMPROVED
    With extensive support for industry-standard XML, Office Professional Edition programs (Access 2003, Excel 2003, and Word 2003) can communicate with disparate back-end systems and formats. XML support in Word 2003, Excel 2003, and Access 2003 streamlines the process of accessing and capturing information between computers and back-end systems, unlocking hidden information, and enabling the creation of integrated business solutions across the organization and between business partners.

Customizing Office 2003 Editions Programs

33. Smart tags     IMPROVED
    A set of buttons shared across Office programs, smart tags deliver a menu of context-sensitive options when and where they are needed -- for example, when you paste data or make an error in an Excel formula. They provide options for completing a task quickly.
    
    Context-sensitive smart tag — Automatically recognize many information types, including names, dates, addresses, telephone numbers, places, and stock symbols. Smart tags can be customized to recognize multiple types of data.
    
    Paste options smart tag — When pasting data from another source, you can paste data in its original style and format, modify it to match the target document's formatting, or paste it as text only.
    
    AutoCorrect options smart tag — When auto-corrections are made, you can undo or modify a correction or specify that the correction not be made again in the future.

¹ Search Folders require a connection to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.
² Some of the capabilities in the Research task pane require a connection to the Internet.
³ Office Online requires a connection to the Internet. Learn more about Office Online.
⁴ Requires Windows Server 2003 running Windows SharePoint Services.
⁵ Local caching requires Exchange Server 2003.

Which Office 2003 Edition is right for you?

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