This month's meeting on June 24 featured Axel Larson, who gave us a first look at Microsoft's just released Office 2000 software. Axel is well known to SPCUG members because of his role as a beta tester for Microsoft. Over the years, Axel has given most of us our first looks at each new operating system, even going back to DOS 5 and Windows 3.0.
Before his presentation on this new Office release, Axel took a few minutes to explain the role of a beta tester. These field testers get pre-release versions of new software so they can attempt to identify compatibility problems or other bugs in the program code. As problems are identified and fixed, new beta versions, or builds, are released until finally the program is proven sufficiently stable for commercial release.
Although it's a lot of fun to be in on the development of a new software program, Axel hastened to point out that it also requires a substantial investment of time as well as a lot of patience. The tester must use the software under as many different conditions as possible and with many different system configurations. New software, especially in the early stages of development, can be very unstable and cause lots of problems for the user, so of course it is important for the manufacturer to know about them. Axel keeps a regular log noting everything he does so if problems arise, he can report back to Microsoft on the conditions and situations. He keeps one computer dedicated strictly to beta testing so that conflicts and crashes won't interfere with his regular working machines.
In order to qualify as a beta tester, one has to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the manufacturer that prohibits discussing or revealing any of the program's features until after its commercial release. One of the benefits of beta testing, besides being able to influence the way the new program performs, is that the manufacturer will often provide the tester with a complimentary copy of the program once it's ready for commercial release. If you are interested in being a tester, you will find an application form that asks for some identification including your e-mail address, questions about what you want to test, and a description of your qualifications. He stressed that Microsoft wants everyday users as well as professionals in its beta testing group. He encouraged anyone interested to contact Microsoft at http://www.betareq.microsoft.com.
Back to Office 2000. This is the latest incarnation of Microsoft's ubiquitous office suite which, like its predecessor, Office 97, comes in several different flavors. There is the usual Standard Edition, which is priced at $249 and includes the latest versions of Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. The Professional Edition, at $399, adds Publisher, Access, and Small Business Tools to the package. The Premium Edition tops it off with FrontPage and PhotoDraw. There is also a Small Business Edition that packages the Small Business Tools and Publisher with the Standard Edition and is priced at $299. Prices vary among retailers and may be packaged in OEM versions that differ slightly in configuration as well as cost.
| Office 2000's new features start with the installation process itself which is now much smarter. The setup program will search for previous Office versions and will offer to remove them completely before installing. It will also offer to save configuration and preference settings and install them in the new version. Programs and components are installed as they are needed, saving space on the hard drive until the functionality is needed. Moreover, Office 2000 can automatically detect and fix errors without a user even knowing about them. For example, Office 2000 automatically verifies and reinstalls all of its files and registry entries, if necessary, to run successfully.
Office 2000 features ever closer integration with the Internet. For example, files may be saved in HTML format and can be uploaded directly to a server. Documents already on a Web site can be edited directly from the desktop bypassing the download, edit, upload sequence. Axel opened each of the suite's component programs in turn providing a quick look at each one. PowerPoint has a new interface and new templates, Outlook has a new, snappier interface, but otherwise, the programs look much the same with most of the new features contained beneath the surface. Like all new programs, there is a lot of excitement generated by looking at the new gizmos.
Axel, also demonstrated some extras that Microsoft has also made available such as MapPort 2000, a program that lets the user highlight any part of a map and zoom down to actual street maps. To demonstrate, he took us on a tour of Montana and zoomed down to his childhood home at Grizzly Gulch, which finally explained the origin of the name of his consulting company.
He also showed the group his SETI at home program. SETI is the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program which is now letting home users assist in analyzing data collected during the search. By downloading the SETI at home software, anyone with a home computer can participate. The program automatically uploads and downloads data with the SETI servers and works in the background according to user configured preferences. Get more information from the Web site at http://www.setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu.
All in all, this was a very exciting presentation that not only introduced the new, eagerly anticipated Office 2000 Suite of business applications, but also mixed in a number of very intriguing programs available to home users.
The Orangevale/Folsom Chapter meets on the fourth Thursday of each month at the Church of Religious Science in Orangevale, 6035 Main Avenue, between Greenback Lane and Madison Avenue, from 7 PM until 9 PM. Everyone is welcome. The next meeting will be July 22, 1999 and will feature a panel discussion of Hardware Upgrading: Issues, Tricks, & Procedures. The panel will consist of chapter members who have experience in upgrading and trouble shooting computers. The meeting is open to the public and we encourage anyone with an interest in personal computing to join us. See you there.
—Mike Evans
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