Everything about an Office Suite

Everything about an Office Suite Jacqueline Cortés López 22 de abril de 2014

JACQUIE CORTÉS

2 "B"

1

Introduction An office suite, sometimes called an office software suite or productivity suite, is a collection of productivity programs intended to be used by knowledge workers. The components are generally distributed together, have a consistent user interface and usually can interact with each other, sometimes in ways that the operating system would not normally allow.

Typical office suite components The the base components include:

*Word Process *Spreadsheet *Presentation Program *Database *Graphics suite (raster graphics editor, vector graphics editor, image viewer) *Desktop publishing software *Formula editor *Diagramming software *Email client *Communication *Personal information manager *Note-taking program *Groupware *Project management software *Web log analysis software 

JACQUIE CORTÉS

2 "B"

2

Application suite A group of programs that are sold as a package to solve common problems.

Although there are suites for graphics and mathematics, the most popular are "office suites." Also known as "productivity suites," they are a set of basic business programs designed with a uniform user interface and common functions such as spell checking. The primary programs are word processing, spreadsheet and presentation graphics such as Microsoft's Word, Excel and PowerPoint and Apple's Pages, Numbers and KeyNote. All office suites are able to read Microsoft files but may be able to save documents only in their native formats.

Each version has its own mix of apps, and one or more utilities may also be included. The individual programs are often available as separate products. See Microsoft Office, iWork, WordPerfect Office, Lotus SmartSuite, StarOffice, Apache OpenOffice, Google Apps, Zoho and graphics suite.

Apache OpenOffice Apache OpenOffice (AOO) is an open-source office productivity software suite. It descends from OpenOffice.org and IBM Lotus Symphony,[6] and is a close cousin of LibreOffice. Apache OpenOffice contains a word processor (Writer), a spreadsheet (Calc), a presentation application (Impress), a drawing application (Draw), a formula editor (Math), and a database management application (Base).

Apache OpenOffice's default file format is the OpenDocument Format (ODF), an ISO/IEC standard, which originated with OpenOffice.org. It can also read a wide variety of other file formats, with particular attention to those from Microsoft Office. Apache OpenOffice is developed for Linux, OS X and Windows, with ports to other operating systems. It is distributed under the Apache License. The first release was version 3.4.0, on 8 May 2012.

*Word Processor Word processing typically implies the presence of text manipulation functions that extend beyond a basic ability to enter and change text, such as automatic generation of:

-batch mailings using form letter template and an address database (also called mail merging);

JACQUIE CORTÉS

2 "B"

3

-indices of keywords and their page numbers; -tables of contents with section titles and their page numbers; -tables of figures with caption titles and their page numbers; -cross-referencing with section or page numbers; -footnote numbering; -new versions of a document using variables (e.g. model numbers, product names, etc.)

*Spreadsheet A spreadsheet consists of a table of cells arranged into rows and columns and

referred to by the X and Y locations. X locations, the columns, are normally represented by letters, "A", "B", "C", etc., while rows are normally represented by numbers, 1, 2, 3, etc. A single cell can be referred to by addressing its row and column, "C10" for instance.

Additionally, spreadsheets have the concept of a range, a group of cells, normally contiguous. For instance, one can refer to the first ten cells in the first column with the range "A1:A11". This system of cell references was introduced in VisiCalc, and known as "A1 notation".

Spreadsheets share many principles and traits of databases, but spreadsheets and databases are not the same thing. A spreadsheet is essentially just one table, whereas a database is a collection of many tables with machine-readable semantic relationships between them. While it is true that a workbook that contains three sheets is indeed a file containing multiple tables that can interact with each other, it lacks the relational structure of a database. Spreadsheets and databases are interoperable—sheets can be imported into databases to become tables within them, and database queries can be exported into spreadsheets for further analysis.

*Presentation Program A presentation program is supposed to help both: the speaker with an easier access to his ideas and the participants with visual information which complements the talk.

There are many different types of presentations including professional (work-related), education, entertainment, and for general communication. Presentation programs can either supplement or replace the use of older visualaid technology, such as Pamphlets, handouts, chalkboards, flip charts, posters, slides and overhead transparencies. Text, graphics, movies, and other objects are positioned on individual pages or "slides" or "foils". The "slide" analogy is a reference to the slide projector, a device that has become

JACQUIE CORTÉS

2 "B"

4

somewhat obsolete due to the use of presentation software. Slides can be printed, or (more usually) displayed on-screen and navigated through at the command of the presenter.

Transitions between slides can be animated in a variety of ways, as can the emergence of elements on a slide itself. Typically a presentation has many constraints and the most important being the limited time to present consistent information.

*Vector Graphic Editor Vector editors are often contrasted with bitmap editors, and their capabilities complement each other. Vector editors are often better for page layout, typography, logos, sharp-edged artistic illustrations (e.g. cartoons, clip art, complex geometric patterns), technical illustrations, diagramming and flowcharting. Bitmap editors are more suitable for retouching, photo processing, photorealistic illustrations, collage, and illustrations drawn by hand with a pen tablet. Recent versions of bitmap editors such as GIMP and Adobe Photoshop support vector tools (e.g. editable paths), and vector editors such as CorelDRAW, EasyCopy, Adobe Illustrator, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer, Macromedia FreeHand, Adobe Fireworks, Inkscape or SK1 are adopting raster effects that were once limited to bitmap editors (e.g. blurring).

*Equation Editor Equation Editor is a formula editor developed by Design Science that allows users to construct math and science equations in a WYSIWYG environment and is included in Microsoft Office and several other commercial applications. It is a simplified version of Design Science MathType. It can be used as a standalone program or it can also be used as an embedded object from within applications that support OLE. Its feature set has not changed significantly since its introduction in Word for Windows, version 2.0.

*Database Database management systems (DBMSs) are specially designed software applications that interact with the user, other applications, and the database itself to capture and analyze data. A general-purpose DBMS is a software system designed to allow the definition, creation, querying, update, and administration of databases. Wellknown DBMSs include MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, SAP HANA, dBASE, FoxPro, IBM DB2, LibreOffice Base, FileMaker Pro and InterSystems CachĂŠ. A database is not generally portable across different DBMSs, but different DBMSs can interoperate by using standards such as SQL and ODBC or JDBC to allow a single application to work with more than one database.

JACQUIE CORTÉS

2 "B"

5

Microsoft Office Suite *Microsoft Word A full-featured word processing program for Windows and Mac from Microsoft.

Available stand-alone or as part of the Microsoft Office suite, Word contains rudimentary desktop publishing capabilities and is the most widely used word processing program on the market. Word files are commonly used as the format for sending text documents via email because almost every user with a computer can read a Word document by using the Word application, a Word viewer or a word processor that imports the Word format (see Microsoft Word Viewer).

*Excel A full-featured spreadsheet for Windows and the Macintosh from Microsoft. It can link many spreadsheets for consolidation and provides a wide variety of business graphics and charts for creating presentation materials. Since its launch in the mid-1980s, Excel has captured some 90% of the spreadsheet market, enduring well past VisiCalc and Lotus 123. For a tutorial on the essentials of Excel, see XL abc's.

*PowerPoint The de facto standard presentation graphics program for Windows and Mac from Microsoft. It is the most widely used application for creating a computer-based presentation or slide show. PowerPoint files are saved with a PPS or PPTX file extension, although the original PPS format is used for compatibility with older PowerPoint versions and viewer software.

*Microsoft Access A relational database running under Microsoft Windows. Data is stored as a number of "tables", e.g. "Stock". Each table consists of a number of "records" (e.g. for different items) and each record contains a number of "fields", e.g. "Product code", "Supplier", "Quantity in stock".

Access allows the user to create "forms" and "reports". A form shows one record in a user-designed format and allows the user to step through records one at a time. A report shows selected records in a user-designed format, possibly grouped into sections with different kinds of total (including sum, minimum, maximum, average).

There are also facilities to use links ("joins") between tables which share a common field and to filter records according to certain criteria or search for particular field values.

JACQUIE CORTÉS

2 "B"

6

Conclusion *Differences between OpenOffice and Microsoft office

Cost

MS Office

Open Office

Licensed version

Open-source

comes with a cost.

applications often cost

Student & home version

nothing as it is free

is cheap, whereas office version are costly Updates

Updates come with

Updates to open-

a cost (but in some cases

source applications also

they allow free updates

cost nothing.

like non-profit organisations etc.)

Interface

MS Office interface

Open Office offers

is the de-facto standard,

generally comparable

as one is used to them

basic functionality – albeit

given the ubiquitous

with a less luxurious

nature of Windows OS

facade

and piracy. Otherwise Office 2010 offers users a richly designed UI, with custom ribbon and smooth, efficient workspaces.

JACQUIE CORTÉS

2 "B"

7

System Requirements

MS Office

Open Office

MS Office needs

OpenOffice lists 256

higher / latest systems,

MB of RAM (although 512

else they tend to be slow.

MB RAM is

MS Office 2010 minimum recommended). Open spec is a Pentium

Office is definitely good

700MHz with 512 MB of

in old systems, and with

RAM

Linux does excellently well

*Advantages Open office -No licensing fees. OOo is free for anyone to use and distribute at no cost.

Many features that are available as extra cost add-ins in other office suites (like PDF export) are free with OOo. There are no hidden charges now or in the future.

-Open source. You can distribute, copy, and modify the software as much as you wish, in accordance with either of OOo's Open Source licenses.

-Cross-platform. OOo 2.x runs on several hardware architectures and under multiple operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Sun Solaris.

-Extensive language support. OOo's user interface is available in over 40 languages, and the OOo project provides spelling, hyphenation, and thesaurus dictionaries in over 70 languages and dialects. OOo also provides support for both Complex Text Layout (CTL) and Right to Left (RTL) layout languages (such as Hindi, Hebrew, and Arabic).

-Consistent user interface. All the components have a similar "look and feel," making them easy to use and master.

Microsoft office -Universal Software Unlike some other kinds of software, Microsoft Office is the industry standard when it comes to desktop publishing. Whenever a document is required, it is

JACQUIE CORTÉS

2 "B"

8

always required in the Microsoft Word format with very few exceptions. In order to stay current with industry trends, MS Office is a must.

-Complete Software Suite Microsoft Office comes with many different kinds of software, all of which help with desktop publishing. If you are looking to write a letter to a client, Microsoft Word is the right software to use. You could employ Microsoft Publisher to help create a business brochure, or you could use MS Excel for your client database. This software suite has everything you need for running your business.

-Ease of Use MS Office is well known for being easy to use. Each program comes with helpful features so you can achieve nearly any goal. You can do anything you can imagine with this software, both for personal and business use. They also have extensive help files built into the programs if you get stuck.

-Online Support From Microsoft Microsoft's website consists of hundreds of pages devoted to support for their MS Office products. The site has free templates available for Microsoft software, and troubleshooting if you ever run into a problem. Automatic updates help keep your software bug-free so that it is always working at top form.

-Online Tutorials Besides the help that you get from Microsoft online, there are other websites devoted to help and tutorials. If you want to learn how to make a cool postcard, bloggers and webmasters will show you how. Since this software is so common, there are many websites online that can help you.

Disadvantages Open Office (a) It is not suitable to maintain privacy in operation. (b) It creats a lot of disturbances as there is concentration of office staff at one place. (c) Minor incidents may lead to suspension of work because a minor incident may draw the attention of the entire staff.

JACQUIE CORTÉS

2 "B"

9

(d) The flow of work is disrupted because noise-producing machines distract the attention of the office staff.

Microsoft office

Microsoft Access MDE/ADE/ACCDE files – Databases that have had their source code removed (such as .mde, .ade, and .accde files) cannot be moved between 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Office 2010. Such databases that are created by using 32-bit Office (any version) can be used only with 32-bit Office, and a database that is created on 64-bit Office can be used only on 64-bit Office.

ActiveX controls and COM Add-ins – ActiveX controls and add-in (COM) DLLs (dynamic link libraries) that were written for 32-bit Office will not work in a 64-bit process. As a result, Office 2010 64-bit solutions that try to load 32-bit ActiveX controls or DLLs will not work.

In addition to controls that load into Office applications, there are also Webbased solutions that use ActiveX controls in Microsoft Internet Explorer. Office 2010 64-bit editions install Office 32-bit clientside controls for supporting Web solutions in a browser. The workaround for resolving these issues is to obtain 64-bit compatible controls and add-ins or to install Office 2010 32-bit (WOW).

Office Graphics (OArt) - For Excel integration, conversion of OLE, form controls, and ActiveX to CompatE2os in Excel 2010, some controls are not available in 64-bit Office 2010. An example is the Microsoft Date and Time Picker Control 6.0 (SP4), which is accessed on the Excel 2010 Developer tab, by clicking Insert, and selecting More Controls under ActiveX Controls section.

JACQUIE CORTÉS

2 "B"

10