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| Microsoft Works Suite 2000 Less Works, more suite for home users. There's less of the traditional Microsoft Works in Microsoft Works Suite 2000 than in earlier versions of this all-in-one home-user software suite. But there's more of everything else. Works Suite now fills seven CDs with full copies of Microsoft Money 2000 Standard, Microsoft Home Publishing 2000, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000, Expedia Streets and Trips 2000, and a reduced version of the Microsoft Picture It! image-enhancing and cataloging program.
The original Works word processor has been replaced by a full copy of Word 2000, and the Works communication module has been replaced by Internet Explorer 5 and Outlook Express. All that remains of the central Works program itself are minimal calendar, spreadsheet, and database modules with hundreds of well-designed templates for creating spreadsheets for loan calculations, fund-raising, fitness tracking, home improvement, and almost anything else you can imagine. The Works suite is an amazing bargain for someone who want all its parts, and Microsoft has given a consistent Office 2000-style interface to all the built-in programs. But don't expect more integration than you would get if you bought the parts separately. The centerpiece of the Works Suite is a new, full-screen Task Launcher menu that organizes the functions performed by the suite either according to the program that performs them or by the kind of task, such as Household Management or Travel Information. The programs and tasks include built-in Windows features like the Address Book and Internet Connection Wizard, plus IE5 and Outlook Express and a link to the Microsoft Network's Web site. You can switch among Program and Task views and a History view that lists files you opened recently.
Works's database and spreadsheet can't match Access or Excel in terms of the depth of features, but they have all the functions needed for home use and are easy to use. Word 2000 can be overwhelming to home users who don't know how to manage all its options, and Microsoft doesn't tell you that the easy-to-use Works word processor is secretly installed along with the rest of the suite. (To use it, find WksWP.exe in the Works folder and drag a shortcut to the desktop.) Money 2000 Standard offers bare-bones, consumer-level financial features, without the investor-oriented functions found in Money Deluxe. Home Publishing 2000 is a massive factory for creating template-based invitations, flyers, and other graphic output, with a massive collection of clipart, fonts, and sounds. Encarta Encyclopedia 2000 is thorough and graphics-rich. Expedia Streets and Trips 2000 offers point-to-point routing with construction warnings updated from the Internet--but watch out for outdated restaurant listings and a bad fumble that displays two separate icons for every restaurant with "Café" in its name. One of the main options in Works's minimal version of Picture It! is a movie that invites you to upgrade to the full version.There's a lot to like in the Works Suite 2000, but you'll need a lot of hard disk space, because a "typical" installation fills 820MB, and you can fill 1.4GB by installing everything. Microsoft Works Suite 2000. Requires: 24MB RAM, 785MB to 1.4GB hard disk space, Windows 95, 98, or NT 4.0 or later. Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA; 800-426-9400; Company Info. |
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