Opinion mixed on Microsoft’s upgraded Office software

Kevin Ferguson

Monday, June 11, 2001 | 8:49 a.m.

A new version of Microsoft Office software, the company's cash cow, has hit Las Vegas retail stores.

Office XP, which has received mixed reviews from analysts and tech consultants, collaborates more efficiently with cyber-based processes, such as cutting and pasting information from web pages to word-processing documents.

While some appear to like the new features, at least one analyst questions if the features will be used enough to justify the cost of an upgrade. That's because many companies are slashing their budgets in the midst of a sluggish economy.

Microsoft Office products represent about 30 percent of the software giant's revenue. Therefore, it could be damaging for Microsoft's bottom line if the product doesn't sell well, analysts say.

The release of the product, the 10th version of Office, also comes as a federal court ruling looms over the Redmond, Wash.,-based software giant. The imminent ruling may limit Microsoft's dominance in the commercial Internet sector.

Office XP, which was on display last week at a Microsoft seminar in Las Vegas, includes a host of upgraded applications, such as Word's word-processing program, PowerPoint presentation manager, Excel spreadsheet, Outlook schedule and e-mail.

After testing a copy of the software, Las Vegas technology consultant Kirk Vanek said he liked the new features.

"It's Microsoft's first truly collaborative product where I can use multiple programs at the same time," said Vanek, who works for Analysts International.

Vanek said part of the frustration with the previous Office versions included the need to close out a web page after copying a chart or paragraph in order to paste the information to a Word file.

Office XP offers a feature called smart tags. This allows Word documents, e-mails, and electronic address books to be easily accessible and connected to vast databases and web pages.

For example, while typing a person's name in the start of a letter, a smart tag, or information bubble, will pop up above the name asking if you want to prepare the letter to be e-mailed to that person or add the recipient to your address book.

"These new features turn a non-technical person into a savvy computer user who could easily access important data that he wouldn't originally be able to (find)," said Ryan MacDonald, a consultant for Tempe, Ariz.,-based Integrated Information Systems.

His firm, which has an office in Las Vegas, recently used the software to simplify and collaborate volumes of information kept on the Phoenix Zoo.

Using a previous Office version, zoo administrators had to manually input reports and manipulate the data in order to update the information, MacDonald said.

"Now we can access the data using smart tags with one click," he said.

The suggested retail price for Office XP is $479, and for an upgrade it typically costs $239.

Rob Enderle, an analyst for Giga Information Group, questions if Office XP has enough new features to justify the cost of an upgrade.

"The new features are great, but people don't use them," Enderle said. "At the end of the deployment, the (information technology) departments can't articulate to their executives the justification for spending the money for the upgrade."

Enderle also said some customers may wait for the scheduled-October release of Windows XP, the new version of Microsoft's operating system, to upgrade.

Gary Willman, Microsoft general manager of the southwest division, said the pending ruling by an appeal's court that may lead to the breakup of the software giant did not influence the company's release date of the product.

"It was done without regard to the government case," Willman said, noting that the software uses XML programming language that ties in well with the various wireless devices that have been flooding the market lately.

"So it was important to get (the software) out because of all the wireless devices out on the market," Willman said.