Walk, don't run for Office 2003 

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Walk, don't run for Office 2003

Microsoft Office 2003 enhances its 'smart' technology introduced in Office XP, but you don’t have to run and get the upgrade just yet.

FROM: MAR-APR 2004 ISSUE | BY FRANCO ALFIERI

Microsoft Office 2003 was released in October 2003. It enhances the capabilities of Office XP, which was released a few years back. XP achieved a milestone by improving the visual and tasking capabilities of the Office suite; Office 2003 takes the package to the next level, making it by far the most efficient application office tool to date. We'll focus on the Office 2003 Professional Edition, which includes updated versions of Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint, and Outlook. The most noteworthy highlights of Office 2003 pertain to Word, Excel, and Outlook, as the first two applications have been improved and Outlook has been totally modified.

System Requirements

Let's get the technical aspects out of the way first. The minimum system requirements are as follows: Pentium III233 MHz with 128 MB RAM. Set aside 260-400 MB of hard disk space and an 800x600 (Super VGA) resolution for your monitor. Forget about installing Office 2003 if you're still running Windows 98. Despite having technical support for Windows 98 reinstated to June 2006 due to customer complaints, you must have Windows XP/Windows 2000 (Service Pack 3 or later) to run this suite. I always make it a rule to have more than the minimum requirements; past experience dictates Microsoft products generally run much slower if one has only the bare essentials. Just be sure your desktop has some juice to it before you upgrade to Office 2003.

Smart Tags

Smart Tags were introduced in Office XP. They are a set of buttons shared across Office applications that appear as needed while you work. For example, when I'm copying and pasting data for a new client's representation letter in Word, or copying existing financial ratio formulas to a new Excel template, a Smart Tag appears, asking me whether I want to retain the same source formatting or match destination formatting as I paste. A Smart Tag may also alert me to an error in a mathematical formula. The Smart Tags associated with AutoCorrect options (such as paragraph formats, spelling, and automatic corrections while typing a sentence) have been tweaked for optimal performance. And Smart Tags are now incorporated into PowerPoint 2003 as well.

Word 2003

The introduction of editing and formatting restrictions in Word is a long-awaited feature called Protect Document. This feature allows documents to be locked down to prevent unauthorized editing. It can be used to restrict authorized changes to formatting and style sheets, which can come in handy if you want to e-mail a draft financial statement to a client or other third-party without allowing them to alter the content of the document.

The Reading Layout view omits line and page breaks as shown in the Normal and Page Layout views, which allows for a fuller view of the text. There is also a new Compare Documents feature, which lets you open two versions of a file in side-by-side windows that scroll together to make comparisons a little easier on the eyes.

Integrity and confidentiality are essential to accounting firms. The new Information Rights Management (IRM) feature is a security measure designed to protect e-mail messages and files from unwanted "information predators." IRM works by specifying who can receive files and sets restrictions on copying, forwarding, or printing certain files. It also allows the user to set a document expiration date, after which a document can no longer be viewed or shared.

Excel 2003

It's amusing yet somewhat distressing that the circle of colleagues I deal with barely scratch the surface of Excel's capabilities. In fact, many accountants I know don't realize the AutoFilter feature is part of Excel. Handy for them, in Excel 2003, every column has the AutoFilter enabled by default, which allows for quick sorting and filtering of lists.

Another noteworthy Excel 2003 enhancement is the List feature. By clicking on Data, List, Create List, a blue border surrounds the list, making it easy to spot. The last row contains a single asterisk, resembling an Access database table, and entering data in any cell in that row inserts a new row — very handy. Also, by clicking Toggle Total Row in the new List bar, a column can be totaled instantaneously by choosing a function such as Sum, Max/Min, Average, or Count. Enhanced statistical functions round out Excel's new features.

Outlook 2003

Outlook 2003 is the only application that has received a major overhaul. It has a new look and feel, and the junk mail filters are improved to identify spam and send it to a folder. The search capabilities are more effective, because the user must define exact search criteria. And the option to read two calendars side by side means public practitioners can view their own calendars and those of their partners to compare available time slots when scheduling client audit or review mandates. The e-mail desktop alerts you instantaneously to new messages, no matter which program you are using. Business Contact Manager is an effective new tool to track business contacts and send direct marketing e-mail.

XML: The new standard

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is the tool accountants and other financial professionals have been waiting for. Although initially introduced in Office XP, XML capabilities have greatly improved. Microsoft's Web site describes XML as "enabling developers to create solutions that incorporate information from a variety of sources into Access 2003,Excel 2003, and Word 2003 files. Applications in Office 2003 Editions can automate virtually any task involved with creating files such as reports, spreadsheets, and forms."

Real-time functionality is possible because data is not exclusive to files and applications; rather, an Excel file can integrate with XML data by entering it through Excel, without actually saving it as an Excel file. And the Excel 2003 Visual XML Mapping tool makes it easy to bring XML data into a spreadsheet. These customizable forms can be seen on the Microsoft Web site's demo screens. (Note: With XML a little practice goes a long way, and the end result is sure to please.)

Is it worth it?

Backward compatibility between Office 2003 Editions,Office XP,Office 2000, and Office 97 (with the exception of Access 97) lets users of all four versions seamlessly share documents. There are six editions of Office 2003: Student and Teacher, Basic, Standard, Small Business, Professional, and Professional Enterprise, ranging from $319 to $1,569 depending on whether they are upgrades or full-blown versions.

In a recent article on The Internet News, Brian Skiba, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said, "To get Office 2003, you need to get XP and 350 million desktops have not upgraded to XP." With this in mind, it is not an absolute necessity to upgrade right away. But if the new enhancements sound good to you, and the performance of your practice can benefit, go right ahead — you won’t regret upgrading!

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Franco Alfieri, B.Comm., CGA, is an independent practitioner based in Montreal. He has provided part-time instruction at Collège LaSalle and has written articles for The Accountant's Ledger and The Bottom Line. E-mail info@FrancoAlfieriCGA.com; Web site http://www.FrancoAlfieriCGA.com.