Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is an office suite of applications, servers, and services developed by Microsoft. It was first announced by Bill Gates on 1 August 1988, at COMDEX in Las Vegas. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of Office contained Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. Over the years, Office applications have grown substantially closer with shared features such as a common spell checker, OLE data integration and Visual Basic for Applications scripting language.

More recently, Microsoft developed Office Mobile, which are free-to-use versions of Office applications for mobile devices. Microsoft also produces and runs Office Online, a web-based version of core Office apps, which is included as part of a Microsoft account.

Desktop apps

Unless stated otherwise, desktop apps are available for Windows and mac OS.

·         Microsoft Word: a word processor included in Microsoft Office and some editions of the now-discontinued Microsoft Works. The first version of Word, released in the autumn of 1983, was for the MS-DOS operating system and had the distinction of introducing the mouse to a broad population.

·         Microsoft Excel: a spreadsheet that originally competed with the dominant Lotus 1-2-3 and eventually outsold it. Microsoft released the first version of Excel for the Mac OS in 1985, and the first Windows version (numbered 2.05 to line up with the Mac) in November 1987.

·         Microsoft PowerPoint: a presentation program used to create slideshows composed of text, graphics, and other objects, which can be displayed on-screen and shown by the presenter or printed out on transparencies or slides.

·         Microsoft Access: a database management system for Windows that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software development tools. Microsoft Access stores data in its own format based on the Access Jet Database Engine. It can also import or link directly to data stored in other applications and databases.

·         Microsoft Outlook (not to be confused with Outlook Express, Outlook.com or Outlook on the web): a personal information manager that replaces Windows Messaging, Microsoft Mail, and Schedule+ starting in Office 97, it includes an e-mail client, calendar, task manager and address book.

·         Microsoft OneNote: a note taking program that gathers handwritten or typed notes, drawings, screen clippings and audio commentaries. Notes can be shared with other OneNote users over the Internet or a network.

·         Microsoft Publisher: a desktop publishing app for Windows mostly used for designing brochures, labels, calendars, greeting cards, business cards, newsletters, web site, and postcards

·         Skype for Business: an integrated communications client for conferences and meetings in real time, it is the only Microsoft Office desktop app that is neither useful without a proper network infrastructure nor has the "Microsoft" prefix in its name.

·         Microsoft Project: a project management app for Windows to keep track of events and to create network charts and Gantt charts, not bundled in any Office suite

·         Microsoft Visio: a diagram and flowcharting app for Windows not bundled in any Office suite

Mobile apps

·         Office Lens: An image scanner optimized for mobile devices. It captures the document (e.g. business card, paper, whiteboard) via the camera and then straightens the document portion of the image. The result can be exported to Word, OneNote, PowerPoint or Outlook, or saved in OneDrive, sent via Mail or placed in Photo Library.

·         Office Remote: Turns the mobile device into a remote control for desktop versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint.