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Suite Life Microsoft's New Software Suite Makes Computing Sweet Indeed.

By Cassandra Cavanah

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

After spending some time with Office 97, I'm convincedMicrosoft finally has us where they want us. What I mean is, withOffice 97, they've left us very few reasons to ever leave theMicrosoft-controlled environment. Why? Because thatenvironment--complete with a surprisingly unobtrusive cartooncharacter called the "Answer Wizard"--is about aspleasant and functional as a software program can be.

Microsoft has added a new configuration to the Office 97family--the Small Business Edition. Considering how fast smallbusinesses, and particularly the homebased segment--are growing,it's no big surprise that Microsoft is targeting small-businessusers with its most popular software program. What is somewhatsurprising, however, is how Microsoft adapted Office 97 to appealto small-business users.

After numerous focus groups and much BODYing, Microsoftdetermined that small-business users don't require two of thekey Office Professional components: Microsoft Access (database) andPowerPoint (for presentations). That left Word 97, Excel 97 andOutlook 97, the new Microsoft information manager. To make theproduct more appealing to small-business users, Microsoft addedPublisher 97 (desktop publishing), Automap Streets Plus(street-level mapping), and Small Business Financial Manager 97.The result is an extremely interesting and easy-to-use suite ofproducts. (Macintosh and Windows 3.1 users are out of luck when itcomes to Office 97--this is a Windows 95/NT product only.)