Jump to content

Microsoft Office 97

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2a02:a31b:833e:b080:8d1c:f895:158e:1737 (talk) at 15:13, 13 August 2020 (http://web.archive.org/web/20000304053849/http://www.officeupdate.microsoft.com/downloadDetails/sbfm98NA.htm). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Microsoft Office 97
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial releaseNovember 19, 1996; 27 years ago (1996-11-19)
Final release
Service Release 2b (SR-2b) / October 7, 1999; 24 years ago (1999-10-07)[1]
Operating systemWindows 95, Windows NT 3.51 SP5, Windows NT 4.0 SP2[2]
PlatformIA-32, DEC Alpha (partial)
TypeOffice suite
LicenseProprietary commercial software
Websiteweb.archive.org/web/20090923223858/http://support.microsoft.com/gp/ofw97 Edit this on Wikidata

Microsoft Office 97 is a major milestone release of Microsoft Office, which includes hundreds of new features and improvements over its predecessor, Microsoft Office 95. Office 97 introduced "Command Bars," a paradigm in which menus and toolbars were made more similar in capability and visual design. It also featured natural language systems and sophisticated grammar checking. It was published on CD-ROM as well as on a set of 44 3½-inch floppy disks. Released on November 19, 1996,[3] the suite runs on Windows NT 3.51 SP5, Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows Me. It is the last version to support Windows NT 3.51 as its successor, Office 2000, is not compatible with it. Two service releases (SR-1 and SR-2) were released for Office 97. SR-2 solved the year 2000 problem in Office 97.[4]

Microsoft Office 97 is the first version of Office to feature the Office Assistant, a feature designed to assist users by the way of an interactive animated character, which interfaced with the Office help content. The default assistant was "Clippit", nicknamed "Clippy", a paperclip. The Office Assistant feature was also included in its successor, Office 2000, as well as in Office XP (hidden by default) and 2003 (not installed by default), before being removed entirely in Office 2007.

Office 97 is also the first Microsoft product to include product activation. The Brazilian versions of Office 97 Small Business Edition and Publisher 98 required it.[5]

Assisted support options and security updates for Office 97 ended on January 16, 2004. Mainstream hotfix support for Office 97 ended on August 31, 2001, while extended hotfix support ended on February 28, 2002.[6]

Two Office 97 applications featured easter eggs: Microsoft Word 97 contained a hidden pinball game and Microsoft Excel contained a hidden flight simulator.[7][8]

Editions

The vivid cover art emphasized the fifth "puzzle piece", Microsoft Access

Office 97 was released in five editions. They are as follows:

Office programs Standard Edition Professional Edition Small Business Edition Small Business Edition 2.0[9] Developer
Edition
Word 97 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Excel 97 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Outlook 97 Yes Yes Yes Yes[a] Yes
PowerPoint 97 Yes Yes No No Yes
Access 97 No Yes No No Yes
Bookshelf Basics No Yes No No Yes
Developer Tools and SDK No No No No Yes
Publisher 97 No No Yes No No
Small Business Financial Manager 97 No No Yes[b] No No
Automap Streets Plus 5.0 (1997) [10] No No Yes No No
Publisher 98 No No No Yes No
Small Business Financial Manager 98 No No No Yes No
Direct Mail Manager No No No Yes No
Expedia Streets 98 [11] No No No Yes No

Contemporary programs

Some additional programs were branded as a member of the Office 97 family but were not included in any of the editions:

Notes

  1. ^ Can be upgraded to Outlook 98 via coupon or download
  2. ^ Can be upgraded to Small Business Financial Manager 98 for free from Office Update website

References

  1. ^ Paul Thurrott (October 7, 1999). "Microsoft quietly issues new version of Office 97 SR2". ITProToday. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  2. ^ "Chapter 5 - System Requirements for MS Office". Microsoft Office 97 Resource Kit. Microsoft. 1997. ISBN 9781572313293. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  3. ^ "Microsoft Office 97 Released to Manufacturing". News Center. Las Vegas: Microsoft. November 19, 1996. Archived from the original on November 25, 2014.
  4. ^ "MS Office 97 Service Release 2b (SR-2b)". TechNet. Microsoft. October 1999. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  5. ^ "Microsoft Extends Anti-Piracy Features in Office 2000". News Center. Redmond, WA: Microsoft. December 9, 1998.
  6. ^ "Microsoft Office Family Product Support Lifecycle FAQ". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  7. ^ "Excel Easter Egg - Excel 97 Flight to Credits". The Easter Egg Archive. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  8. ^ "Excel Easter Egg - Excel 97 Flight Simulator - for Later Versions of Microsoft Excel". The Easter Egg Archive. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  9. ^ "Office 97 Small Business Edition v2 - Features". microsoft.com. Microsoft. February 1, 2000. Archived from the original on February 26, 2000. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  10. ^ Microsoft Automap Streets Plus Preferred 2-to-1 in New Study
  11. ^ Microsoft Launches New Version of Preferred Street-Finding Software
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_Office_97&oldid=972732304"