Microsoft Works
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Microsoft Works is an office suite ("Home Productivity Suite") available from the Microsoft Corporation. Smaller and less expensive than Microsoft Office suite, its core functionality includes Word Processor and spreadsheet/database capability. Newer versions have a Calendar applet while older releases included a Terminal emulator.
Through version 4.5a, Works used a monolithic program architecture whereby Word Processor and Spreadsheet/Database documents run in windows of the same program interface, similar to the Macintosh-based AppleWorks. This resulted in a small memory and disk footprint, which enabled it to run on on a 386DX PC with 8 MB of RAM and ~10 MB free space on the hard drive. Works 5.0 switched to a modular architecture which opens each document as a separate instance and uses the print engine from Internet Explorer. More recent, "Works Suite", versions bundle personal productivity and entertainment software such as Microsoft Money, Encarta, Streets and Trips and Picture It!. In 2006 Microsoft discontinued altogether the proprietary "wps" Works word processor document format in favor of the widely supported "doc" format native to Microsoft Word.
Microsoft Works now has built-in compatibility for Microsoft Office documents, including, but not limited to, the ability of the Word Processor to open Microsoft Word documents and the ability of the Spreadsheet to open Microsoft Excel workbooks. Many veteran users still prefer the pre-5.0 release for its speed, agility, robustness, and "stand-alone" (Internet Explorer not required) capability.
While Works' proprietary native WKS (spreadsheet), WDB (database) and WPS (word processor) formats limit its utility for large(r) organizations, the simplicity and ease of integrating database/spreadsheet data into word-processor documents (e.g., mail merge) have made it a favorite of small and home-based business owners. Version 4.5a is particularly noted in this respect. The database, while a "flat file", I.E. non-relational, allows the novice user to perform complex transformations through formulas (which use standard algebraic syntax and can be self-referential) and user-defined reports which can be copied as text to the clipboard.
Due to its low cost ($50 retail, $10 OEM) manufacturers such as HP, Compaq, Gateway, eMachines, Toshiba, and Dell, frequently pre-install Works on their consumer grade machines. Microsoft provides a converter to migrate between platforms.
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[edit] Support in free software
A general C++ library, which in 2006 is still being developed and has been experimentally published as wps_test[1], works for reading many different Microsoft Works versions. As of 2006, AbiWord does not import any versions of Microsoft Works.
[edit] Version history
[edit] Works for MS-DOS
- Microsoft Works 1.05
- Microsoft Works 2.0 and 2.0a
- Microsoft Works 3.0, 3.0a and 3.0b
[edit] Works for Mac OS
- Microsoft Works 2.0
- Microsoft Works 3.0
- Microsoft Works 4.0
[edit] Works for Microsoft Windows
- Microsoft Works 2.0 (Windows 3.x)
- Microsoft Works 3.0 (Windows 3.x)
- Microsoft Works 4.0, 4.0a, 4.5 and 4.5a (Windows 95)
- Microsoft Works 5.0 (Microsoft Works Suite 2000)
- Microsoft Works 6.0 (Microsoft Works Suite 2001 and 2002)
- Microsoft Works 7.0 (Microsoft Works Suite 2003 and 2004)
- Microsoft Works 8.0 (Microsoft Works Suite 2005)
- Microsoft Works 8.5 free update for 8.0 (Microsoft Works Suite 2006)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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