**MICROSOFT OFFICE XP IS HEAVY ON USER PREFERENCES**
Microsoft knows that Office is their cash cow. It brings in 40% of their revenue. Even though Office XP still in preview mode, and no price has been set, Windows Office XP is looking pretty good. The user interface is not radically different, but the look and feel is a bit more modern and easier on the eyes overall.
Office has a bunch of new features, but they're not the focal point, nor are they a compelling reason to upgrade, although the increased Web awareness of each module is nice. The real user benefit here is greatly improved configurability and being able to turn off many annoying, over-helpful features of the past.
Microsoft's branding is a bit odd. Although the package is called Office XP, individual modules are called Word 2002, Excel 2002, etc. The XP designation brings Office into line with the forthcoming Windows XP, although it shares little of the new Windows look and feel. Readers with long memories will note that the XP may be a reference to a version of Windows that was never introduced--Cairo. Some Microsoft watchers see the Greek letters chi and rho instead of XP.
A more forward-looking feature of Office XP (also found in current retail versions of Office 2000) is the Activation pane. You have to go through a minimal registration procedure. Microsoft claims that the only information it collects is the country and some unspecified data about the computer. It remains to be seen how much copy protection is built into the Activation feature, and how it will be implemented. Users are concerned that they won't be able to move legitimate copies of Office to a replacement laptop, or whether the common practice of installing the same software on a laptop and desktop machine will be permitted over the long haul. Guess we'll have to wait and see. It should be here in a few short months.
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