Features
Microsoft Office XP, released in 2001, is a major upgrade with numerous enhancements and changes.
- Safe Mode: This feature allows applications such as Outlook to start when they might otherwise fail. Safe Mode enables Office to detect and either repair or bypass the source of the problem, such as a corrupted registry or a misbehaving add-in.
- Smart tag: New technology delivered with Office XP. Some smart tags operate based on user activity, such as helping with typing errors. These smart tags are supplied with the products, and are not programmable. For developers, though, there is the ability to create custom smart tags. In Office XP, custom smart tags could work only in Word and Excel.
- Product Activation: Office XP incorporates product activation technology to prevent software piracy. This feature is also implemented in Windows XP (and later versions of Windows and Office).
- Speech and handwriting recognition are features new to Office XP, shared among all Office applications as well as Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. The speech recognition feature encompasses two different functions, Dictation and Voice Command. Dictation provides users the ability to dictate words that will be transcribed into typed text in an Office program, while Voice Command is used to invoke menu options and commands via voice. Handwriting recognition allows users to enter text by writing instead of typing.
- Text Services Framework support: Office XP, specifically, Word 2002 supports the Text Services Framework making it possible for services implemented using TSF to be used in Word. Office's speech recognition, handwriting recognition and tablet PC ink support and ink correction are such services.
- Clipboard functionality has been greatly improved. The clipboard now stores up to 24 items and is located in the task pane. The Clipboard task pane also displays a thumbnail view of a copied item, whether it consists of text, numbers, or a graphic.
- A major change to the Office XP application environment is the introduction of task panes. A task pane is a multi-purpose windowpane that appears on the right side of the window of an Office application. A task pane is basically used to house a number of features that were formerly controlled using dialog boxes, such as opening a new file or inserting clip art into an application document.
- Office XP sports a streamlined, flatter look compared to previous versions of Microsoft Office. It was designed to be used in combination with Windows Whistler's Watercolor theme, which was abandoned in favor of Luna when Windows XP was released.
Read more about this topic: Microsoft Office XP
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