Microsoft Office, colloquially known as ‘Office’ is a group consisting of server software, client software, and various services that came into existence by Microsoft. The initial commencement of Microsoft Office software was announced at COMDEX held in Las Vegas, by one of the eminent personalities of today’s era, Bill Gates on August 1, 1988.

The first version of Microsoft office software that was introduced comprised applications such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Word. This office suite or the bundled set of productivity applications was the marketing term used at the beginning. In subsequent years, the Microsoft Office software has substantially progressed further.

The Various Applications in the Microsoft Office Software

The Office suite comprises various applications described as follows:

• Word processor or the Word: 

• Microsoft Word is an application processor which allows its users to edit text documents, which includes résumés, reports, letters, and also to run spell-checks on writing texts.

• Spreadsheet program or Excel: MS Excel is a type of electronic spreadsheet application.

• It helps the users to organise, store and manipulate information and data 
• A user can create both a simpler version or a more complex and comprehensive spreadsheet program. 

• Presentation program or PowerPoint: MS PowerPoint allows its users to display information and data.

•  This can be performed by utilising anything from the fundamental feature of slideshows to professional layout presentations.

• Email client or Outlook: 

• Microsoft Outlook: is a data manager on a personal forefront.
• Its main role comes from writing emails. Additionally, can be used to store contact details, juggle tasks, calendar events and also schedule/organise meetings.

• A database management system or Access

• MS Access is called a system for managing databases. 
• It gives its users the benefit to link and utilise information from different sources, data manipulation in numerous ways. Furthermore, for making basic business applications it can be used.

• Desktop publishing app or Publisher

• Microsoft Publisher: is an application based on graphic design. 
• It allows its users to produce material and content for marketing, publications.
• It gives more layout, designing and formatting options for their documents and presentations.

• Microsoft OneNote: it is an alternative form/ version of a paper notebook.

• Tasks to organise, form/create, share the notes are made quite feasible and much easier due to MS OneNote.

Functional Uses of MS Office

• The advantage of Office developed by Microsoft is that it comes in various versions targeted toward numerous strata of end-users and serves all types of environments.
• For PCs using the Windows and macOS operating systems, the most widely used version, i.e. the original version colloquially known as the ‘desktop version’, is available. Microsoft also includes the facility of providing mobile apps for Android and iOS.
• Within a web browser, the Office developed by Microsoft on the web is a version of this software.

Office 365 

• The fundamental means to obtain Microsoft Office was the promotion of ‘Office 365’ by Microsoft since Office 2013.

• It is quite helpful and easy as it makes the usage of the software and other services provided by Microsoft on a subscription business model
• For a lifetime subscription to the Microsoft Office software, users get feature updates to the software.
• It comprises numerous new features, cloud computing integration and updates. These are not significantly included in the “on-premises” releases of Office.
• These premises Office releases were sold under conventional licence terms.
• The objective of the transformation/ rebranding of the Standard Office 365 version developed by Microsoft into Microsoft 365 was to specifically focus on their present inclusion of products and services in the new rebranded edition.
• The on-premises editions currently serving are Office 2021 (the desktop version of Office). October 5, 2021, is the marked release date for it.

Conclusion

Microsoft has various supported formats of operating systems, for example, Windows, macOS and Linux. Microsoft Office comes in 35 types of languages to cater the needs of the users at the world level. In subsequent years, the Microsoft Office software has substantially progressed with common features, for example, OLE data integration, a common spell checker and the Visual Basic for Applications scripting language. Per Microsoft, it withholds Office as a representative development platform for its line-of-business software. According to the reports surfaced by Softpedia on July 10, 2012, stated that the Microsoft Office software was being used worldwide, ranging over a billion people.