Display article   Subject:  Introducing Microsoft Works For Windows V 2.0
   04/30/97   18:26:59


INTRODUCING MICROSOFT WORKS FOR WINDOWS V 2.0

Windows makes a wonderful graphical user interface.  But other
than some great utility programs, Windows lacks the real
applications that can get your customers "up and running" quickly.
To bring back this basic functionality, we are bundling Microsoft
Works for Windows with both the new Tandy 2500 SX/25 and the
Tandy 4825 SX.

Why Works? The original Microsoft Works for DOS was a fabulous
success story.  Not only was it a success at retail, but it also
became a package bundled with CPUs to combat what Tandy was doing
with DeskMate.  Microsoft worked with SCORE, the Service Corps
of Retired Executives, to create small business training and
templates.  SCORE then worked with the Small Business
Administration to provide the actual training to new business
owners.

MS Works for Windows includes the three basic productivity
applications: Word Processing, Spreadsheet and Database."

PLUS, it includes a Draw program that integrates easily with the
word processor.

Works for Windows also includes some of what Microsoft has termed
"Wizards."  These wizards help a customer learn how to create an
address book, for example, or merge an address book with a form
letter or create mailing labels.

Additionally, when Works is first launched, it enters a screen
that allows the user to go through a "Welcome to Works" tutorial.
The tutorial teaches the user by using Works to plan a family
reunion.  The Word Processor and Draw programs create the letter,
Spreadsheet keeps track of the different hotels and charts the
different rates, and the database keeps track of family members.

Works for Windows uses a "Toolbar" much like the menubar in
DeskMate.  When you open any of the Works applications, you'll
notice the Toolbar, a ribbon of buttons running just underneath
the menu bar.  Each application has its own set of buttons, some
common to more than one application, others specific.  To further
explain this, let's take a look at each individual piece of Works
for Windows.

Word Processor

Works for Windows comes with a full featured word processor --
important since word processing continues to be the most common
use of a computer.  In the word processor, the Toolbar represents
the basic functions people use most often when creating documents.

You can:

 - Easily change the font or its size
 - Bold, italicize or underline text
 - Activate the spell checker or thesaurus
 - Change from single to double spacing
 - Left/Center/Right or Justify text
 - Change tabs and margins

Additionally, you can preview a document or print it right from
the Toolbar.  No more menus to pull down!

One of the neat features of Works for Windows is the Draw program.
Much like DeskMate, you can add a drawing to your document.
Works comes with a selection of clip art, or the user can create
their own drawings.

Once the drawing has been selected and you return to your
document, that drawing becomes an "object" embedded in the
document using a technology called OLE (Object Linking and
Embedding).  Any time the document is opened, the drawing appears.
If the drawing changes or is made smaller or larger, the new
drawing will appear in the document.  Because it's an object, you
can launch the Draw program by clicking on the object in the
document.

Other objects that can be put into a document include "Note-Its,"
comments or other notes about a document that actually show up as
a "little yellow sticky" in the document.

Spreadsheet

In the spreadsheet, an "Excel-like" grid comes up on the screen.
Again, the Toolbar runs across the top of the screen, just under
the menu bar.  Some Toolbar functions are similar -- fonts and
font sizes can be changed, cells can be bolded, italicized or
underlined, spreadsheets can again be previewed and printed.  But
just as the spell checker and thesaurus can be activated in the
word processor, the spreadsheet has buttons specific to its
functions.  Cells can:

 - Be formatted as dollars and cents with the "$" button
 - Be made percentages with the "%" button
 - Have commas added with the "," button

The (Sigma) is the button that automatically sums a column or row
of cells.

Additionally, it's easy to create charts and graphs with the
spreadsheet.  Simply highlight the range of cells you want to
graph and click the chart button.  This will take you to a
different screen where you have a choice of different types of
charts, including some 3-D options.  And because of a technology
called Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), any time the corresponding
cells are changed in the spreadsheet, the chart is automatically
updated.

Plus, you can add a chart or spreadsheet to a word processing
document as an object and the same DDE feature applies!

Database

The Database Toolbar in Works for Windows again features font and
type size buttons.  Again, reports or records can be printed or
previewed from the Toolbar.  It also allows the user to change
from a "form view," where new records would be defined or entered,
to "list view," a spreadsheet-like listing of all the records, to
"query view," where specific records can be selected, to the
"report definition view," where a hard copy or screen report of
the records can be organized and defined.

In the database an address book might be defined.  Then "fields"
from the database like name and address could be selected as all
records in Texas or all of the people named Smith.  And fields
from the database can be added to the word processor to create
customized form letters!

Now It's Up To You!

As you can see, there are many advantages to Microsoft Windows
and Works for Windows, a user interface designed to harness the
power of the 386 microprocessor with a common "look and feel" for
applications.  Microsoft Works for Windows is an integrated
productivity package with word processing, spreadsheet, database,
drawing and charting that uses many of the features of the
Windows interface like OLE and DDE.
