Debuting this fall: Microsoft Office 2003.(OFFICE TECH)(Brief Article)

Kiplinger Letter, The, May, 2003

Debuting this fall...Microsoft Office 2003, with new features that Office users will find helpful: An instant-messaging option in any Office program, not just in Outlook e-mail. Antispam filters. And better management tools for safeguarding proprietary information.

To spur sales, Microsoft will end technical support for Office 97 in January, even though over 40% of all U.S. firms are still using it.

Companies will have to upgrade servers to get the full benefits of Office 2003. That can run up the cost by tens of thousands of dollars, so many firms will wait till profits go up before buying the new release.