Canon Software Publishing Announces New Office Accessory Title Geared for SOHO Users

Business Wire, Oct 19, 1998

COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 1998--

OfficeReady Software Features Colorful Business and Presentation

Productivity Tools for Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) Users to Get

the Most From Microsoft Office Applications

Continuing its tradition for quality creativity and productivity products for the consumer market, Canon Software Publishing (CSP), a division of Canon, the world's leader in imaging technology, Monday announced a new software title in the Office Accessory category -- OfficeReady.

OfficeReady is a program geared specifically for the small office/home office (SOHO) user and designed to complement Microsoft Office by providing users with hundreds of professionally designed ready-to-use templates in Word, Excel and PowerPoint; each with its own "look" and color scheme.

OfficeReady includes powerful productivity-enhancing Excel macros pre-designed to allow users to calculate business and personal finances; Word templates for the ultimate in professional appearance and impressive color documents; and professionally designed PowerPoint templates to turn documents into persuasive presentations.

According to Canon, the SOHO market is composed of more than 7 million small businesses in the United States, and by the year 2000, 50 percent of the U.S. workforce will work out of their home in some capacity.

"OfficeReady alleviates the monochronicity found in Office today and allows the SOHO user to customize documents in color," said Gary Bushey, senior manager of product acquisition and development at CSP. "This office companion gives SOHO users a powerful tool to increase productivity by allowing the user to produce professional-looking documents and presentations that print quickly in color."

Designed to take the hassle out of designing Office documents, OfficeReady enhances a user's Microsoft Office applications through newly designed templates with pre-matched color schemes and fonts. OfficeReady automatically loads with the selected Office Application (Word and Excel) and is accessible through an easy-to-use on-screen toolbar.

Additionally, OfficeReady provides SOHO users with the tools to create documents that impress others and clearly present information by providing hundreds of professionally designed templates -- each with its own coordinated "look" and color scheme -- to produce reports, marketing and meeting materials and spreadsheets.

OfficeReady allows SOHO users to increase productivity, presence and presentation.

Productivity: The current selection of color schemes found in Office programs is limited because they were designed with "monochrome" printing in mind. By using the high-quality template designs found in OfficeReady, users can create new looks and color schemes that provide an intelligent use of color for consecutive color output in Word, Excel or PowerPoint programs. Powerful pre-designed Excel macros allow users to calculate business and personal finances.

Presence: OfficeReady provides users with documents that "stand out" from the competition. By using OfficeReady, Word or Excel memos, correspondence and documents will attract the attention of the recipient. OfficeReady provides five different "looks" for documents including Professional, Contemporary, Elegant, Casual, and Black and White.

Additionally, users may use OfficeReady to insert watermarks and exciting borders.

Presentation: OfficeReady adds new categories of templates to Word, Excel and PowerPoint programs. Designed with the SOHO professionals in mind, OfficeReady creates professionally designed reports, stationery, FAX cover sheets, marketing materials, resumes and job-seeking templates and meeting materials with impact. OfficeReady features the following:

-- 180 new templates for Excel -- expense reports, mortgage

amortization, cash flows, purchase orders, company finance,

personal finance, sales and marketing, personal planning, and

basic business forms. These "intelligent" Excel templates come

preformatted with formulas.

-- 350 new templates for Word -- reports, forms, marketing

materials, memos, HR materials, faxes, awards and certificates,

meeting materials, resume, job-seeking templates and business

forms.

-- 100 new PowerPoint templates designed for screen presentations

and suitable for quick color output.

-- Internet Connectivity -- One-click access to the Canon Software

Publishing Web site at www.software.canon.com and

EarthLink TotalAccess Internet access.

Pricing and Availability

OfficeReady will be available on CD-ROM in October 1998 with an estimated street price of $39.95 (a). Consumers can purchase the title via a nationwide network of leading software retailers including office and electronic superstores and computer superstores.

System Requirements

Minimum system requirements for running OfficeReady include an IBM-compatible PC with a 486 processor or better (Pentium processor or higher recommended); Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0; CD-ROM drive for installation; minimum 16 MB RAM; 5 MB free hard disk space; SVGA/256 color monitor (24-bit or higher recommended); and a mouse or other pointing device.