Uncle Bill wants you; Microsoft is marketing its new system to the masses - Windows 95 - Company Business and Marketing

Home Office Computing, Sept, 1995 by John Moore

Step right up: Windows 95 has finally arrived. What? You're not rushing to the store to be one of the first 50 million people who, according to analysts, will buy the new operating system in its first year? With all the early hype about Windows 95's built-in networking and administrative software targeted to large corporations, you may have made the mistake of thinking Microsoft isn't concerned with solving the problems of small-business owners.

But before you pound your fist and say, "By golly, I don't need to upgrade," you should know that Microsoft has been whistling a different tune. At the Windows 95 Technical Reviewers Workshop held in May in Redmond, Washington, Bill Gates and the Microsofties bent over backward to drive home the point that Windows 95 - along with its running mate, Office 95 - is designed to boost the productivity of all users.

Here are five pieces of proof that Microsoft means business.

1. Easy-does-it operations. "One of our goals is to reduce the steps it takes to accomplish everyday business tasks:" says Josh Herst, a Windows 95 product manager. Backing up this claim is a shortcut that allows you to access specific files - or even home pages on the World Wide Web - with a single click of a button from the Windows 95 desktop. Yes, those double-clicking days are over, as is the convoluted method of scouring File Manager and Program Manager for files and applications. You'll also be able to perform some tasks that were once the domain of the Mac and OS/2, such as faxing a file simply by dragging it onto a fax icon.

2. An automated office-in-a-box. With Microsoft Office 95 (and Microsoft Office Professional 95, due on shelves 30 to 60 days after Windows 95 debuts), the key word is automatic. Now all four applications - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Schedule - feature AutoCorrect, the handy utility that instantly fixes common typos. Enhanced AutoCorrect, included in Word, automatically formats lists when you enter numbered items. Also new to Word, SpellIt corrects spelling mistakes almost as quickly as you can make them.

3. A manual you don't have to labor over. The Office 95 documentation is more than worth the paper it's printed on, with its emphasis on solutions for small-business users. Instead of making you wade through mindnumbing descriptions of each menu command, the manual includes sections on such tasks as writing form letters and creating business plans, and it shows you how to use different applications to do these things.

4. Alluring online access. "Our content providers, together with Microsoft Network, will empower small businesses and entrepreneurs to use MSN's online technology to do business more efficiently," says Russell Siegelman, general manager of Microsoft's online services group. You'll be able to subscribe to Microsoft Network directly from Windows 95. Among the new service's content providers are the U.S. Small Business Administration and news service Lexis-Nexis. Of course, MSN will offer one-button access to the Internet and the World Wide Web.

5. Plug and play. Windows 95 will enable you to connect any compatible device - such as a printer or CD-ROM drive - to your computer without worrying about hardware conflicts or arcane error messages. If you take your work on the road, this means an end to hassles with PC Cards.

If these reasons aren't compelling enough to make you upgrade on the spot, bear in mind that just about every upcoming software upgrade will be designed to run under Windows 95, and pretty soon all new PCs will come preloaded with the new operating system. It's only a matter of time before Windows 95 is on most PCs. Fortunately, Microsoft has made this an amenable prospect.

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