MS Office & Software Packages

MS Office & Software Packages

1. Introduction to Office Suites

An Office Suite is a collection of productivity software (bundled applications) intended to be used by office workers, students, and professionals.

Major Office Packages

1. MS Office: Developed by Microsoft. It is Proprietary (Closed Source) and Paid software.
2. LibreOffice: Developed by The Document Foundation (openoffice.org). It is Open Source and Free.
3. iWork: Developed by Apple. It is Paid and designed for macOS/iOS.
4. Google Workspace (formerly G-Suite): Developed by Google. It is Cloud-based and offers free tiers for personal use.

2. Key Facts & History

• Announcement Year: 1988 (Announced by Bill Gates at COMDEX).
• First Version: Office 1.0 (Released in 1990 for Windows).
• Latest Perpetual Version: Office 2021.
• Cloud Version: Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365).
• Software Classification: * Application Software: Designed for end-users to perform specific tasks.
  • Horizontal Market Software: Designed for a wide range of industries (unlike "Vertical" software meant for one specific niche).

3. Version Evolution

Microsoft Office has evolved through two distinct eras: the "Classic" menu era and the "Ribbon" era (introduced in 2007).

Older Versions (Legacy)

• Office 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0
• Office 95, 97, 2000, XP (2002), 2003

Modern Versions

• Office 2007: Introduced the .docx XML format and the Ribbon interface.
• Office 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019
• Office 2021: The current standalone (non-subscription) version.
• Note: Office 2011 was specifically a version for Mac, often confused with the Windows 2010 release.

4. Core Applications & File Extensions

Modern versions of Office use XML-based formats (signified by the 'x' at the end), which offer better security and smaller file sizes.

6. Key Commands & Shortcut Keys

Special Key Types

• Modifier Keys: Ctrl, Alt, Shift.
• Toggle Keys: Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock (These act as ON/OFF keys).

Control Key (Ctrl) Commands

• Ctrl + A: Select all
• Ctrl + B: Bold
• Ctrl + C: Copy
• Ctrl + D: Open font window (in MS Word)
• Ctrl + E: Center Alignment
• Ctrl + F: Open find window
• Ctrl + G: Go to
• Ctrl + H: Find & Replace
• Ctrl + I: Italicize text
• Ctrl + J: Justify alignment
• Ctrl + K: Create a hyperlink
• Ctrl + L: Left alignment
• Ctrl + M: Indent a paragraph (MS Word)
• Ctrl + N: Create a new page
• Ctrl + O: Open a file
• Ctrl + P: Print
• Ctrl + Q: Remove paragraph formatting
• Ctrl + R: Right align text
• Ctrl + S: Save document
• Ctrl + T: Create new tab in web browser
• Ctrl + U: Underline text
• Ctrl + V: Paste
• Ctrl + W: Close open tab in a browser
• Ctrl+ x: cut 
• Ctrl+ y: Redu
• Ctrl+ z: Undo

•   Ctrl + Alt + Del: Known as the "3-Finger Salute." Used to reboot or open the Task Manager.
•  Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Directly opens the Task Manager (faster than Ctrl+Alt+Del).
•  Alt + Tab: Switch between open applications/windows.
• Windows + D: Show Desktop (minimizes all windows instantly).
• Ctrl + Enter: Insert a Page Break (starts a new page immediately).
• Ctrl + [ / ]: Decrease or Increase Font Size by 1 point.
• Ctrl + Home / End: Jump to the very beginning or the very end of a document. 
• F1: Help (Opens help menu for the active app).

• F2: Rename a selected file or folder.
• F5: Refresh page (Browser) or Start Slideshow (PowerPoint).
• F7: Spell Check & Grammar (Extremely important for MS Word).
• F12: Save As (Quickly save a copy of your file).
• Modifier Keys: Ctrl, Alt, Shift (They don't do anything alone; they modify other keys).
• Toggle Keys: Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock (Press once for ON, once for OFF).

Quick Summary: Software Types

• Application Software: Software used to perform specific tasks (Word, Excel).
• Horizontal Software: General-purpose software used by everyone.
• Closed Source: Proprietary software (you cannot see the code, e.g., MS Office).
• Open Source: Free to use and modify (e.g., LibreOffice).