Microsoft Office 97
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial releaseNovember 19, 1996; 27 years ago (1996-11-19)
Final release
Service Release 2B (8.0.5903) / October 7, 1999; 24 years ago (1999-10-07)[1]
Operating system
PlatformIA-32, DEC Alpha (partial)
PredecessorMicrosoft Office 95 (1995)
SuccessorMicrosoft Office 2000 (1999)
TypeOffice suite
LicenseProprietary commercial software
Websiteweb.archive.org/web/20090923223858/http://support.microsoft.com/gp/ofw97 Edit this on Wikidata

Microsoft Office 97 (version 8.0) is the fifth major release for Windows of Microsoft Office, released by Microsoft on November 19, 1996.[3] It succeeded Microsoft Office 95 and preceded Microsoft Office 2000 in 1999. A Mac OS equivalent, Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition, was released on January 6, 1998. Microsoft Office 97 became a major milestone release for introducing new features and improvements over its predecessor.

The suite is officially compatible with Windows NT 3.51 SP5, Windows 95 or later.[a] It is not officially supported on Windows XP or later versions of Windows. It is the last version of Microsoft Office to support Windows NT 3.51 SP5 and Windows NT 4.0 RTM–SP2; as the following version, Microsoft Office 2000 only supports Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0 SP3 or later.

Two Service Releases (SR-1 and SR-2) have been released for Office 97; SR-2 solves the year 2000 problem in Office 97.[4]

Mainstream hotfix support for Office 97 ended on August 31, 2001, while extended hotfix support ended on February 28, 2002.[5] Assisted support options and security updates for Office 97 ended on January 16, 2004.

Features

Office 97 introduces "Command Bars", a paradigm in which menus and toolbars are made more similar in capability and visual design. It also features natural language systems and sophisticated grammar checking.

Office 97 introduces the Office Assistant, an interactive animated character designed to assist users via Office help content. The default assistant is "Clippit", nicknamed "Clippy", a paperclip. The Office Assistant feature is included in its successors, Office 2000, Office XP (hidden by default), and 2003 (not installed by default). It has been removed entirely in Office 2007.

Office 97 is the first Microsoft product to include product activation, albeit limited to the Brazilian editions of Office 97 Small Business Edition and Publisher.[6]

Two Office 97 applications feature easter eggs: a hidden pinball game in Microsoft Word and a hidden flight simulator in Microsoft Excel.[7][8]

Editions

The vivid cover art emphasized the fifth "puzzle piece", Microsoft Access.

Office 97 has been released in five editions: Standard Edition, Professional Edition, Small Business Edition, Small Business Edition 2.0, and Developer Edition. Each has its own selection of included applications.

Office programs Standard Edition Professional Edition Small Business Edition Small Business Edition 2.0[9] Developer Edition
Word 97 Yes Yes Yes Yes[b] Yes
Excel 97 Yes Yes Yes Yes[b] Yes
Outlook 97 Yes Yes Yes Yes[c] Yes
PowerPoint 97 Yes Yes No No Yes
Access 97 No Yes No No Yes
Bookshelf Basics No Yes No No Yes
Developer Tools and SDK No No No No Yes
Publisher 97 No No Yes No No
Small Business Financial Manager 97 No No Yes[d] No No
Automap Streets Plus 5.0 (1997) [10] No No Yes[e] No No
Publisher 98 No No No Yes No
Small Business Financial Manager 98 No No No Yes[f] No
Direct Mail Manager No No No Yes[g] No
Expedia Streets 98[11] No No No Yes[e] No
Internet Explorer 3.0 Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Internet Explorer 4.0 No No No Yes No
Schedule+ Yes Yes No No Yes
Binder 97 Yes Yes No No Yes
FrontPage 97 No No No No No
Project 98 No No No No No
Team Manager 97 No No No No No

Notes

  1. ^ Outlook, FrontPage and Publisher 98 require Windows NT 4.0
  2. ^ a b Includes SR-1 update
  3. ^ Can be upgraded to Outlook 98 via coupon or download, although several OEM copies included Outlook 98
  4. ^ Can be upgraded to Small Business Financial Manager 98 for free from Office Update website (requires Excel 97 SR-1) ; available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia
  5. ^ a b Available only in the United States and Canada
  6. ^ Available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia
  7. ^ Available only in the United States

References

  1. ^ Thurrott, Paul (October 7, 1999). "Microsoft Quietly Issues New Version of Office 97 SR2". ITProToday. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  2. ^ "Chapter 5 - System Requirements for MS Office". Microsoft Office 97 Resource Kit. Microsoft. June 14, 2017. ISBN 9781572313293. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  3. ^ "Microsoft Office 97 Released to Manufacturing". News Center. Las Vegas: Microsoft. November 19, 1996. Archived from the original on November 25, 2014.
  4. ^ "MS Office 97 Service Release 2B (SR-2B)". TechNet. Microsoft. October 1999. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  5. ^ "Microsoft Office Family Product Support Lifecycle FAQ". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  6. ^ "Microsoft Extends Anti-Piracy Features in Office 2000". News Center. Redmond, WA: Microsoft. December 9, 1998. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  7. ^ "Excel Easter Egg - Excel 97 Flight to Credits". The Easter Egg Archive. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  8. ^ "Excel Easter Egg - Excel 97 Flight Simulator - for Later Versions of Microsoft Excel". The Easter Egg Archive. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  9. ^ "Office 97 Small Business Edition v2 - Features". Microsoft. February 1, 2000. Archived from the original on February 26, 2000. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  10. ^ "Microsoft Automap Streets Plus Preferred 2-to-1 in New Study". June 11, 1997. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  11. ^ "Microsoft Launches New Version of Preferred Street-Finding Software". August 26, 1997. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
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