Microsoft may be best known for its operating systems. But in the desktop publishing, Web design, and home creativity arena, Microsoft produces several lines such as Microsoft Expression, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word as well as a number of apps that come with the Windows OS.
Microsoft Office gets a major overhaul with the Microsoft Office 2010. Explore all the applications in Microsoft Office 2010.
Microsoft Publisher:
Once a popular consumer desktop publishing application, Microsoft has been refocusing Publisher more and more to the small business community. While it is often looked down upon by the professional graphic design and desktop publishing community, today's Publisher is easy to learn and use and does offer increased commercial printing support beyond other easy-to-use consumer titles.
Microsoft Publisher Templates and TutorialsOddly, Publisher is not part of the new Home and Business edition of the upcoming Office 2010 suite. Find Out What's New in Publisher 2010
Available as of 2010: Publisher 2010 for Windows. It is available in the Professional Plus, Professional, and Standard editions of Office 2010 as well as standalone.
- Publisher (Compare Prices)
- Publisher 2010 (Compare Prices)
- Office 2010 (Compare Prices)
Microsoft PowerPoint:
Not a page layout application, PowerPoint nevertheless is frequently lumped in with desktop publishing software. It is a popular application for
creating presentations.
Microsoft PowerPoint Templates and TutorialsAvailable as of 2010: PowerPoint 2010 for Windows. It comes in every edition of Microsoft Office 2010 and the Web Apps.
- PowerPoint (Compare Prices)
- PowerPoint 2010 (Compare Prices)
- Office 2010 (Compare Prices)
Microsoft Word:
Part of the Microsoft Office Suite, Word is a word processing program but it does have the ability to create many of the same types of documents and complex layouts created with desktop publishing software. Even the lite version of MS Office -- Microsoft Works Suite -- can produce some basic creative layouts.
Microsoft Word Templates and TutorialsAvailable as of 2010: Word 2010 for Windows. It comes in every version of the Office 2010 suite and as a standalone package.
- Word (Compare Prices)
- Word 2010 (Compare Prices)
- Office 2010 (Compare Prices)
Microsoft Expression:
Products in the Expression line include professional level applications for Web design, illustration, and digital media organization. Programs are available individually or as part of the Expression Studio suite.
- Review: Microsoft Expression 3 (formerly from Creature House) About Graphics Software Guide Sue Chastain has a glowing review of Expression.
Microsoft Expression Tips and Tutorials- Microsoft Expression Web (Compare Prices)
Microsoft and Mac:
The Mac edition of Microsoft Office shares the same file formats with Windows users. It has word processing (Word), presentation (PowerPoint), spreadsheet (Excel) and other components. The current edition is Office 2008 and it comes in several version including Home & Student and a Business edition and applications can be purchased separately as well.
Available in October 2010: Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 (info)
- Microsoft Office 2008 (Compare Prices)
- Microsoft Word 2008 (Compare Prices)
Microsoft Windows:
All Windows operating systems come with integrated apps that have certain desktop publishing applicability such as the clipboard, Character Map, basic font management, and Windows Paint. The Vista and Windows 7 operating systems introduced even more robust core apps including:
Now, explore some of the basic apps and utilities in Windows 7:
- Microsoft Paint gets a major overhaul in Windows 7
- Math Input Panel make math typesetting easier
- Private Character Editor lets you make your own fonts -- sort of
Windows 7 comes in Ultimate, Professional, and Home Premium editions. There are full and upgrade versions as well as 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
Windows 7 Family
