Microsoft miracle

With its speech and text rec-ognition coupled with an inbuilt optical character recognition software that can read the letters straight out of your scanner, Microsoft Office XP is somewhat a miracle considering that Microsoft made it.

The suite has a new soft, pastel-coloured interface. Task Panes at the right-hand side of each application window offer lists of recently used files, disk and Web searches, Web-based translation services, and access to formatting features. (Unfortunately, the Spelling and Find dialogs still pop up over document windows.) Smart Tag icons offer help and options when you perform complex tasks or when Office applies an automated formatting change like superscripting ordinal numbers. You can click the tag (or press Shift-Alt-F10) to choose possible actions for the affected text or graphic, or to turn off automated changes. 

Microsoft soft-pedals high-tech features like handwriting and speech recognition, targeted at users who can't use the keyboard for medical reasons. The speech tool though not 100% accurate, is a cool feature you got to try out. I mean you just talk to your computer and it does what you say. A more reliable feature is the unobtrusive new built-in OCR software that acquires text from your scanner.

As an upgrade, Office XP introduces fewer problems than Office 2000, and all you blokes who stayed with Office 97 may be attracted by this highly compatible upgrade. As a first-time purchase, Office XP justifies Microsoft's lion's share of the market. It has given a whole new image to the reputation of Microsoft, I mean it's really good.
Word

Microsoft hasn't tinkered with Word's file format or its basic feature set. A Reveal Formatting Task Pane lets you clear formatting for selected text and see exactly where all formatting effects begin and end. Multiple blocks of text can be selected by holding down the control key when dragging with the mouse. Automated reformatting and bulleted lists are less aggressive than before, so documents won't surprise you with sudden changes in layout. An optional feature displays dotted lines under names, addresses, and telephone numbers and other recognized terms such as stock symbols; an icon lets you easily insert contact information from Outlook, send an e-mail or get more information about the highlighted item. A crash-recovery feature lets you decide whether to open the last saved copy of a file or the version saved during the crash. Despite Microsoft's evident expectation of crashes, Word 2002 is the version users have been waiting for.
Excel

Excel's feature set is enhanced without damaging filing compatibility-with prior versions. "Web queries" can be built by dragging a table from the browser into a worksheet. Excel recognizes stock symbols, so it's a no-brainer to build queries that download stock prices. A Watch Window shows the result of Web queries or calculations on any cell, even if the cell itself is not currently visible. Debugging is aided by an Evaluator that steps through formulas. Excel now recognizes that numbers formatted as text should be sorted with numbers in standard numerical format, and other new error-prevention features warn against mistakes like sorting a single column instead of a larger block. You can live without Excel 2002's new features, but enhanced safety and convenience make the upgrade worthwhile.
Outlook 

Outlook loses its cluttered interface and separate "modes" for Internet and Microsoft Exchange. It gains a logical layout and integrated Internet and Exchange mailboxes-as well as new support for Web-based Hotmail accounts. Internet newsgroups still aren't supported, and the add-in fax option from older versions is gone (but retained in upgrade installations). The default e-mail editor is Word, which now opens snappily, unlike its sluggish performance in previous upgrades. Incoming plain-text messages are automatically reformatted to remove line breaks, but a mouse-click on a prominent restore button returns the breaks if the reformatting was overly aggressive. 

Appointments can be colour-coded automatically to match user-definable rules; group schedules are supported; and reminder messages for the same time period are displayed in a single dialog. Outlook gains many conveniences long available in Outlook Express: the preview pane displays active links; e-mail addresses are automatically completed as you type; and you can choose among multiple accounts when sending. This is the first Outlook version with no major frustrations, and the most welcome upgrade in the suite. The only hitch is that it does not let you open .exe or executable files that come as attachments which Microsoft claims is for improved security.
PowerPoint

The new Task Pane feature proves its worth in PowerPoint, displaying thumbnails of slide design and colour schemes, lists of animation effects, and an animation builder that creates effects from cascading option menus. This means that you won't be stuck with PowerPoint's built in animations, but you can create your own. Multiple "master" slides can be stored in a presentation, allowing different designs for different sections of a slideshow. Charts and diagrams can be created and edited in place, and a design grid is available when you create slides, but is hidden when you present them. Whiz-bang features like animations can be previewed directly in a slide, but you can't preview less-glamorous but more useful features like font changes, as you can in Corel Presentations. PowerPoint isn't perfect, but it remains the overall presentation software leader, with its flexibility and elegance.
FrontPage

FrontPage is mostly unchanged, except for interface refinements and a few new page-design features. For example, the program builds picture galleries automatically, so you don't have to construct a table by hand. In addition, a tabbed interface lets you navigate among multiple pages - a capability that prior versions kept well-hidden in a menu. New text effects like shadowed fonts look attractive but waste bandwidth, and some features seem designed to increase traffic at MSN's Web sites, like components that automatically display MSNBC news and Expedia travel information. Macromedia's Dreamweaver remains the first choice for advanced Web authors, but FrontPage is good for everyone else.
Access

Access 2002 looks and acts reassuringly familiar; the default file format is the same as Access 2000's. The difference is that Access 2002 allows you to choose an extensible new format that will allow you to add features from future Access versions without requiring file conversion. Excel's pivot tables are now built into Access, but with a slightly different interface. Page design adds multiple undo and redo, as well as enhancements for better control over field sizes and linked pages. All the new features are unobtrusively slotted into the existing interface-as are almost all enhancements throughout the suite.

Finally, Microsoft gives users command of their software, rather than decide for them how its programs will work. Web integration and user control are laced throughout the XP suite in thoughtful and practical ways, and the company did not sacrifice functionality for these additions. Most users won't absolutely need this upgrade, but those who do will notice that this is one of the few Microsoft upgrades that offers almost no pains with its significant gains.

The good: Boasts more collaboration tools than previous versions; new data recovery tools help prevent lost work; speech recognition lets you dictate and vocally navigate through Office apps.

The bad: Requires 210MB of disk space; won't work with Windows 95; most enhancements and additions are better suited for groups than individuals.

The bottom line: Microsoft Office XP's online and collaborative tool improvements make it a smart upgrade for businesses and groups, but it's not worth the cost, time, and effort for single or home users.

Jackson plans all-star tribute song

• Near miss at WTC for Duchess of York

Michael Jackson has announced plans to record a "We Are the World"-like single to raise money for survivors and families of victims in Tuesday's terrorist attacks. He aims to raise about $50m (£34m) for survivors and families of victims of the attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington. 

The pop star has lined up support from Destiny's Child, Mya, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake of 'N Sync, and Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, who all plan to record the song titled "What More Can I Give," according to a statement released Sunday.

"I believe in my heart that the music community will come together as one and rally to the aid of thousands of innocent victims," Jackson said. "There is a tremendous need for relief dollars right now and, through this effort, each one of us can play an immediate role in helping comfort so many people."

Jackson's New York-based spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, said the song will be released as soon as possible, and more celebrity singers are lining up to participate. 

"We Are the World," which featured then-popular stars Corey Hart, Steve Perry, and Huey Lewis, has raised $65 million for the USA for Africa fund that aids victims of starvation in Africa since its release in 1985.

Jackson's initiative is reminiscent of his work on the all-star American charity single We Are The World. He co-wrote and performed the song in 1985 to aid victims of the famine in Ethiopia. 

Scores of US pop stars participated on the song which raised $65m (£44m) for the USA for Africa relief fund. It followed the Live Aid concert organised by UK star Bob Geldof. 

That was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium, London, and the JFK Stadium, Philadelphia and raised about £40m for famine relief. 

In his statement about his new venture, Jackson said: "We have demonstrated time and again that music can touch our souls. "It is time we used that power to help us begin the process of healing immediately." 

The rival boy bands 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys have already united over the death of set carpenter Danny Lee, who was aboard the hijacked airplane that crashed into the World Trade Center's north tower. Lee, who worked for both groups, was remembered by the Backstreet Boys at a Toronto concert on Wednesday night. 

In the light of Tuesday's tragedy, Britney Spears has cancelled her promotional tour of Europe and South America, the Australian Associated Press reported on Saturday. 

On Friday, Alanis Morissette, who was scheduled to appear in Washington D.C. on Sept. 12 in a hearing about the future of music and intellectual property, announced via her Web site (www.alanis.com) that she is planning a fund-raising concert. Groups who have already pledged monetary support for relief efforts include Incubus; Lynyrd Skynyrd; Earth, Wind & Fire; and Godsmack — the latter of whom are already featured on a now timely Navy recruiting television spot.

Near miss at WTC for Duchess of York

Her staffers were gathered downstairs in the lobby to greet the duchess and escort her upstairs. Just seconds after the first plane hit, Sarah's car arrived at the door. After whisking her employees into her limo, she sped off to safety, Adams reports.

The charity's offices were on the 101st floor, according to wire service reports, although it's not clear which tower they were located in.

"The Duchess of York is desperately upset for everyone involved in this terrible tragedy," said her spokesman. "It is unbelievable, she was just a few minutes away when the explosion took place." 

Meanwhile, Prince Andrew was flying to America when he heard the news of the terrorist acts in New York. 

The Prince had boarded a British Airways flight to Atlanta and was halfway across the Atlantic when it was ordered to turn around and return to Britain. 

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