Anilrgowda

LAST week was big for the world’s leading computer software maker, Microsoft in Nigeria as it unveiled it’s latest technological feats; the Vista, Office 2007 system and Exchange 2007 first to the government and people in Abuja, and then to the corporate citizens at a very elaborate ceremony held at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos.
At the Abuja event, Mr. Victor Okigbo, Microsoft Nigeria Marketing Manager said the formal unveiling signaled the availability of the products in the country. “From today,” Okigbo gleefully announced, “home and business users can access what we considered the best-looking, more secure and most user-friendly version of software. They are more powerful, their many functions are easier to use, as e-mail, internet, word-processing, spreadsheet and other programmes work more closely together than ever before.”
The products — Windows Vista, Office 2007 system and Exchange Server 2007 — are described as the “most significant set of product releases since the launce of Windows 95 and Office 95 more than a decade ago.”
Windows Vista has an enhanced graphical user interface that is focused on making it easier for people to access information and be more productive on their computers than ever before. Vista is also more secure and robust than any previous version of Windows providing a safer computing environment for users and protecting their information. Vista comes in six different variations called ‘SKUs’ that offer specific features in the operating system for different groups of users, such as business-centric application or home users. The predecessor to Windows Vista is Windows XP.
Okigbo spoke on the issue of piracy which has assumed an alarming proportion in Nigeria. “Of course, piracy is still a huge issue. The company believes use of genuine software provides a safer and more reliable PC experience for government, businesses and consumers. In addition, to combat piracy, many Vista features will only be available to users running genuine software.”
Explaining the features of the anti-piracy software infusion, he stated that irrespective of where in the world you purchase the new Windows Vista operating system, the “software protection platform is a new anti-piracy mechanism to help combat piracy. This is a new set of technologies that help make it more difficult to pirate software by assigning volume license activation keys for Windows software upgrades, to improve the use of genuine Microsoft products will do so in the future.
The software protection platform brings together new anti-piracy innovations, counterfeit detection and tamper-resistant features into a complete platform. “Windows Vista is one of the first products to ship with this technology included — we anticipate that other Microsoft products will do so in the future.”
The platform enables enhancements to the genuine experience in Windows Vista, thereby differentiating it from the non-genuine experience. “Customers that use genuine Windows Vista will benefit from features that do not work on non-genuine or unlicensed versions of the operating system,” said Okigbo.
New features of 2007 Office system
Microsoft Office Fluent. The new office Fluent UI replaces traditional menus and toolbars found in previous releases of Microsoft Office with a results-oriented design that enables people to focus on what they want to do rather than how to do it. New Office Fluent UI features will help organise and more effectively present application tools and capabilities. As a result, people will find it easier to quickly discover and use more of the capabilities that Microsoft Office application offer, enabling them to produce their best work more efficiently.
Key features of the Fluent UI innovations include:
* Ribbon: “Think of it as a primary replacement for menus and toolbars. It’s the single place people go to find to find the tools to help them create documents, presentations or spreadsheets.
* Galleries: A set of visual choices that are shown when you wish to apply formatting or change a document in some way.
* Live Preview: This technology shows results of a Gallery selection before customers actually apply the change. This gives people an idea of what the results will look like and makes it easier to experiment.
* Contextual Tabs: These are tabs with specialised tools appear when customers select something other than text to modify — e.g. table, picture, chart, drawing object, etc.
* Screen Tips: ScreenTips integrate help topics into relevant commands, so people can access more detail about what a feature does right from the command’s location in the Ribbon.
* Quick Access Toolbar: This allows people to customise the Fluent user interface by adding any command to a toolbar that is available at all times, regardless of context.
* Mini Toolbar: A formatting tool that presentts the most common text formatting features on a tool panel that “floats” over the selected text, which eliminates mouse trips to the Ribbon and is particularly helpful when using a large screen monitor.
* Office Button: Think of this as an expansion on and replacement of the traditional File menu. It provides easy access to a rich set of tools for working with a document, spreadsheet, presentation or database once it has been created.
Computers, especially brand new sets bought in liscensed retail outlets are more likely to run the new Microsoft Vista than the old versions most Nigerians seem to import indiscriminately from Europe. Generally speaking, if you purchased a new computer within the last 12 months, it will be able to run Windows Vista and Office 2007.
Minimum system requirements for Windows Vista “Starter Edition” or “Home Basic” include:
* 800MHz Intel or AMD processor (CPU)
* 512MB of System Random Access Memory (RAM)
* 32MB graphics card (Direct X9 compatible)
* 20GB hard drive with at least 15GB free space
* DVD Drive
* Audio card and speakers
* Internet access.
Although Okigbo said the compliance with the above criteria would enable installation of Vista and 2007 Office effectively, “recommended requirements are much higher and essential to take full advantage of all the functionality.”






Source:Vanguard - Technology : Microsoft instals anti-piracy platform in new Vista, Office 2007