MALWARE

Introduction:
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming (code, scripts, active content, and other software) designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, gain unauthorized access to system resources, and other abusive behavior. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code. Software is considered to be malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, dishonest adware, scareware, crimeware, most rootkits, and other malicious and unwanted software or program. In law, malware is sometimes known as a computer contaminant, for instance in the legal codes of several U.S. states, including California and West Virginia. Preliminary results from Symantec published in 2008 suggested that "the release rate of malicious code and other unwanted programs may be exceeding that of legitimate software applications." According to FSecure, "As much malware [was] produced in 2007 as in the previous 20 years altogether." Malware's most common pathway from criminals to users is through the Internet: primarily by e-mail and the World Wide Web. The prevalence of malware as a vehicle for organized Internet crime, along with the general inability of traditional anti-malware protection platforms (products) to protect against the continuous stream of unique and newly produced malware, has seen the adoption of a new mindset for businesses operating on the Internet: the acknowledgment that some sizable percentage of Internet customers will always be infected for

some reason or another, and that they need to continue doing business with infected customers. The result is a greater emphasis on back-office systems designed to spot fraudulent activities associated with advanced malware operating on customers' computers. Malware is not the same as defective software, that is, software that has a legitimate purpose but contains harmful bugs. Sometimes, malware is disguised as genuine software, and may come from an official site. Therefore, some security programs, such as McAfee may call malware "potentially unwanted programs" or "PUP". Though a computer virus is malware that can reproduce itself, the term is often used erroneously to refer to the entire category.

Purpose:
Many early infectious programs, including the first Internet Worm and a number of MS-DOS viruses, were written as experiments or pranks. They were generally intended to be harmless or merely annoying, rather than to cause serious damage to computer systems. In some cases, the perpetrator did not realize how much harm his or her creations would do. Young programmers learning about viruses and their techniques wrote them simply for practice, or to see how far they could spread. As late as 1999, widespread viruses such as the Melissa virus and theDavid virus appear to have been written chiefly as pranks. The first mobile phone virus, Cabir, appeared in 2004. Hostile intent related to vandalism can be found in programs designed to cause harm or data loss. Many DOS viruses, and the WindowsExploreZip worm, were designed to destroy files on a hard disk, or to corrupt the file system by writing invalid data to them. Network-borne worms such as the 2001 Code Red worm or the Ramen worm fall into the same category. Designed to vandalize web pages, worms may seem like the online equivalent to graffiti tagging, with the author's alias or affinity group appearing everywhere the worm goes.

Since the rise of widespread broadband Internet access, malicious software has been designed for a profit, for examples forced advertising. For instance, since 2003, the majority of widespread viruses and worms have been designed to take control of users' computers for black-market exploitation. Infected "zombie computers" are used to send email spam, to host contraband data such as child pornography, or to engage in distributed denial-of-service attacks as a form of extortion. Another strictly for-profit category of malware has emerged in spyware - programs designed to monitor users' web browsing, display unsolicited advertisements, or redirect affiliate marketing revenues to the spyware creator. Spyware programs do not spread like viruses; they are, in general, installed by exploiting security holes or are packaged with user-installed software, such as peer-to-peer applications.

Anti-Malware Programs
As malware attacks become more frequent, attention has begun to shift from viruses and spyware protection, to malware protection, and programs have been developed specifically to combat them. Anti-malware programs can combat malware in two ways: 1. They can provide real time protection against the installation of malware software on a computer. This type of spyware protection works the same way as that of antivirus protection in that the antimalware software scans all incoming network data for malware software and blocks any threats it comes across. 2. Anti-malware software programs can be used solely for detection and removal of malware software that has already been installed onto a computer. This type of malware protection is normally much easier to use and more popular. This type of anti-malware software scans the contents of the Windows registry, operating system files, and installed programs on a computer and will provide a list of any threats found, allowing the user to choose

which files to delete or keep, or to compare this list to a list of known malware components, removing files that match. Real-time protection from malware works identically to real-time antivirus protection: the software scans disk files at download time, and blocks the activity of components known to represent malware. In some cases, it may also intercept attempts to install start-up items or to modify browser settings. Because many malware components are installed as a result of browser exploits or user error, using security software (some of which are anti-malware, though many are not) to "sandbox" browsers (essentially babysit the user and their browser) can also be effective in helping to restrict any damage done.

FREE WARE

Introduction:
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit. The term does not imply that the software is free and open source software (FOSS). Freeware is a loosely defined category, which includes both closed and open source proprietary software. Software distributed free of cost, usually without any printed manual, warranty, or upgrade option. Although its copies may be freely redistributed (without any charge orfee), its copyright remains with the original writer orpublisher. Most freewares are relatively small utility programs but some (such as Adobe's Acrobat Reader) arefull fledged programs or (such as Sun Microsystems StarOffice) are complete software suites.

History:
The term freeware was coined by Andrew Fluegelman when he wanted to sell a communications program named PC-Talk that he had created but for which he did not wish to use traditional methods of distribution because of their cost.[4] Fluegelman actually distributed PC-Talk via a process now referred to as shareware. Current use of the term freeware does not necessarily match the original concept by Andrew Fluegelman.

Criteria:
Software classified as freeware is licensed at no cost and is either fully functional for an unlimited time; or has only basic functions enabled with a fully functional version available commercially or as shareware.[5] In contrast to free software, the author usually restricts one or more rights of the user, including the rights to copy, distribute, modify and make derivative works of the software or extract the source code.[3][2][6][7] The software license may impose additional restrictions on the type of use including personal use, private use, individual use, nonprofit use, non-commercial use, academic use, educational use, use in charity or humanitarian organisations, non-military use, use by public authorities or various other combinations of these type of restrictions.[8] For instance, the license may be "free for private, noncommercial use". The software license may also impose various other restrictions, such as restricted use over a network, restricted use on a server, restricted use in a combination with some types of other software or with some hardware devices, etc.[6] The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has requested that people avoid referring to true Free Software as "freeware".[9][10] Members of FOSS community believe that "freedom to use" implies that the end user is free to run, study, modify, and distribute the software with minimal restriction.[11] Freeware is also distinct from shareware; the latter obliges the user to pay after some trial period or to gain additional functionality.[2]

SHAREWARE
Introduction:
The term shareware (also known as trialware or demoware) refers to proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination offunctionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a periodical such as a newspaper or magazine. The rationale behind shareware is to give buyers the opportunity to use the program and judge its usefulness before purchasing a license for the full version of the software. Firms with superior software thus have an incentive to offer samples, except if their product is already well known, or if they do not want to be listed in direct competition with other products on shareware repositories.[1] Shareware is usually offered either with certain features only available after the license is purchased, or as a full version but for a limited trial period of time. Once the trial period has passed, the program may stop running until a license is purchased. Shareware is often offered without supports or updates which only become available with the purchase of a license. The words "free trial" or "trial version" are indicative of shareware. The term shareware is used in contrast to retail software, which refers to commercial software available only with the purchase of a license which may not be copied for others, public domain software, which refers to software not copyright protected, and freeware, which refers to copyrighted software for which the author solicits no payment (though he or she may request donations).

History:
In 1982, Andrew Fluegelman created a program for the IBM PC called PC-Talk, a telecommunications program, he used the term freeware. About the same time, Jim "Button" Knopf released PCFile, adatabase program, calling it user-supported software.[2] Not much later, Bob Wallace produced PC-Write, a word processor, and called it shareware. Appearing in an episode of Horizon titledPsychedelic Science originally broadcast 5 April 1998, Bob Wallace said the idea for shareware came to him "to some extent as a result of my psychedelic experience".[3] In 1984, Softalk-PC magazine had a column, The Public Library, about such software. Public domain is a misnomer for shareware, and Freeware was trademarked by Fluegelman and could not be used legally by others, and User-Supported Software was too cumbersome. So columnist Nelson Ford had a contest to come up with a better name. The most popular name submitted was Shareware, which was being used by Wallace. However, Wallace acknowledged that he got the term from an InfoWorld magazine column by that name in the 1970s, and that he considered the name to be generic,[citation needed] so its use became established over freeware and user-supported software.[4] Fluegelman, Knopf, and Wallace clearly established shareware as a viable software marketing method. Via the shareware model, Button, Fluegelman and Wallace became millionaires.[5][6] During the late 1980s and early 1990s, shareware software was widely distributed over bulletin board systems globally and on diskettes (and, subsequently, CD-ROMs) by commercial shareware distributors who produced catalogs of up to thousands of public domain and shareware programs. One such distributor, Public Software Library (PSL), began an order-taking service for programmers who otherwise had no means of accepting credit card orders. As Internet usage grew, users turned to downloading shareware programs without paying long-distance charges or disk fees, spelling the

end of bulletin board systems and shareware disk distributors. In addition to shareware libraries online, the authors of programs had their own sites where the public could learn about their programs and download the latest versions, and even pay for the software online. The Internet also made it easier to locate niche software, as well as the best and most popular general software. During the early 2000s, and with the increasing popularity of Web 2.0, new ways to filter the software became available. Major download sites began to rank titles based on quality, feedback, and downloads. Popular software was sorted to the top of the list. Blogs and online forums further enabled individuals to spread news about titles they like. With this pruning in place, consumers can more easily find quality shareware products while still preserving the ability to find obscure and niche software.

Implementations:
Free / open source software and shareware are similar in that they can be obtained and used without monetary cost. Usually, shareware differs from free / open source software in that requests of voluntary shareware fees are made, often within the program itself, and in that source code for shareware programs is generally not available in a form that would allow others to extend the program. Notwithstanding that tradition, some free/open source software authors ask for voluntary donations, although there is no requirement to do so. Free / open source software is usually compatible with the strict Association of Shareware Professionals shareware guidelines. Sometimes, paying the fee and obtaining a password results in access to expanded features, documentation, or support. In some cases, unpaid use of the software is limited in time or in features in which case the software is vernacularly called crippleware. Some shareware items require no payment; just an email address, so that the supplier can use this address for their own purposes.

Shareware is available on all major computer platforms, including Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Unix. Titles cover a very wide range of categories including: business, software development, education, home, multimedia, design, drivers, games, and utilities.

SPSS
(Statistical package for the Social Sciences)

Introduction:
SPSS is a computer program used for survey authoring and deployment (IBM SPSS Data Collection), data mining (IBM SPSS Modeler), text analytics, statistical analysis, and collaboration & deployment (batch & automated scoring services). Between 2009 and 2010 the premier vendor for SPSS was called PASW (Predictive Analytics SoftWare) Statistics. The company announced July 28, 2009 that it was being acquired by IBM for US$1.2 billion.[1] As of January 2010, it became "SPSS: An IBM Company". Complete transfer of business to IBM was done by 1 October, 2010. By that date, SPSS: An IBM Company, ceased to exist. IBM SPSS is now fully integrated into the IBM Corporation, and is one of the brands under IBM Software Group's Business Analytics Portfolio, together with IBM Cognos.

Statistics Program:
SPSS (originally, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) was released in its first version in 1968 after being developed by Norman H. Nieand C. Hadlai Hull. Norman Nie was then a political science postgraduate at Stanford University, and is now Research Professor in the Department of Political Science at Stanford and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Chicago.[2] SPSS is among the most widely used programs for statistical analysis in social science. It is used by market researchers, health researchers, survey companies, government, education researchers,

marketing organizations and others. The original SPSS manual (Nie, Bent & Hull, 1970) has been described as one of "sociology's most influential books".[3] In addition to statistical analysis, data management (case selection, file reshaping, creating derived data) and data documentation (a metadata dictionary is stored in the datafile) are features of the base software. Statistics included in the base software: Descriptive statistics: Cross tabulation, Frequencies, Descriptives, Explore, Descriptive Ratio Statistics  Bivariate statistics: Means, t-test, ANOVA, Correlation (bivariate, partial, distances), Nonparametric tests  Prediction for numerical outcomes: Linear regression  Prediction for identifying groups: Factor analysis, cluster analysis (two-step, K-means, hierarchical), Discriminant The many features of SPSS are accessible via pull-down menus or can be programmed with a proprietary 4GL command syntax language. Command syntax programming has the benefits of reproducibility, simplifying repetitive tasks, and handling complex data manipulations and analyses. Additionally, some complex applications can only be programmed in syntax and are not accessible through the menu structure. The pull-down menu interface also generates command syntax; this can be displayed in the output, although the defaultsettings have to be changed to make the syntax visible to the user. They can also be pasted into a syntax file using the "paste" button present in each menu. Programs can be run interactively or unattended, using the supplied Production Job Facility. Additionally a "macro" language can be used to write command language subroutines and a Python programmability extension can access the information in the data dictionary and data and dynamically build command syntax programs. The Python programmability extension, introduced in SPSS 14, replaced the less functional SAX Basic"scripts" for most purposes, although SaxBasic remains available. In addition, the Python extension allows SPSS to run any of the statistics in the free software package R.


From version 14 onwards SPSS can be driven externally by a Python or a VB.NET program using supplied "plug-ins". SPSS places constraints on internal file structure, data types, data processing and matching files, which together considerably simplify programming. SPSS datasets have a 2-dimensional table structure where the rows typically represent cases (such as individuals or households) and the columns represent measurements (such as age, sex or household income). Only 2 data types are defined: numeric and text (or "string"). All data processing occurs sequentially case-by-case through the file. Files can be matched one-to-one and one-to-many, but not many-tomany. The graphical user interface has two views which can be toggled by clicking on one of the two tabs in the bottom left of the SPSS window. The 'Data View' shows a spreadsheet view of the cases (rows) and variables (columns). Unlike spreadsheets, the data cells can only contain numbers or text and formulas cannot be stored in these cells. The 'Variable View' displays the metadata dictionary where each row represents a variable and shows the variable name, variable label, value label(s), print width, measurement type and a variety of other characteristics. Cells in both views can be manually edited, defining the file structure and allowing data entry without using command syntax. This may be sufficient for small datasets. Larger datasets such as statistical surveys are more often created indata entry software, or entered during computer-assisted personal interviewing, by scanning and using optical character recognition and optical mark recognition software, or by direct capture fromonline questionnaires. These datasets are then read into SPSS. The graphical user interface has two views which can be toggled by clicking on one of the two tabs in the bottom left of the SPSS window. The 'Data View' shows a spreadsheet view of the cases (rows) and variables (columns). Unlike spreadsheets, the data cells can only contain numbers or text and formulas cannot be stored in these cells. The 'Variable View' displays the metadata dictionary where each row represents a variable and shows the variable name, variable label, value

label(s), print width, measurement type and a variety of other characteristics. Cells in both views can be manually edited, defining the file structure and allowing data entry without using command syntax. This may be sufficient for small datasets. Larger datasets such as statistical surveys are more often created indata entry software, or entered during computer-assisted personal interviewing, by scanning and using optical character recognition and optical mark recognition software, or by direct capture fromonline questionnaires. These datasets are then read into SPSS. SPSS can read and write data from ASCII text files (including hierarchical files), other statistics packages, spreadsheets and databases. SPSS can read and write to external relational database tablesvia ODBC and SQL. Statistical output is to a proprietary file format (*.spv file, supporting pivot tables) for which, in addition to the in-package viewer, a stand-alone reader can be downloaded. The proprietary output can be exported to text or Microsoft Word. Alternatively, output can be captured as data (using the OMS command), as text, tab-delimited text, PDF, XLS, HTML, XML, SPSS dataset or a variety of graphic image formats (JPEG, PNG, BMP and EMF).

Versions:
Early versions of SPSS were designed for batch processing on mainframes, including for example IBM and ICL versions, originally using punched cards for input. A processing run read a command file of SPSS commands and either a raw input file of fixed format data with a single record type, or a 'getfile' of data saved by a previous run. To save precious computer time an 'edit' run could be done to check command syntax without analysing the data. From version 10 (SPSS-X) in 1983, data files could contain multiple record types.

SPSS version 16.0 runs under Windows, Mac OS 10.5 and earlier, and Linux. The graphical user interface is written in Java. The Mac OS version is provided as aUniversal binary, making it fully compatible with both PowerPC and Intel-based Mac hardware. Prior to SPSS 16.0, different versions of SPSS were available for Windows, Mac OS X and Unix. The Windows version was updated more frequently, and had more features, than the versions for other operating systems. SPSS version 13.0 for Mac OS X was not compatible with Intel-based Macintosh computers, due to the Rosetta emulation software causing errors in calculations. SPSS 15.0 for Windows needed a downloadable hotfix to be installed in order to be compatible with Windows Vista. The latest versions of IBM SPSS are as follow: IBM SPSS Statistics v19.0 IBM SPSS Modeler Professional & IBM SPSS Modeler Premium - v14.1 IBM SPSS Data Collection - v5.6 IBM SPSS Collaboration & Deployment Services - v4.1

Add-On'
Add-on modules provide additional capabilities. The available modules are:


SPSS Programmability Extension (added in version 14). Allows Python, R, and .NET programming control of SPSS. SPSS Data Preparation (added in version 14). Allows programming of logical checks and reporting of suspicious values. SPSS Regression - Logistic regression, ordinal regression, multinomial logistic regression, and mixed models. SPSS Advanced Models - Multivariate GLM and repeated measures ANOVA (removed from base system in version 14). SPSS Decision Trees. Creates classification and decision trees for identifying groups and predicting behaviour.

     

SPSS Custom Tables. Allows user-defined control of output for reports. SPSS Exact Tests. Allows statistical testing on small samples. SPSS Categories SPSS Forecasting SPSS Conjoint SPSS Missing Values. Simple regression-based imputation. SPSS Complex Samples (added in Version 12). Adjusts for stratification and clustering and other sample selection biases. AMOS (Analysis of Moment Structures) - add-on which allows modeling of structural equation and covariance structures, path analysis, and has the more basic capabilities such as linear regression analysis, ANOVA and ANCOVA

SAS
(Statistical Analysis System)

Introduction:
SAS (pronounced "sass", originally Statistical Analysis System) is an integrated system of software products provided by SAS Institute Inc.that enables programmers to perform:
   

retrieval, management, and mining report writing and graphics statistical analysis business planning, forecasting, and decision support

operations research and project management  quality improvement  applications development  data warehousing (extract, transform, load)  platform independent and remote computing In addition, SAS has many business solutions that enable large-scale software solutions for areas such as IT management, human resource management, financial management, business intelligence, customer relationship management and more.


Description:
SAS is driven by SAS programs, which define a sequence of operations to be performed on data stored as tables. Although nonprogrammer graphical user interfaces to SAS exist (such as the SAS Enterprise Guide), these GUIs are most often merely a front-end that automates or facilitates the generation of SAS programs. The functionalities of SAS components are intended to be accessed viaapplication programming interfaces, in the form of statements and procedures. A SAS program has three major parts: 1. the DATA step 2. procedure steps (effectively, everything that is not enclosed in a DATA step) 3. a macro language SAS Library Engines and Remote Library Services allow access to data stored in external data structures and on remote computer platforms. The DATA step section of a SAS program,[1] like other databaseoriented fourth-generation programming languages such as SQL or Focus, assumes a default file structure, and automates the process of identifying files to the operating system, opening the input

file, reading the next record, opening the output file, writing the next record, and closing the files. This allows the user/programmer to concentrate on the details of working with the data within each record, in effect working almost entirely within an implicit program loop that runs for each record. All other tasks are accomplished by procedures that operate on the data set (SAS' terminology for "table") as a whole. Typical tasks include printing or performing statistical analysis, and may just require the user/programmer to identify the data set. Procedures are not restricted to only one behavior and thus allow extensive customization, controlled by mini-languages defined within the procedures. SAS also has an extensive SQL procedure, allowing SQL programmers to use the system with little additional knowledge. There are macro programming extensions, that allow for rationalization of repetitive sections of the program. Proper imperative and procedural programming constructs can be simulated by use of the "open code" macros or the Interactive Matrix Language SAS/IML component. Macro code in a SAS program, if any, undergoes preprocessing. At run time, DATA steps are compiled and procedures are interpreted and run in the sequence they appear in the SAS program. A SAS program requires the SAS software to run. Compared to general-purpose programming languages, this structure allows the user/programmer to concentrate less on the technical details of the data and how it is stored, and more on the information contained in the data. This blurs the line between user and programmer, appealing to individuals who fall more into the 'business' or 'research' area and less in the 'information technology' area, since SAS does not enforce (although it recommends) a structured, centralized approach to data and infrastructure management. SAS runs on IBM mainframes, Unix, Linux, OpenVMS Alpha, and Microsoft Windows. Code is "almost" transparently moved between these environments. Older versions have supported PC-DOS, the Apple Macintosh, VMS, VM/CMS, PrimeOS, Data General AOS and OS/2.

Features:
  

 

Read and write different file formats. Process data in different formats. SAS programming language, a 4th generation programming language. SAS DATA steps are written in a 3rd-generation procedural language very similar to PL/I; SAS PROCS, especially PROC SQL, are non-procedural and therefore better fit the definition of a 4GL. SAS AF/SCL is a fifth generation programming language[citation needed] that is similar in syntax to Java. WHERE filtering available in DATA steps and PROCs; based on SQL WHERE clauses, incl. operators like LIKE and BETWEEN/AND. Built-in statistical and random number functions. Functions for manipulating character and numeric variables. Version 9 includes Perl Regular Expression processing. System of formats and informats. These control representation and categorization of data and may be used within DATA step programs in a wide variety of ways. Users can create custom formats, either by direct specification or via an input dataset. Comprehensive date- and time-handling functions; a variety of formats to represent date and time information without transformation of underlying values. Interaction with database products through a subset of SQL (and ability to use SQL internally to manipulate SAS data sets). Almost all SAS functions and operators available in PROC SQL. SAS/ACCESS modules allow communication with databases (including databases accessible via ODBC); in most cases, database tables can be viewed as though they were native SAS data sets. As a result, applications may combine data from many platforms without the end-user needing to know details of or distinctions between data sources.

Direct output of reports to CSV, HTML, PCL, PDF, PostScript, RTF, XML, and more using Output Delivery System. Templates, custom tagsets, styles incl. CSS and other markup tools available and fully programmable. Interaction with the operating system (for example, pipelining on Unix and Windows and DDE on Windows).

Example:
SAS uses data steps and procedures to analyze and manipulate data. By default, a data step iterates through each observation in a data set (like every row in a SQL table). This data step creates a new data set BBB that includes those observations from data set AAA that had charges greater than 100.
data BBB; set AAA; where charge > 100; run;

SAS makes available procedures that can summarize data. The proc freq procedure shows a frequency distribution of a given variable in a data set.
proc freq data=BBB; table charge; run;

MICROSOFT OFFICE
Introduction:
Microsoft Office is a proprietary commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of Office containedMicrosoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. Over the years, Office applications have grown substantially closer with shared features such as a common spell checker, OLE data integration and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications scripting language. Microsoft also positions Office as a development platform for line-of-business software under the Office Business Applications brand. According to Forrester Research, as of June 2009, some version of Microsoft Office is used in 80% of enterprises, with 64% of enterprises using Office 2007. The current versions are Office 2010 for Windows, released on June 15, 2010;[3] and Office 2011 for Mac OS X, released October 26, 2010.

Microsoft Windows Versions:

The Microsoft Office for Windows started in October 1990 as a bundle of three applications designed for Microsoft Windows 3.0: Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1, Microsoft Excel for Windows 2.0, and Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 2.0. The Microsoft Office for Windows 1.5 updated the suite with Microsoft Excel 3.0.

The Microsoft Office for Windows 1.6 added Microsoft Mail for PC Networks 2.1 to the bundle. The Microsoft Office for Windows 3.0, released in August 1992, contained Word 2.0, Excel 4.0, PowerPoint 3.0 and Mail 3.0. It was the first version of Office to be also released on CD-ROM. In 1993, The Microsoft Office Professional was released, which added Microsoft Access 1.1. In 1994, Microsoft Office 4.0 was released containing Word 6.0, Excel 4.0, PowerPoint 3.0 and Mail. Word's version number jumped from 2.0 to 6.0 so that it would have the same version number as the MS-DOS and Macintosh versions (Excel and PowerPoint were already numbered the same as the Macintosh versions). Microsoft Office 4.2 for Windows NT was released in 1994 for i386, Alpha, [15] MIPS and PowerPC architectures, containing Word 6.0 and Excel 5.0 (both 32-bit, PowerPoint 4.0 (16-bit), and Microsoft Office Manager 4.2 (the precursor to the Office Shortcut Bar). Microsoft Office 4.3 was released as the last 16-bit version, containing Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, PowerPoint 4.0. Office 4.3 (plus Access 2.0 in the Pro version) is the last version to support Windows 3.x,Windows NT 3.1 and Windows NT 3.5. Windows NT 3.51 was supported up to and including Office 97. Microsoft Office 95 was released in August 1995. Again, the version numbers were altered to create parity across the suiteevery program was called version 7.0 meaning all but Word missed out versions. It was designed as a fully 32-bit version to match Windows 95. Office 95 was available in two versions, Office 95 Standard and Office 95 Professional. The standard version consisted of Word 7.0, Excel 7.0, PowerPoint 7.0, and Schedule+ 7.0. The professional edition contained all of the items in the standard version plus Access 7.0. If the professional version was purchased in CD-ROMform, it also included Bookshelf. Microsoft Office 97 (Office 8.0), a major milestone release which included hundreds of new features and improvements,

introduced command bars, a paradigm in which menus and toolbars were made more similar in capability and visual design. Office 97 also featured Natural Language Systems and grammar checking. Office 97 was the first version of Office to include the Office Assistant. Microsoft Office 2000 (Office 9.0) introduced adaptive menus, where little-used options were hidden from the user. It also introduced a new security feature, built around digital signatures, to diminish the threat of macro viruses. Office 2000 automatically trusts macros (written in VBA 6) that were digitally signed from authors who have been previously designated as trusted. Office 2000 is the last version to support Windows 95. Microsoft Office XP (Office 10.0 or Office 2002) was released in conjunction with Windows XP, and was a major upgrade with numerous enhancements and changes over Office 2000. Office XP introduced the Safe Mode feature, which allows applications such as Outlook to boot when it might otherwise fail. Safe Mode enables Office to detect and either repair or bypass the source of the problem, such as a corrupted registry or a faulty add-in. Smart tag is a technology introduced with Office XP. Some smart tags operate based on user activity, such as helping with typing errors. These smart tags are supplied with the products, and are not programmable. For developers, though, there is the ability to create custom smart tags. In Office XP, custom smart tags could work only in Word and Excel. Microsoft Office XP includes integrated voice command and text dictation capabilities, as well as handwriting recognition. Office XP is the last version to support Windows 98, ME and NT 4.0. It was the first version to require Product Activation as an anti-piracy measure, which attracted widespread controversy. Microsoft Office 2003 (Office 11.0) was released in 2003. It featured a new logo. Two new applications made their debut in Office 2003: Microsoft InfoPath and OneNote. It is the first version to use Windows XP style icons. Outlook 2003 provides improved functionality in many areas, including Kerberos authentication, RPC over HTTP,

Cached Exchange Mode, and an improved junk mail filter. 2003 is the last Office version to support Windows 2000. Microsoft Office 2007 (Office 12.0) was released in 2007. Office 2007's new features include a new graphical user interface called the Fluent User Interface, replacing the menus and toolbars that have been the cornerstone of Office since its inception with a tabbed toolbar, known as the Ribbon; new XML-based file formats called Office Open XML; and the inclusion of Groove, a collaborative software application. Microsoft Office 2010 (Office 14.0) was finalized on April 15, 2010, and was made available to consumers on June 15, 2010. Office 2010 was given the version number 14.0, to avoid the version number 13.0 due to superstition relating to the number thirteen. The main features of Office 2010 include the backstage file menu, new collaboration tools, a customizable ribbon, protected view and a navigation pane. Microsoft Office 2010 also features a new logo, which is similar to the 2007 logo, except in gold, and with a slightly modified shape. Service Pack 1 for Office 2010 was released on June 28th, 2011. Microsoft Office 2012 is expected to be released to manufacturing on July 2, 2012. In addition, mainstream support for the product is expected to end on June 30, 2017; and extended support is expected to end on July 5, 2022. Microsoft Office 2012 is reportedly in Build 15.0.2703.1000, and has reached Milestone 2. It sports a revamped application interface; the interface is based onMetro Design Language, which is the interface Windows Media Center for Windows Phone 7 uses. Microsoft Outlook has received the most pronounced changes so far; for example, the Metro interface enables users to have access to a new visualization for scheduled tasks. Some other modest changes to the overall Office suite include PowerPoint having more templates and transition effects; and OneNote providing a new splash screen. On May 16, 2011, new images of Office '15 were revealed which portrayed more changes to the overall functionality of the suite. Some notable changes in Excel include a tool for filtering data in a storm, the ability to convert Roman numerals to Arabic numerals, and the integration of advanced trigonometric functions.

Components:
Microsoft Word is a word processor and was previously considered to be the main program in Office. Its proprietary DOC format is considered a de facto standard, although Word 2007 can also use a new XMLbased, Microsoft Office-optimized format called .DOCX which has been standardized by Ecma International as Office Open XML and its SP2 update will support ODF and PDF.[43] Word is also available in some editions of Microsoft Works. It is available for the Windows and Mac platforms. The first version of Word, released in the autumn of 1983, was for the MS-DOS operating system and had the distinction of introducing the mouse to a broad population. Word 1.0 could be purchased with a bundled mouse, though none was required. Following the precedents of LisaWrite and MacWrite, Word for Macintosh attempted to add closer WYSIWYG features into its package. Word for Mac was released in 1985. Word for Mac was the first graphical version of Microsoft Word. Despite its bugginess, it became one of the most popular Mac applications. Excel Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program which originally competed with the dominant Lotus 1-2-3, but eventually outsold it. It is available for the Windows and Mac platforms. Microsoft released the first version of Excel for the Mac in 1985, and the first Windows version (numbered 2.05 to line up with the Mac and bundled with a standalone Windows run-time environment) in November 1987. Outlook/Entourage Microsoft Outlook (not to be confused with Outlook Express) is a personal information manager and e-mail communication software. The replacement for Windows Messaging, Microsoft Mail andSchedule+ starting in Office 97, it includes an e-mail client, calendar, task manager and address book. On the Mac, Microsoft offered several versions of Outlook in the late 1990s, but only for use with Microsoft Exchange Server. In Office 2001,

it introduced an alternative application with a slightly different feature set called Microsoft Entourage. It reintroduced Outlook in Office 2011, replacing Entourage. PowerPoint Microsoft PowerPoint is a popular presentation program for Windows and Mac. It is used to create slideshows, composed of text, graphics, movies and other objects, which can be displayed on-screen and navigated through by the presenter or printed out on transparencies or slides.

Supported operating systems:

Microsoft supports Office for the Windows and Mac platforms. Beginning with Mac Office 4.2, the Mac and Windows versions of Office share the same file format. Consequently, any Mac with Office 4.2 or later can read documents created with Office 4.2 for Windows or later, and vice-versa. Visual Basic for Applications support was dropped in Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac but was restored in Microsoft Office for Mac 2011. There were efforts in the mid 1990s to port Office to RISC processors such as NEC / MIPS and IBM / PowerPC, but they met problems such as memory access being hampered by data structure alignment requirements. Microsoft Word 97 and Excel 97 however did ship for the DEC Alpha platform. Difficulties in porting Office may have been a factor in discontinuing Windows NT on non-Intel platforms. There is no mention of support for other operating systems, although Microsoft Office Mobile, which supports the more popular features of Microsoft Office, is available for Windows Mobile and is planned to soon be available for Symbian OS. CrossOver, a Windows compatibility layer by CodeWeavers, makes it possible to run Microsoft Office on the Linux platform. Doing so, however, requires a license for Microsoft Office for Windows, as well as a license for CrossOver.

WINDOWS AND LINUX

Comparisons between the Microsoft Windows and Linux computer operating systems are a long-running discussion topic within the personal computer industry. Throughout the entire period of theWindows 9x systems through the introduction of Windows 7, Windows has retained an extremely large retail sales majority among operating systems for personal desktop use, while Linux has sustained its status as the most prominent Free Software and Open Source operating system. After their initial clash, both operating systems moved beyond the user base of the personal computer market and share a rivalry on a variety of other devices, with offerings for the server and embedded systems markets, and mobile internet access. Linux and Microsoft Windows differ in philosophy, cost, versatility and stability, with each seeking to improve in their perceived weaker areas. Comparisons of the two operating systems tend to reflect their origins, historic user bases and distribution models. Typical perceived weaknesses regularly cited have often included poor consumer familiarity with Linux, and Microsoft Windows' susceptibility to viruses and malware.