Some Microsoft Desktop Publishing SoftwareMicrosoft Desktop Publishing Software is the name given to a group of software which offer layouts for quite a few businesses and consumer documents. These software are MS Word and Microsoft Publisher. Microsoft Word Microsoft Word is Microsoft's premium software offering for word processing. It was introduced in 1983. At that time it was known as Multi-tool word for Xenix systems. Sometime later several other versions were released for different platforms such as IBM PCs running on DOS in 1983, Apple Macintosh in 1984, Microsoft Windows, SCO UNIX and OS/2 in 1989. Usually, MS Word is sold as a part of the Microsoft Office package. Still it is sold as an individual project and is included in the Microsoft Works Suite. With the 2003 version, the branding was revised in a way to stress on the Word's identity as a part of the Office suite. At this time, Microsoft started to call it Microsoft Office Word replacing the earlier name Microsoft Word. However, it is commonly referred to by both the names. The latest version released is Word 2007. Microsoft Office Publisher Microsoft Office Publisher is a desktop publishing software. Earlier it was known as Microsoft Publisher from Microsoft. It is generally considered an entry-level desktop publishing software. It is different form Microsoft Word as it is used for page layout and design instead of text composition and proofing. Generally, MS Publisher is not as preferred as other desktop publishing software in the field of commercial publishing. It is because MS Publisher's older versions had some fonts missing and some embedded objects are not available on some of the machines of the service providers. Some high end features like object shadowing, transparency, text on paths, slugs, built-in PDF output, etc were either not fully-functional or were not there at all. However, the new versions are equipped with greater capabilities related to color separations and proper process coloring output. The latest version Publisher 2007 also has a feature of commercial press quality PDF output which is equipped with embedded fonts. These fonts can be optionally downloaded from the Microsoft website. Publisher is an essential component of high-end editions of Microsoft Office. It is a move made by Microsoft to make Publisher an easy to use and less expensive alternative to the more expensive and high end software. Publisher's file format is not supported by most of the applications except Adobe PageMaker. However, Publisher generally supports various file formats such as EMF (Enhanced Metafile) format. This format is supported by various applications and operating systems. Publisher 2007 is also able to export the most popular PDF format. Currently Microsoft desktop publishing software are fighting for a place in the desktop publishing market. They are no doubt popular but users are now willing to experiment. |