A Quick overview

Depending on what Microsoft Office suite you purchase with a new system, you may discover you have programs which you hadn’t noticed before. For instance, in Windows, here is my Microsoft Office program group:

While most people know the basic Office products such as Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, there are several others that might prove very useful to you depending on your needs.

Microsoft Access
Purchase options: Individual Retail Product, Professional, and Professional Plus

Microsoft Access is a program to make simple databases for storing and retrieving information. It provides an easy to use Office interface to allow you to get started in just a few minutes with the built-in templates. If you want to get more advanced, it has quite the learning curve so be forewarned.

Microsoft InfoPath
Purchase options: Professional Plus

Microsoft InfoPath is an application that allows you to create and distribute electronic forms containing structured data. Its most common usage is integration with Microsoft SharePoint sites. Like Access, there are templates that you may use to begin but advanced usage will require time and persistence for mastery.

Microsoft SharePoint Designer
Purchase options: Not included with any Microsoft Office suite, but available as a free download here.

Microsoft SharePoint Designer is a tool which Microsoft freely provides that allows for development of SharePoint solutions. Both entire sites and web pages can be modified with this tool. This is not a full-featured successor to Microsoft’s FrontPage software as it is specifically geared toward SharePoint sites. If you want a more robust solution, Microsoft Expression Web is probably more attuned to your needs.

Microsoft OneNote
Purchase options: Individual Retail Product, Home and Student, Home and Business, Standard, Professional, and Professional Plus

Microsoft OneNote is an excellent tool for taking notes and gathering information in a free-form interface. It has the ability to record audio commentaries directly into the notes, allow for drawings, and will accept text whether typed or handwritten. This is especially useful if you have a tablet system.

Microsoft Project
Purchase options: Individual Retail Product

Microsoft Project is an extremely useful tool for generic project management. It is designed to assist project managers in developing plans, tracking progress, analyzing workloads, and managing budgets. If you have usage of Gantt charts, this is the tool for you!

Microsoft Publisher
Purchase options: Individual Retail Product, Standard, Professional, and Professional Plus

Microsoft Publisher is an entry-level desktop publishing tool. It is used to design marketing materials, signs, banners, posters and many other printed media applications. While it doesn’t deliver the power of Adobe’s InDesign or QuarkXPress, it is very useful for firms who have basic design needs and do not have a full time marketing group.

Microsoft SharePoint Workspace
Purchase options: Professional Plus

Microsoft SharePoint Workspace is the successor to Microsoft Office Groove. It’s a desktop application designed to share data between members of a company. The strength of this product is that it allows for collaboration between members, even when those members are frequently offline. Edited documents are saved and then synchronized between all members of the group with changes tracked within the application. While not as robust as a full-fledged SharePoint solution, it is useful for those who are faced with connectivity, security, and infrastructure challenges.

Microsoft Visio
Purchase options: Individual Retail Product

Microsoft Visio is an incredibly useful tool for creating diagrams and layouts. It is useful for creating flowcharts, network diagrams, concept and mind maps.

For an excellent comparison to determine what products are in which Microsoft Office suite, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_2010#Comparison.