Microsoft KB Archive/125507

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Tips and Tricks for Microsoft Office 4.2 - Part 3 of 5

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ID: Q125507

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Office for the Macintosh, version 4.2

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SUMMARY
The following information was published as part three of a five-part series in the 1.9.94 issue of MacWeek.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MICROSOFT OFFICE VERSION 4.2
Dear Mac User:

This is part 3 of a five-part series on tips and tricks about Microsoft Office Standard version 4.2 (which includes Microsoft Excel 5.0, Word 6.0, PowerPoint 4.0 and a Microsoft Mail 3.1 workstation license). We hope you find this information useful as you upgrade your organization to Microsoft Office 4.2.

                                                  - The Microsoft Mac Team

Taking Advantage Of Power Macintosh Technology
Microsoft uses the speed of Power Macintosh to make Microsoft Office Standard version 4.2 programs work together more seamlessly and naturally. Other Power Macintosh capabilities, especially the enhanced memory model, make this process more efficient. Office programs in native mode are generally two to four times faster than those for 68K Macintosh.

MACINTOSH VS. POWER MACINTOSH SPEED
Program    Task                  Time           Time              Change to complete:  to complete:      in speed Macintosh     Power Macintosh --- Microsoft  Refresh large         75.2 seconds   11.8 seconds         >6x Excel 5.0  Pivot Table ---           Recalculate 450 rows  7.7 seconds    2.0 seconds          <4x x 80 columns --- Word 6.0   Print Preview         22.8 seconds   9.2 seconds          >2x ---           Page scroll to end    13.9 seconds   6.3 seconds          >2x of 26-page document --- PowerPoint Automatic Slideshow   24 seconds     16 seconds           <2x 4.0 ---           Redraw switching      10 seconds     4 seconds            <3x into slide view ---

Make Sure You're Running the Right Version!
Power Macintosh native versions of Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Office 4.2 are shipped today at no charge with the 68K versions. You must be running the native versions to see performance improvements. Office 4.2 shipped last fall with only Microsoft Excel native in the box.

IF...                   YOU SHOULD...             OTHERWISE...

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============================================================== You acquired Office 4.2, | Have received them from | Call Microsoft at Word 6.0, or PowerPoint | Microsoft and installed | (800) 709-3787 so we 4.0 and sent in the      | the native versions of  | can correct any order form for free     | Word and PowerPoint on  | problems fulfilling Power Macintosh disks   | your computer. | your order. In Canada |                        | call (800) 563-9048. --- You acquire Office 4.2, | Send in the form to be  | You won't gain the Word 6.0 or PowerPoint  | fulfilled for free. | speed advantages of 4.0 from your retailer  | (Soon, all new boxes    | native Word 6.0 today, and it includes   | will include the disk   | or PowerPoint 4.0! an order form for free   | sets for both           | Power Macintosh disks    | platforms.)             |

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What Affects the User's Computer Experience?
At Microsoft, our goal is to build the best software applications for any given platform and leave the platform choice up to you. The following are factors that will help explain the performance you're experiencing on Power Macintosh:

[ASCII 183]- Chip architecture: RISC chips such as PowerPC perform floating-point calculations faster, which is important for graphical programs but not for desktop productivity programs.

[ASCII 183]- Computer Architecture: Increasing the flow of information to and from the chip can have a strong impact. You can do this on Power Macintosh by installing a cache card and more RAM to minimize disk input/output.

[ASCII 183]- Disk Speed: The speed of disk access on the first generation of Power Macintosh is about the same as that on 68K Macintosh, so disk-intensive operations run about the same.

[ASCII 183]- Operating System (OS) Optimization: System 7.5 is about 30 percent native (in the most commonly used areas). As more of the OS becomes

[ASCII 183]- Program Optimization: Microsoft wrote a new, optimizing C compiler to  generate native code. Using C code is in line with Apple's  recommendations. Some critical functions have been hand coded to speed up operation on both Intel and 68K CICS over the years, and Microsoft plans to implement such optimizations in RISC programs.

CUSTOMER'S TIP
"Given the impressive performance of the Power Mac version of Microsoft Excel 5.0, our experience is that once the commitment is made to Power Mac technology, the investment in Microsoft Excel is very worthwhile. For instance, we're seeing significant performance improvements in graphing, PivotTables, and the sorting function for large data files."

-Kurt Conger

Assistant Director, Policy Analysis

American Public Power Association

Need More Information?
[ASCII 183]- By Phone: Please call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at   (800) 426-9400 in the United States, or (800) 563-9048 in Canada, and request the Mac Office 4.2 Power Macintosh Technology White Paper. Ask for part number 098-56876. This is an in-depth look at memory, disk requirements and performance issues.

[ASCII 183]- By Fax: You can call the Microsoft Sales Fax Service at (800) 727-3351 in the United States, and request data sheets for any of the Office programs.

[ASCII 183]- On-line: See our AppleLink forum - Third Parties (H-O): Microsoft: Office. Copies of these "tips and tricks" are available there. Look out for Part 4 next issue! The topic will be "what's new and improved in Office 4.2"!