Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a family of client software, server software, and services developed by Microsoft. It was first announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at COMDEX in Las Vegas. Initially a marketing term for an office suite (bundled set of productivity applications), the first version of Office contained Microsoft 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 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. On July 10, 2012, Softpedia reported that Office is used by over a billion people worldwide.
Microsoft Works
In 1997, Microsoft introduced Microsoft Home Essentials, which packaged several of its home productivity titles into a single suite that was sold for a then low price described in a review by the Chicago Tribune as “one of the best bargains ever offered.” Home Essentials continued to evolve and beginning with the 1999 edition took the namesake of Works becoming Works Suite. A slimmer version of the suite dubbed Works Deluxe was also offered for that year, but discontinued thereafter.