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Powerful Microsoft suite that is tailored for students and educators

Powerful Microsoft suite that is tailored for students and educators

Vote: (1,104 votes)

Program license: Paid

Developer: Microsoft

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(1,104 votes)

Paid

Developer

Microsoft

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • Improved Utility & Performance
  • Integrated Image Editing Tools
  • Superb New Outlook App
  • Optimized Ribbon Interface
  • Video Support in PowerPoint
  • Mini-Chart Support in Excel

Cons

  • No Trial Version

Microsoft Office Professional Academic 2010 is a version of the amazingly popular and trusted productivity suite from Microsoft, and it was designed specifically to handle the needs of college and university students without breaking their budgets.

In many cases, the student versions of popular software suites are stripped of their higher-level functions or utilities, but that is not the case for Microsoft Office Professional Academic 2010. The full set of apps in the professional version of Microsoft Office 2010 is included in this academic version, and that includes PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, InfoPath, Access, Publisher, SharePoint, and Communicator. When used together, these apps provide tools to make every aspect of the academic experience easier and more intuitive.

The user interface for this version of Office is quite simple, and it seems to have adopted a nearly minimalist approach to design. The dreaded Ribbon interface from earlier versions of Microsoft Office is still included in the interface, but it has been streamlined and reorganized to function as it was meant to in the first place. The Office button that was at the heart of the Ribbon interface has been completely changed to allow access to completely different options, including instant access to the most common tasks related to document production and maintenance. It also details the document that is currently open.

This version of Office for students basically has the exact same functionality and features that are available in the standard professional version, but without the professional price. Word, which is possibly the most used app in the suite by college students, has been improved tremendously in terms of the context menu. It actually shows potential changes in real time as the user browses through the different contextual options. Videos now work within PowerPoint presentations, which is something that has been demanded by customers for years. Mini-color charts can now be added to spreadsheets in Excel, and redundant emails can easily be removed from Outlook. Tools were also added to the suite to take screenshots, translate text, and use special effects with document images.

Unlike older versions of Office, this version is fast and easy on the hardware. That's because the suite has been redesigned with a sleek and optimized underlying code structure that is much more focused on performance. These apps now use very little system resources, and it is easily possible to run many of them side by side.

There are few productivity suites with the same functionality and intuitive nature as Microsoft Office Professional Academic 2010. The new features make the software much easier to use, and it is one of the best ways to handle the daily workload associated with most college programs. Students would be wise to take advantage of such comprehensive and affordable software.

Pros

  • Improved Utility & Performance
  • Integrated Image Editing Tools
  • Superb New Outlook App
  • Optimized Ribbon Interface
  • Video Support in PowerPoint
  • Mini-Chart Support in Excel

Cons

  • No Trial Version