Microsoft is an investor in Apple, and its Office programs are vital to many Apple users.

More information about the Office programs, and templates and clip art for downloading, are at www.microsoft.com/office.

The program integrates such previously independent features as the company's Messenger program directly into its Office program.

There will be no room in the ROM pack for your Office program.

Rather, Jet sends queries to various data bases when the Office programs request data.

Traditional Office programs helped enhance productivity by allowing workers to easily create and modify digital documents.

The company is searching for ways to bring new life to the increasingly mature market for its Office programs.

The features common to all Office programs, like Smart Tags and the Web links, are probably what you'll see advertised.

In other browsers the files usually download to a temporary directory and then open with the relevant Office program.

Moreover, the company gives no ground on the issue of whether its Office program has too many features.