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Entered CNET Catalog: 08/30/2001
SKU: 079-01391
Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp.
Manufacturer description
PowerPoint 2002 gives users additional functionality to create professionally designed presentations. This version also makes it easier for PowerPoint users to discover and use the functionality that was previously in the application. New and improved tools in PowerPoint also make it easier to share and collaborate on presentations over the Web, enabling users to present to and work with others who are geographically dispersed. There is no need for anyone to leave his or her office. PowerPoint 2002 empowers users to discover and use more of the existing functionality in the application. Users gain the confidence to try new things and ultimately create more effective presentations. New tools such as Task Panes and Smart Tags are shared throughout the Office suite, and help users take advantage of the functionality of the application. In addition, PowerPoint 2002 features improved technology for working with diagrams, drawings, pictures, text, and printing. With the new reliability features in PowerPoint, users can continue to work even in the unlikely event of an error. Furthermore, a variety of security enhancements have been included in PowerPoint to help users feel more secure when working with their presentation. Share and collaborate on presentations with others via the Web. Work more effectively on presentations with team members, regardless of where they are located. PowerPoint now includes a whole new way of reviewing presentations with others that takes away the difficulties associated with integrating multiple, disparate presentations. It also includes the ability for users to use the Web to broadcast live or recorded presentations around the world. PowerPoint 2002 provides multinational organizations and multilingual users with a better experience when working the application. This includes a variety of improvements such as improved administration of languages, additional language-proofing tool support, and a variety of user-interface improvements.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 05/06/2001
More of the same
If PowerPoint 2002 gives you déjà vu, that's because it's the spitting image of past versions. Microsoft made some superficial interface modifications--the navigation bar at the left now shows thumbnail views of slides, for instance--but otherwise, PowerPoint 2000's infinitely usable three-pane workspace remains intact. (We like this view because it puts the slide-design display, your supplementary notes, and your presentation outline all on one screen.)
Another important legacy lives on: PowerPoint 2002 uses the same file format as PowerPoint 2000 (and the even earlier version 97), so you'll still be able to open and edit old presentations, and anyone running an older version of the app can use your files too.
A few good moves
PowerPoint looks familiar inside and out. Version 2002 struts fewer new features and tools than any other Office XP app (in the Standard suite). And in many cases, particularly in Print Preview, these features and tools are new only to PowerPoint; they've been available in other presentation makers for ages.
For example, PowerPoint now lets you create presentations with multiple design templates (PowerPoint calls them masters), a boon if you build sophisticated slide shows that switch designs partway through, or if you need to combine two or more presentations into one file. The new Print Preview feature, a humiliating omission in previous PowerPoint versions, finally makes an appearance here; you can now preview print jobs in a variety of formats. But although multiple masters and previewing are significant changes, they don't make this a gotta-get upgrade for PowerPoint 2000 users.
Other newcomers to PowerPoint include image rotation (which lets you flip or twist any image or WordArt object on a slide; get it via the Drawing toolbar or by clicking and dragging the object itself), a design grid that helps you line things up (choose it with the View/Grid and Guides menu), and password protection to keep prying eyes away from your presentation. Finally, 2002's Slide pane (alongside the Outline pane, which debuted in PowerPoint 2000) displays thumbnails of all your slides, so you can easily switch among slides or rearrange their order without resorting to the Slide Sorter view.
Friendly with Office XP
Naturally, PowerPoint 2002 blends in well with the other pieces of Office XP. It can use Word outlines as the foundation for a slide-show organization and grab tables from Excel. Plus, PowerPoint's most useful enhancements come courtesy of Office XP's suitewide additions. As a result, it needs 115MB of disk space when installed solo but only 50MB as part of Office.
The Task Pane is our favorite such cross-suite addition. This new pane puts toolsets in view, saving you from having to dig through menus and dialog boxes. PowerPoint uses its Task Panes to serve up easy-to-use animation, color, layout, and a design toolset. For our money, the Task Pane dramatically boosts productivity and speeds slide editing; we finessed slide animation and layouts in half the time it took to do so in PowerPoint 2000.
Office XP also lends to PowerPoint its document recovery and collaborative review features. If PowerPoint produces a fatal error that threatens to shut down the program, for instance, it first gives you a chance to save the presentation. Want to send your slide shows to others for approval? Now, when you attach a presentation to an e-mail message, recipients using any version of PowerPoint will find the review tools already turned on and ready to use. Once they return the file to you, your copy of PowerPoint 2002 merges the changes with the original via a single click.
Get it or forget it?
If you're using PowerPoint 2000, don't bother shelling out $109 for the upgrade, collaboration tools or no. While we think 2002's enhancements make presentation creation easier, they're not necessities. Still using PowerPoint 97? Then it's time to make the move.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
8/10
Very user friendly.
Pros: All the parts of the program I have used are very easy to apply. I like having the opportunity to prevent unwanted access to presentations. I also like the ability to send presntations to others, though I haven't used it yet.
Cons: None that i have found so far.
User Rating: 8/10
Great Animation
Pros: Powerpoint 2002 is easy to use and offers a few extras. The 2002 version of powerpoint has some added animation feature that 2000 didn't have. With the new version you have a lot more options in animation. This is a great feature when you are working w
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User Rating: 
10/10
It think it's great!
Pros: I've worked with PowerPoint for years, and while I probably don't create the most sophisticated presentations ever made, I've created MANY presentations and PowerPoint has always come through for me.
Cons: I don't have anything negative to say about it. Of course, everything can always use some improvement, but PP is easy enought already!
User Rating: 
7/10
Organization Chart feature still not perfected
Pros: I have always found PowerPoint to be useful, fun and pretty easy to work with.
Cons: I do have to say that working with the Organization Chart feature is not a lot different than 97 -- although they have new and improved styles the functionality of it is almost the same... It makes you feel like drawing boxes and lines would be more effic
User Rating: 8/10
It's Pretty Good
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User Rating: 8/10
Great product even better now
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User Rating: 7/10
Its not the Bad
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User Rating: 
3/10
oh oh here comes Keynote
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User Rating: 
6/10
stop ripping us off!!!
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User Rating: 
2/10
HEARING MACINTOSH IS THE ROUTE TO GO !!
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User Rating: 10/10
nothing
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User Rating: 10/10
Better Show Elements
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User Rating: 7/10
why does microsoft do this???
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User Rating: 6/10
Okay but needs more
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User Rating: 
9/10
Totally COOL!!!
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User Rating: 9/10
Great but need the Viewer
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User Rating: 10/10
Much easier to work with than 2000.
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User Rating: 7/10
They finally fixed it :o)
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User Rating: 
1/10
It Sucked
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User Rating: 9/10
The best PowerPoint Yet
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User Rating: 10/10
Motion path animation and simultaneous animation
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User Rating: 7/10
Finally, multiple "masters", but it took them 7 years...
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