Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
PIM can be linked. For example, you can link an appointment with a sales manager in the
calendar to information on the sales manager in the address book. When you click the ap-
pointment in the calendar, a window opens displaying information on the sales manager
from the address book. Google provides PIM software to integrate e-mail, appointment, and
address book tasks.
Figure 4.17
Personal Information Manager
PIM software assists individuals,
groups, and organizations with
organizing appointments,
schedules, contacts, and to-do lists.
Some PIMs allow you to schedule and coordinate group meetings. If a computer or
handheld device is connected to a network, you can upload the PIM data and coordinate it
with the calendar and schedule of others using the same PIM software on the network. You
can also use some PIMs to coordinate e-mails sent and received over the Internet.
Consider Greenfield Online as an example of one collaborative PIM system. Greenfield
Online is a Web survey solution provider that has about 500 employees in 12 countries
and 30 cities. Employees were having a difficult time scheduling and preparing for meetings.
Using Microsoft Live Meeting and Outlook, the company reduced meeting time by
60 percent. 21 Now employees schedule Web conferences directly using Microsoft Office
Outlook. Documents are distributed to meeting participants who receive meeting requests
through Outlook to attend the Web conferences. When it is time for a meeting, all partici-
pants click a URL in the meeting request and the link takes them to the Web-conferencing
area.
Software Suites and Integrated Software Packages
A software suite is a collection of single application programs packaged in a bundle. Software
suites can include word processors, spreadsheets, database management systems, graphics
programs, communications tools, organizers, and more. Some suites support the develop-
ment of Web pages, note taking, and speech recognition, where applications in the suite
can accept voice commands and record dictation. Software suites offer many advantages.
The software programs have been designed to work similarly, so after you learn the basics
for one application, the other applications are easy to learn and use. Buying software in a
bundled suite is cost-effective; the programs usually sell for a fraction of what they would
cost individually.
Microsoft Office, Corel's WordPerfect Office, Lotus SmartSuite, and Sun Microsys-
tems's StarOffice are examples of popular general-purpose software suites for personal
computer users. Microsoft Office has the largest market share. The Free Software Foundation
offers software similar to Sun Microsystems's StarOffice that includes word processing,
spreadsheet, database, presentation graphics, and e-mail applications for the Linux OS.
OpenOffice is another Office suite for Linux. Wine, software designed for Linux and Unix,
can run any Windows application, including those in Microsoft Office, on Linux, although
some features might not work as well as a Microsoft OS. Each of these software suites includes
a spreadsheet program, word processor, database program, and graphics package with the
ability to move documents, data, and diagrams among them (see Table 4.6). Thus, a user
can create a spreadsheet and then cut and paste that spreadsheet into a document created
using the word processing application.
software suite
A collection of single application
programs packaged in a bundle.
 
 
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