REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 25, 1996 — Today Microsoft Corp. and industry-leading training and temporary-service organizations announced new programs to help ensure a smooth transition for WordPerfect® users moving to Microsoft®
Word. ExecuTrain, the world’s largest training company, and Manpower Inc., the world’s largest provider of temporary staff, introduced these new programs to respond to increased employer demand for trained Microsoft Word users.
ExecuTrain announced
“Microsoft Word for Windows 95 for WordPerfect Users,”
a course designed specifically to help experienced WordPerfect users become proficient in Microsoft Word in one day of instructor-led training.
“ExecuTrain trains more than a million business people a year, and to satisfy the demand of our customer base, it is imperative that we provide courses that are reflective of trends in the marketplace,”
said Pam Burns, vice president of product development at ExecuTrain.
Manpower announced a unique new training course that combines self-paced learning with on-site instructor assistance to provide organizations with a flexible and cost-effective training program.
“We’ve been training operators – including employees at 88 of the Fortune 100 companies – on the most popular software packages for over 15 years, so we know there is going to be high demand for this kind of transition on the part of our customers and the 1.5 million employees we assign,”
said Melanie Holmes, vice president of the customer services group at Manpower.
Microsoft Offers New Tools to Make the Move Easier
Microsoft has a number of programs and services in place to make the transition for customers easier than ever before:
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New Web page for switching to Microsoft Word. A dedicated Web page (http://www.microsoft.com/switch) for users switching from WordPerfect to Word is scheduled to be available by Feb. 15, 1996. The site will include comprehensive information on topics such as file and macro conversions, built-in WordPerfect Help features and product support services (PSS).
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Office Conversion Manager Program. Microsoft Product Support Services offers conversion support to accounts switching 2,000 or more desktops from one or more competitive applications to Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel or Office. Microsoft will designate an Office Conversion Manager support professional to assist customers for a 90-day period with the planning, installation and implementation of Microsoft Office products. More information can be found today at http://www.microsoft.com/support.
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No-charge support lines for WordPerfect switchers. Customers can call (206) 462-9673 to receive help from Microsoft support professionals dedicated to assisting users and organizations that have switched from WordPerfect to Microsoft Word.
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WordPerfect 5.x and 6.x supplemental kit. This kit provides additional tools that help WordPerfect users switch to Word for Windows 95. It includes five TrueType®
fonts for improving conversion of WordPerfect character sets and two WordPerfect templates with toolbars, macros, styles and keyboard shortcuts. This kit is available today at the Microsoft Word Web site, http://www.microsoft.com/msword, under free stuff. -
WordPerfect file converters. Enhanced WordPerfect 5.x and 6.x converters ship with Word for the Windows®
95 operating system. -
Help for WordPerfect users. Online help built into Word allows users to select a WordPerfect command and learn the equivalent in Word.
Pricing and Availability
Competitive upgrade pricing for customers switching from other word processing software to Microsoft Word for Windows 95 or upgrading from a previous version of Microsoft Word is approximately $129. For first-time licensees, Microsoft Word for Windows 95 is available for approximately $339. Microsoft Word for Windows 95 is also part of the most popular suite of applications, Microsoft Office for Windows 95. The Standard Edition, which sells for approximately $499, includes Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, the PowerPoint®
presentation graphics program and Schedule+. The Professional Edition includes the preceding products along with Microsoft Access and sells for approximately $599.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft, Windows and PowerPoint are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft in the United States and/or other countries.
WordPerfect is a registered trademark of Novell Inc.
TrueType is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft home page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass. To receive Microsoft press releases by fax, please call (800) 859-5915 in the United States or (201) 333-0314 internationally.
