Thursday, Microsoft released Office 97 with a New York City presentation featuring Bill Gates. According to the company, Office 97 is the most significant version of Office that they've ever created and their most significant product launch since the introduction of Windows 95. Over 80% of the improvements in Office 97 are the direct result of customer feedback, most of which came from the MS Wish database. Office 97 is the result of more than 750 developers, designers, and testers, working for over three years at a total project cost of over $200 million. More importantly, Office 97 is the centerpiece of Microsoft's Internet strategy and the most important and popular software platform there is after Windows itself. The Professional and Standard editions of Office 97 are now shipping. Office 97 Developer Edition will be available within the next two weeks and Office 97 Small Business Edition will be on store shelves in February
