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Microsoft Works is a discontinued office suite developed by Microsoft. Works was smaller, was less expensive, and has fewer features than Microsoft Office or other major office suites. Its core functionality includes a word processor, a spreadsheet and a database management system. Later versions have a calendar application and a dictionary while older releases included a terminal emulator. Works was available as a standalone program, and as part of a namesake home productivity suite. Because of its low cost ($40 retail, as low as $2 OEM),〔(Microsoft eyes ads as consumers close wallets )〕 companies frequently pre-installed Works on their low cost machines. ==History== Microsoft Works originated as MouseWorks, an integrated spreadsheet, word processor and database program, designed for the Macintosh by ex-Apple employee Don Williams and Rupert Lissner.〔(Microsoft Works for Macintosh Expected )〕 Williams was planning to emulate the success of AppleWorks, a similar product for Apple II computers. However, Bill Gates and his Head of Acquisitions, Alan M. Boyd, convinced Williams to license the product to Microsoft instead.〔''Gates''. By Stephen Manes, Paul Andrews, Page 328〕 Initially it was to be a scaled-down version of Office for the (then) small laptops such as the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 which Microsoft was developing. As laptops grew in power, however, Microsoft Works, as it was to be called, evolved as a popular product in its own right. On September 14, 1987, Microsoft unveiled Works for DOS. Through version 4.5a, Works used a monolithic program architecture whereby the Works Word Processor and Spreadsheet/Database documents ran in windows of the same program interface. This resulted in a small memory and disk footprint, which enabled it to run on slower computers with requirements as low as 6 MB of RAM and 12 MB free disk space.〔(System requirements for Works for Windows 95 ).〕 Works 2000 (Version 5.0) switched to a modular architecture which opens each document as a separate instance and uses the print engine from Internet Explorer. Version 9.0, the final version, was available in two editions: an advertisement-free version, available in retail and for OEMs, and an ad-supported free version (Works SE) which was available only to OEMs for preinstalling on new computers. In late 2009, Microsoft announced it was discontinuing Works and replacing it with Office 2010 Starter Edition. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Microsoft Works」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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