March 22, 1999

The Office 2000 Resource Kit Downloads contains new tools, utilities, and wizards that help you deploy and manage Office more rapidly and efficiently than ever before – with several improvements of special interest to administrators.

Reduced total cost of ownership   The new deployment and support tools for Office 2000 can help you to significantly reduce your company's total cost of ownership, by resolving maintenance and support issues before they arise.

Integrated Setup program   You can now install the core tools through one integrated Setup program – just click the button in the Office 2000 Resource Kit Toolbox to download the tools from the Web site. (The same Setup program is also available on the Office 2000 Resource Kit CD-ROM, which is included with the printed book.)

More information and additional tools   As always, the Office Resource Kit continues to provide a wealth of supplemental information about user support, upgrades, and system maintenance. And as new tools become available in the future, you can find them in the Toolbox.

Tools and Sample Files

In the Toolbox, look for the following core Office 2000 Resource Kit tools and documentation.

Custom Installation Wizard   Records changes to the master installation in a Windows Installer transform (MST file), without altering the original package (MSI file). With the Custom Installation Wizard, you can create a different transform for every installation scenario you need.

Excel File Recovery Macro and date utilities   Help with tasks such as managing date formats, searching for functions that accept date arguments, and recovering corrupted data.

Microsoft Internet Explorer Administration Kit 5.x   Allows you to customize, distribute, and maintain Internet Explorer 5 from a central location. You can start the Internet Explorer Administration Kit directly from the Custom Installation Wizard to customize how Internet Explorer 5 is installed with Office 2000.

Language Version   Changes the installation language setting for Office to any other language available in the Office 2000 MultiLanguage Pack. Changing this setting allows you to take advantage of other language-specific features in the MultiLanguage Pack.

Profile Wizard   Allows you to create and distribute a default user profile, which can include setting standard locations for files and templates. When you deploy a standard user profile, all users start with the same Office configuration.

Removal Wizard   Can be run as a standalone utility to achieve a detailed level of control over which files to remove and which to retain on a user's computer. For example, if you are upgrading gradually to Office 2000, you can use the Removal Wizard to remove previously installed versions of specific applications.

Systems Management Server package definition files   Used to install Office or Office applications remotely. Sample package definition files are included for each of the Office 2000 product configurations, as well as for the standalone versions of all core Office 2000 applications.

System Policy Editor and new policy templates   Allow you to set options in the user interface and determine behavior of the applications. By setting system policies, you can ensure consistency among client computers and centralize support and maintenance efforts. For Office 2000, you can set and control a much broader range of options than you could in Office 97.

Unbind Binders utility   Separates Office 2000 binders into their component files. The component files can then be converted and opened in previous versions of Office. This utility is particularly helpful for organizations that are upgrading gradually to Office 2000, where users might have to share Office 2000 binders with users of previous versions of Office.

Windows Terminal Server tools   Include the Motionless Office Assistant on a Windows Terminal Server computer. If you plan to deploy Microsoft Office 2000 in a Windows Terminal Server environment, this assistant reduces network traffic and improves the performance of Office on client computers.

Supplemental Documentation

The Documents section in the Office 2000 Resource Kit Toolbox contains a collection of reference information and spreadsheets, along with sample files that you can adapt for use within your own organization.

Topics include:

• Customizable alerts
• Localization information
• Application-specific information

Optional Utilities and Information

The Office 2000 Resource Kit Toolbox contains additional tools and information that you can choose to install or deploy to clients. These tools are not included in the core Setup program — you must install each one separately before you can use it.

The optional tools include the following:

• Answer Wizard Builder
• Microsoft FrontPage® 2000 Server Extensions Resource Kit
• HTML Help WorkShop
• Microsoft Office Resource Kit for Office 97/98
• Microsoft Office Converter Pack
• MultiLanguage Pack support files
• Microsoft PowerPoint® 97/2000 Viewer

More information about all the tools and documents in the Toolbox – including detailed installation instructions – is available in Overview of Tools and Utilities in the Office 2000 Resource Kit.