An enhanced Setup program and new and improved deployment tools make it more efficient and cost-effective to deploy Microsoft Office XP throughout a large organization. This topic addresses general issues that affect the installation, configuration, and maintenance of Office XP — questions to consider as you plan your deployment. Each section references topics in the Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit that provide the details you need to successfully roll out a customized and easily maintained Office configuration.

Where to start

Office XP is available in several product suites, each of which contains a different collection of applications and services. System requirements depend upon which suite you are installing and whether you are deploying the software on a client computer, an administrative server, or a Windows Terminal Services server. For a detailed description of available Office XP suites and a list of corresponding system requirements, see Office XP System Requirements.

After you select an Office XP suite or set of stand-alone applications to deploy, assess your network and client systems in light of the requirements.

Network capacity

• Do your installation servers have sufficient disk space for the Office administrative installation point?
• Will network bandwidth limitations affect how and when you distribute Office to users?
• Do you have plans to upgrade your operating system, messaging servers, or other server applications soon?

Client computers

• What operating systems and service packs are installed on client computers?
• Do users' computers have sufficient disk space and memory to run Office XP?
• How many laptop users do you have?

Because you can easily stage your deployment of Office XP to selected groups of users or computers, a mix of hardware configurations and operating systems within your organization does not prevent you from starting your upgrade. For more information about staging your deployment of Office XP, see "Office customizations" later in this topic.

After you evaluate your environment, make sure you understand how Office XP Setup works and familiarize yourself with the new and enhanced deployment tools available in the Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit.

Setup program

Like Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP uses Windows Installer technology to install, repair, and remove Office applications. However, the Office XP Setup program manages more of the installation process, including required system file updates, restarts, and chained packages (MSI files). For more information about Office XP Setup, see Overview of Setup.

Deployment tools

The Office XP Resource Kit includes a number of new tools that help you configure and install Office. For example, use the Setup INI Customization Wizard to modify the Setup settings file and control the installation process. Use the Custom Maintenance Wizard to change your Office configuration after the installation. For more information about all the Office Resource Kit tools, see the Toolbox.

Configuration planning

In many organizations, the most efficient method of deploying a customized version of Office XP to a large number of users is to create an administrative installation point on a network server and create one or more custom configurations of Office at that location.

Administrative installation point

Before you create the administrative installation point for Office XP, consider the following:

• How many installation servers do you need?

  Windows Installer continues to reference the installation source after Office is deployed. To make Office installations more resilient, you can copy the original administrative image to any number of servers. You specify additional sources in a transform (MST files). For more information, see Creating an Administrative Installation Point.

• Do users have reliable access to the network share, not only for installing Office initially but also for installing features on demand and repairing or removing Office applications?
• What additional software do you want to include on the administrative image?

  You can add packages from the Office CD — such as SQL Server™ Desktop Engine 2000 or SharePoint™ Team Services — or add packages that you plan to chain to the Office installation. For your own convenience, you can also store tools from the Office Resource Kit on the same network share. For more information about chaining packages, see Including Additional Packages in the Office Installation.

• Are you deploying to international users?

  Each Office XP Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI Pack) corresponds to one language and is installed in its own package. You can install any number of MUI Packs on the Office XP administrative server and then chain them to the Office installation or deploy them separately later on. For more information about installing MUI Packs, see Deploying Office Internationally.

• Will laptop users in the field use the Office CD as a source?

  The compressed cabinet (CAB) files on the CD are extracted when you run Setup to create an administrative installation point. Users who install Office from the network cannot use the compressed Office CD as an interchangeable source. For more information, see Deploying to Laptop Users.

• Do you want to use the internal Web to distribute Office?

  Setup automatically recognizes when it is run from a URL source, and you can install Office XP (including the System Files Update) from a Web server in much the same way you install it from a network file server. However, you cannot use the Run from Network installation state for any Office features. For a list of recommendations and limitations, see Installing Office from a Web Server.

Office customizations

After you create an administrative installation point for Office XP, you can make extensive customizations before installing Office on users' computers. You can also customize many aspects of the installation process itself. Begin by evaluating who your users are and how they use Office. For example, everyone in the organization may use Microsoft Outlook® and Microsoft Word every day, but only a subset of users needs Microsoft FrontPage®. Some users may work exclusively in English, while others routinely view or edit documents in multiple languages.

• Do you want a uniform Office configuration throughout your organization?

  If multiple users share one computer, or if users roam from one computer to another, establish a standard Office configuration.

• How many different configurations of Office do you need and for which groups of users?

  You can distribute different configurations of Office from a single administrative installation point. For more information about different methods of customizing an Office installation, see Customizing the Office Installation.

• Which applications are essential and must be installed locally? Which applications can be advertised (installed on demand)?

  When users have fast and reliable access to the network, advertising can speed the initial deployment by installing only the features users actually need on the local hard disk. However, avoid the install-on-demand setting for laptop users (who may have intermittent or slow access to the network) and install all features locally. For more information about setting installation states for Office applications, see Customizing Office Features and Shortcuts.

• Are you staging your deployment of Office applications?

  Many organizations stagger their deployment of Office applications. With the Custom Installation Wizard, you can specify settings for applications that will be installed later. You use the Custom Maintenance Wizard to add stand-alone Office applications to an existing configuration. For more information, see Changing Feature Installation States.

  For example, you can schedule an Outlook installation to coincide with a mail server upgrade instead of the Office installation. For an example of staging an Office installation, see Installing Before or After Office.

• What other products do you want to include in the Office installation?

  You can specify additional Windows Installer packages to install with Office, such as MSDE 2000 or the MUI Packs. Setup coordinates these installations after the Office installation is complete. For more information, see Including Additional Packages in the Office Installation.

• Do you want to install Office quietly, or will users be able to select options during the installation?

  For more information about display settings and Setup properties, see Customizing How Setup Runs.

• Do you want users to be able to change the default settings and customize Office for themselves, or do you want to enforce your settings?

  Settings that you distribute in a transform or Office profile settings file (OPS file) appear as the default settings when users install Office, but users can modify them. To enforce your settings, use system policies. For more information, see Customizing User-defined Settings.

• Do some users need to keep previous versions of Office on their computers?

  By default, when you run Setup in quiet mode, all previous versions of the Office XP applications being installed are removed. However, you can specify previous versions to keep. For more information, see Customizing Removal Behavior.

• What is the best way to customize Outlook to work in your messaging environment?

  In the Custom Installation Wizard you can create or modify Outlook profiles, set up new e-mail accounts, or configure Outlook to work with an Exchange server. For more information, see Customizing an Outlook Installation.

• Do you plan to use Microsoft Office Application Error Reporting (Dw.exe) to report installation failures to Microsoft?

  This feature is turned off by default when you create an administrative installation point. To turn it back on, set the SETUPDW property to True before users install Office.

Post-installation customizations

After deployment is complete, you can modify the configuration on users' computers without removing and reinstalling Office.

• What can you modify after the installation?

  You can deploy an Office application omitted from the initial installation. You can change default settings in the user interface. When all users have made the transition to Office XP, you can remove previous versions. For more information, see Maintaining an Installation.

• How is customizing Office different in a maintenance scenario?

  You use different tools to customize Office after deployment. Settings specified in a transform are applied only when Office is first installed; you cannot modify and then reapply the transform. For information about the Custom Maintenance Wizard and other useful tools, see the Toolbox.

• How do you deploy a service release or other interim update to Office XP?

  You can upgrade your original administrative installation point with the administrative version of the Office XP service release, and then deploy the upgraded version to clients. For more information about upgrading an existing Office XP installation, see Deploying Product Updates from an Administrative Installation Point.

Security considerations

• Will you need to modify your Windows 2000 installations to take advantage of security updates?

  When a security update for Windows 2000 or later is released to help block a new virus, you can find complete information about the update posted on the Office Resource Kit Web site. For information about deploying interim upgrades to Office XP, see Deploying Product Updates from an Administrative Installation Point.

• Do you want to modify the default level of security installed by Outlook 2002?

  Outlook 2002 helps guard against viruses by blocking certain types of e-mail attachments, providing default security settings, and helping to control access to the Outlook automation code. If your clients are using Microsoft Exchange Server and either the Mailbox or offline folders (OST files) for e-mail delivery, you can customize these default security settings to meet your organization's needs. For more information, see Customizing the Outlook Security Features Administrative Package.

Migration planning

Users can upgrade from Office 97 or Office 2000 to Office XP with little interruption of their normal activities. Unless everyone in your organization upgrades at the same time, however, users may need to share files across versions or keep more than one version of Office on one computer.

• How do you manage a rolling upgrade?

  Except for Microsoft Access, Office applications have not changed file formats since Office 97, so file conversions are not necessary. Setup includes converters that allow Office XP users to share files with earlier versions of Office and other application formats. For more information, including links to additional upgrading resources, see Upgrading Reference.

• Do users need extra converters for files created in much earlier versions of Office or non-Microsoft programs?

  You can distribute additional converters from the Microsoft Office Converter Pack, which is included in the Office XP Resource Kit Toolbox.

• Does your organization use custom templates or applications based on earlier versions of Office?

  Custom solutions, such as templates or databases that are based on advanced Office functionality, may require more time, testing, and IT support to migrate smoothly to Office XP.

• How do you manage a rolling upgrade in an international environment?

  Users can share Office documents across language versions or exchange documents with older localized versions of Office. For more information, see Upgrading International Installations.

• Can Office XP applications coexist with earlier versions?

  Except for Outlook, you can install and run multiple versions of Office applications on the same computer. Office XP is installed by default in the /Office10 folder, so you can keep a previous version in the /Office folder. Shortcuts are automatically updated to point to the correct version.

Distribution planning

After you install Office on an administrative installation point, users can run Office Setup from there. For information about running Setup on client computers, see Distributing Office to Users' Computers.

You can also distribute the customized administrative image by using other deployment tools.

• When should you use Windows 2000 IntelliMirror® technology to install Office?

  IntelliMirror allows you to manage installation, maintenance, and future upgrades of Office. If you work in a homogenous Windows 2000 environment and you have an Active Directory™ and Group Policy structure in place, you can assign or publish the Office package. For more information, see Using Windows 2000 Software Installation.

• When should you use Systems Management Server (SMS) to install Office?

  If you are installing Office to a variety of Windows clients, or if you want more control over the timing of the installation, you can use SMS version 2.0 to deploy Office. You can also use SMS with Windows 2000 deployment tools.

• How do you create a hard-disk image?

  Some organizations distribute Office with a standard set of products on a hard-disk image. For information about preparing an Office XP image, see Distributing Office to Users' Computers.

• How do you create a custom CD?

  The extracted files on an Office administrative installation point do not fit onto a CD. With the proper licensing, however, you can create custom CDs by copying the compressed CD files or by copying a portion of the administrative image onto a custom CD. For more information, see Distributing Office to Users' Computers.

Server applications

You may be able to simplify your Office XP deployment by upgrading users' Windows operating system. You can also deploy other server applications that extend or enhance Office.

Operating system upgrades

Upgrading client computers to Windows 2000 Professional or Windows Millennium (Windows Me) simplifies the Office XP installation. No system file updates are required. For more information, see Deploying on Windows 2000.

Client computers running under Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 98 might require the following upgrades:

• System Files Update

  Office XP Setup automatically checks computers for the required minimum versions of key system and shared files. If needed, Setup automatically triggers installation of the System Files Update, which includes Internet Explorer 5, before proceeding to the core Office installation. For more information, see Tasks Handled by Setup.

• Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6a

  You must upgrade to Service Pack 6a before you can install Office XP.

• Windows Desktop Update

  If you plan to advertise Office applications and want to use Windows Installer shortcuts for install-on-demand functionality, you must install the Windows Desktop Update. For more information, see Deploying on Windows NT 4.0.

Other server applications

The following server products work with Office XP:

• SharePoint™ Team Services and FrontPage Server Extensions 2002

  Microsoft's SharePoint Team Services and FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 allow you to create and manage Web sites. They are included in most Office XP suites but are not installed with the Office XP package. You must install SharePoint Team Services separately on a computer acting as a Web server. For more information, see the SharePoint Team Services Administrator's Guide.

• Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server

  Microsoft Outlook can be used with a wide variety of e-mail servers and services, including Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. For more information about Exchange 2000, see the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Web site.

• Microsoft Systems Management Server

  Systems Management Server (SMS) provides a robust distribution model for deploying Office XP to client computers. SMS allows you to deploy to a mix of Windows clients and gives you more control over the timing of the installation. If your organization uses SMS, note that you must use SMS version 2.0 to install Office XP.