For most people, they tend to think that the different versions of Microsoft Office is really no different and is just another way to fill their pockets. While I feel this is true for the various versions leading up to Office XP, Office 2003 really breaks the tradition and offers some cool new features - especially, the ability to develop for Office using the Visual Office Tools SDK . What does this mean? Well, it means that your files are no longer just documents or excel worksheets but are instead full fledge applications. I'm sure its hard for us to break the paradigm of static and local documents we've been so accustomed to for the past several years so like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Just imagine the kids of tomorrow...Do you remember all the computer security measures in junior high and high school? Internet access was severely restricted to a few pages and installing applications requires administrative priviledges. So if you were stuck in a computer lab, you really have nothing to do but to listen. Well, not anymore! If you can't access the internet or install games, why not write your own? Surely, the school won't block the same tools that students use to do work! Ah...I see a bright future for the next generation...
I should also add that the Office “documents“ can also access the internet. While this means one can develop an excel application to pull the most recent company data off of a website to build meaningful graphs, it also means that one could add multiplayer to that tetris game ;)
You can read more on how to develop this tetris game at CodeProject.com