Power Point Presentations
Powerpoint is a program designed for making visual presentations to an audience. Designed by UC Berkeley graduate student Bob Gaskins back in the early 1980s, Powerpoint has since grown by leaps and bounds to become one of the most popular presentation software applications used by businesses, schools, and even governments around the world.
Different versions of Powerpoint have been made for both the Apple and the PC, produced by its vendor Microsoft. Powerpoint 2000 is the version released in conjunction with the Microsoft Office 2000 package, and is designed to word on a Windows operating system platform.
Powerpoint 2000 offered a number of steps forward from its previous versions. In the 2000 version, it became easier to access recently used documents using the ‘Open File’ selection. A history of the last 20 to 50 documents used is easily available with just one click, reducing the amount of time spent searching through folders for the desired file. The copy and paste function was enhanced as well, allowing up to 12 items to be stored on a ‘clipboard’ that could be accessed later using any of the Microsoft Office 2000 programs.
The Powerpoint 2000 version also had a number of advances in its presentation design features as well. The Office Assistant feature was enhanced, taking up less screen space and generally being a little less obnoxious than the previous versions. It also was updated with a host of new tips, and advice to offer learning users of the program guidance in using its less obvious functions. The newer assistant also offers direct links to the internet, should your questions go unanswered. Many critics still find the assistant to be more distracting than helpful, but it can be easily disabled if you find it too annoying.
The 2000 version of Powerpoint offered a host of other advances over previous versions, such as an ‘auto-fit’ text function, graphical bullets, better viewing options, support for using numbered lists, a more advanced voice narration feature, new design and content templates, and a more in depth tutorial for new users of the program. Powerpoint 2000 also offered an updated clip art gallery, added graphics and objects to use, improved scanner support and the ability to use animated GIF files in your presentation.
The 2002 version added features such as merging & comparing presentation changes, the ability to define animation paths for individual shapes, pyramid/radial/target and Venn diagrams, multiple slide masters, a ‘task pane’ to view and select clipboard text and objects, password protection for presentations, auto ‘photo album’ generation, and the use of ‘smart tags’ to allow quick selection of text formats copied into the presentation.