Home Publishing Suite 2000

Microsoft has released a new software suite that combines several publishing programs in one package for the home user. Home Publishing Suite 2000 assembles desktop publishing software for print publishing, web page publishing and photo editing in one linked program. The program is Microsoft’s response to the fact that desktop publishing, digital imaging and online publishing are converging.

As Microsoft vice president Robert Bach notes, “people want to include personal photos in their projects and share their creations with friends and family via the Web.” Internet and e-mail projects are an integral aspect of the suite, which offers new web design tools and step-by-step instructions for creating and posting personal web pages and other electronic publishing projects. For example, users can create an e-mail birth announcement with a photo of the new arrival, a flying stork and a recording of the baby’s first sounds.

The suite also offers a lot of content , with more than 100,000 designs, ideas, templates, projects and creative sets. It features 100,000 clip-art images (30,000 new ones) 10,000 design templates, and 10,000 stock photos. It also allows you to creatpersonalized greeting cards, invitations, announcements and e-mail greetings using more than 10,000 designs and sentiments from Hallmark Connections. Home Publishing Suite 2000 also includes the “Picture It!” software, which lets you remove red-eye, dust and scratches, adjust brightness and contrast, and restore old, yellowing photos.