MS Office - Introduction, Applications, Notes &

Questions
Microsoft Office is a software which was developed by Microsoft in 1988. This Office suite comprises
various applications which form the core of computer usage in today’s world.

From the examination point of view, questions from MS Office and its applications are frequently asked
in all the major Government Exams c onducted in the country.

In this article, we shall discuss at length Microsoft Office, its applications, important notes to prepare for
the upcoming examinations and some sample questions and answers for the reference of candidates.

Competitive exams including Bank, SSC, Railways, Insurance, etc. have Computer Knowledge as an
integral part of their exam syllabus and candidates must note that it can be the most scoring too.

No lengthy calculations or solutions are required to answer Computer knowledge-based questions and
instead of complex questions, straightforward and direct questions are asked which makes answering
them even easier.

Thus, candidates must focus on this section to improve their overall performance and improve their
mark sheet. Given below are a few important links which may help candidates with their preparation for
competitive exams:

MS Office Applications & its Functions

Discussed below are the applications of Microsoft Office along with each of their functions.

1. MS Word
○ First released on October 25, 1983
○ Extension for Doc files is “.doc”
○ It is useful in creating text documents
○ Templates can be created for Professional use with the help of MS Word
○ Work Art, colours, images, animations can be added along with the text in the same file
which is downloadable in the form of a document
○ Authors can use for writing/ editing their work
2. MS Excel
● Majorly used for making spreadsheets
● A spreadsheet consists of grids in the form of rows and columns which is easy to
manage and can be used as a replacement for paper
● It is a data processing application
● Large data can easily be managed and saved in tabular format using MS Excel
● Calculations can be done based on the large amount of data entered into the cells of a
spreadsheet within seconds
● File extension, when saved in the computer, is “.xls”

3. MS PowerPoint
● It was released on April 20, 1987
● Used to create audiovisual presentations
● Each presentation is made up of various slides displaying data/ information
● Each slide may contain audio, video, graphics, text, bullet numbering, tables etc.
● The extension for power point presentations is “.ppt”
● Used majorly for professional usage
● Using Power point, presentations can be made more interactive

4. MS Access
● It was released on November 13, 1992
● It is Database Management Software (DBMS)
● Table, queries, forms and reports can be created on MS Access
● Import and export of data into other formats can be done ● The file extension is “.accdb”

5. MS Outlook
● It was released on January 16, 1997
● It is a personal information management system
● It can be used both as a single-user application or multi-user software
● Its functions also include task managing, calendaring, contact managing, journal logging
and web browsing
● It is the email client of the Office Suite
● The file extension for an Outlook file is “.pst”

Apart from the applications mentioned above, various other applications are included in the MS Office
suite but these are most commonly used ones and questions based on the same may be asked in the
upcoming exams as well.
Microsoft Office Versions
When the Office suite was first released, it was entirely devoted for usage in computer systems but
later with time the Office suite was modified for use in Laptops, Tablets and Mobile phones.

Given below are the various versions of Microsoft Office along with the years in which the version was
released:

Microsoft Office Versions

Version name Release Date/ Year

Microsoft Office for Windows October 1990

Microsoft Office 3.0 August 30, 1992

Microsoft Office 4.x 1994

Microsoft Office 1995 August 24, 1995

Microsoft Office 1997 1997

Microsoft Office 2000 June 7, 1997

Microsoft Office XP May 31, 2001

Microsoft Office 2003 October 21, 2003

Microsoft Office 2007 January 30, 2007

Microsoft Office 2010 June 15, 2010

Microsoft Office 2013 January 30, 2012

Microsoft Office 2016 September 22, 2015

All the above mentioned dates are for the Office suite released for Windows. Apart from these, the
versions Online, for Mac and for Mobile Phones were released separately.

Aspirants must note that the level of competition for the Government exams is quite high and to excel
in the competitive exams it is important that candidates stay a step ahead with their preparation. Given
below are the links to mock tests and previous year question papers for candidate’s reference and to
assist them with their preparation with free solutions: