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In late October, Microsoft acknowledged it was dropping support for older versions of Windows on its latest version of Office, code-named "Office 11," which is slated for release in mid-2003.
This means Windows users will have to upgrade to the latest operating system—Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 and Windows XP— before installing the new Office productivity suite. This is not altogether unexpected, as all support for Windows 98 and NT officially ends this year on June 30.
In the past, Microsoft supported two separate code bases, but its Office 11 policy signals a move toward focusing support on 32-bit operating systems from now on. (Another reference to fading Microsoft support for older versions of Windows appears in Patrick Chinn's article on page 8.)