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 Microsoft Publisher 2021 running on Windows 10 | |||||||||
| Developer(s) | Microsoft | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial release | 1991 | ||||||||
| Stable release(s) | |||||||||
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| Operating system | Microsoft Windows | ||||||||
| Type | Desktop publishing software | ||||||||
| License | Trialware | ||||||||
| Website | products | ||||||||
Microsoft Publisher is a desktop publishing application from Microsoft, differing from Microsoft Word in that the emphasis is placed on page layout and graphic design rather than text composition and proofreading. It is planned for discontinuation in October 2026. [5]
Publisher is included in higher-end editions of Microsoft Office, reflecting Microsoft's emphasis on the application as an easy-to-use and less expensive alternative to the "heavyweights" with a focus on the small-business market, where firms do not have dedicated design professionals available to make marketing materials and other documents. [6] [7] However, it has a relatively small share of the desktop publishing market, which is dominated by Adobe InDesign and formerly by QuarkXPress. [6]
While most Microsoft Office apps adopted ribbons for their user interface starting with Microsoft Office 2007, Publisher retained its toolbars and did not adopt ribbons until Microsoft Office 2010. [8]
On February 15, 2024, Microsoft announced that Publisher will be discontinued on October 13, 2026. [9] [10] After this date, Publisher will no longer be included in Microsoft 365 plans, and existing on-premises installations will no longer be supported. This date will mark the end of Publisher as a standalone Microsoft program since its initial release in 1991.
Several applications can import Publisher's proprietary file format (.pub) for editing with some success, including Collabora Online, [11] LibreOffice, [12] and Scribus. [13] Another option is to save the document as a separate EPS file for each individual page in the publication, and to then open the EPS files in the aforementioned applications or other applications. [14]
Publisher supports some other file formats, including Microsoft's Enhanced Metafile (EMF) format, which is supported on Windows platforms. The Microsoft Publisher trial version can be used to view .pub files beyond the trial period. [15] [16]
Adobe PageMaker also saved files with a .pub extension, but the two file formats were unrelated and incompatible.
| Name | Version number | Release date [17] | Editions of Microsoft Office included in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Publisher | 1.0 | Late 1991 (approx.) | — |
| Microsoft Publisher | 2.0 | Jul 12, 1993 | — |
| Publisher for Windows 95 (beginning to transition to 32-bit) | 3.0 | Aug 24, 1995 | — |
| Microsoft Publisher 97 | 4.0 | Oct 21, 1996 | Small Business Edition |
| Microsoft Publisher 98 (first fully 32-bit) | 5.0 | Mar 23, 1998 | Small Business Edition 2.0 |
| Microsoft Publisher 2000 | 6.0 | Jun 7, 1999 | Small Business Edition, Professional, Premium, Developer |
| Microsoft Publisher 2002 | 10.0 [lower-alpha 1] | May 31, 2001 | Professional OEM, Professional Special Edition |
| Microsoft Office Publisher 2003 | 11.0 | Oct 21, 2003 | Small Business, Professional, Professional Plus, Enterprise |
| Microsoft Office Publisher 2007 | 12.0 | Jan 30, 2007 | Small Business, Professional, Ultimate, Professional Plus, Enterprise |
| Microsoft Publisher 2010 | 14.0 [lower-alpha 2] | Jun 15, 2010 | Standard, Professional, Professional Plus |
| Microsoft Publisher 2013 | 15.0 | Jan 29, 2013 | Professional, Professional Plus, Standard (volume licensing), all Office 365 / Microsoft 365 Apps editions |
| Microsoft Publisher 2016 | 16.0 | Sep 22, 2015 | |
| Microsoft Publisher 2019 | Sep 24, 2018 | ||
| Microsoft Publisher 2021 | October 5, 2021 | Microsoft 365 Apps for business and Business Standard editions [19] | |
Microsoft Office, or simply Office, is a family of client software, server software, and services developed by Microsoft. It was first announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at COMDEX in Las Vegas. Initially a marketing term for an office suite, the first version of Office contained Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. Over the years, Office applications have grown substantially closer with shared features such as a common spell checker, Object Linking and Embedding data integration and Visual Basic for Applications scripting language. Microsoft also positions Office as a development platform for line-of-business software under the Office Business Applications brand.
Scribus is free and open-source desktop publishing (DTP) software available for most desktop operating systems. It is designed for layout, typesetting, and preparation of files for professional-quality image-setting equipment. Scribus can also create animated and interactive PDF presentations and forms. Example uses include writing newspapers, brochures, newsletters, posters, and books.
Pages is a word processor developed by Apple Inc. It is part of the iWork productivity suite and runs on the macOS, iPadOS and iOS operating systems. It is also available on iCloud on the web. The first version of Pages was released in February 2005. Pages is marketed by Apple as an easy-to-use application that allows users to quickly create documents on their devices. A number of Apple-designed templates comprising different themes are included with Pages.
Microsoft OneNote is a note-taking software developed by Microsoft. It is available as part of the Microsoft 365 suite and since 2014 has been free on all platforms outside the suite. OneNote is designed for free-form information gathering and multi-user collaboration. It gathers users' notes, drawings, screen clippings, and audio commentaries. Notes can be shared with other OneNote users over the Internet or a network.
A number of vector graphics editors exist for various platforms. Potential users of these editors will make a comparison of vector graphics editors based on factors such as the availability for the user's platform, the software license, the feature set, the merits of the user interface (UI) and the focus of the program. Some programs are more suitable for artistic work while others are better for technical drawings. Another important factor is the application's support of various vector and bitmap image formats for import and export.
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of office suites:
Office Open XML is a zipped, XML-based file format developed by Microsoft for representing spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents. Ecma International standardized the initial version as ECMA-376. ISO and IEC standardized later versions as ISO/IEC 29500.
Spreadsheet is a class of application software design to analyze tabular data called "worksheets". A collection of worksheets is called a "workbook". Online spreadsheets do not depend on a particular operating system but require a standards-compliant web browser instead. One of the incentives for the creation of online spreadsheets was offering worksheet sharing and public sharing or workbooks as part of their features which enables collaboration between multiple users. Some on-line spreadsheets provide remote data update, allowing data values to be extracted from other users' spreadsheets even though they may be inactive at the time.
CorelDRAW is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Alludo. It is also the name of the Corel graphics suite, which includes the bitmap-image editor Corel Photo-Paint as well as other graphics-related programs. It can serve as a digital painting platform, desktop publishing suite, and is commonly used for production art in signmaking, vinyl and laser cutting and engraving, print-on-demand and other industry processes. Reduced-feature Standard and Essentials versions are also offered.
LibreOffice is a free and open-source office productivity software suite, a project of The Document Foundation (TDF). It was forked in 2010 from OpenOffice.org, an open-sourced version of the earlier StarOffice. It consists of programs for word processing; creating and editing spreadsheets, slideshows, diagrams, and drawings; working with databases; and composing mathematical formulae. It is available in 115 languages. TDF does not provide support for LibreOffice, but enterprise-focused editions are available from companies in the ecosystem.
The following is a comparison of major desktop publishing software.
LibreOffice Writer is the free and open-source word processor and desktop publishing component of the LibreOffice software package and is a fork of OpenOffice.org Writer. Writer is a word processor similar to Microsoft Word and Corel's WordPerfect with many similar features, and file format compatibility.
LibreOffice Calc is the spreadsheet component of the LibreOffice software package.
LibreOfficeDraw is a free and open source vector graphics editor. It is one of the applications included in the LibreOffice office suite, developed by The Document Foundation.
Collabora Online is an open source online office suite built on LibreOffice Technology, enabling web-based collaborative real-time editing of word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and vector graphics. Optional apps are available for desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and Chromebooks.
Microsoft Office 2021 is a version of the Microsoft Office suite of applications for the Microsoft Windows and macOS operating systems. It was released on October 5, 2021, along with Windows 11, and replaced Office 2019. A successor, Microsoft Office 2024 is expected to be rolled out in the second half of 2024.
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