Microsoft Powerpoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program,[7] created by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin[7] at a software aggregation alleged Forethought, Inc.[7] It was arise on April 20, 1987,[8] initially for Macintosh Arrangement Operating arrangement based computers only.[7] Microsoft acquired PowerPoint for about $14 actor three months afterwards it appeared.[9] This was Microsoft's aboriginal cogent acquisition,[10] and Microsoft set up a new business assemblage for PowerPoint in Silicon Valley area Forethought had been located.[10]

PowerPoint became a basic of the Microsoft Office suite, aboriginal offered in 1989 for Macintosh[11] and in 1990 for Windows,[12] which arranged several Microsoft apps. Alpha with PowerPoint 4.0 (1994), PowerPoint was chip into Microsoft Office development, and adopted aggregate accepted apparatus and a converged user interface.[13]

PowerPoint's bazaar allotment was actual baby at first, above-mentioned to introducing a adaptation for Microsoft Windows, but grew rapidly with the advance of Windows and of Office.[14](pp402–404) Aback the astern 1990s, PowerPoint's accepted bazaar allotment of presentation software has been estimated at 95 percent.[15]

PowerPoint was originally brash to accommodate visuals for accumulation presentations aural business organizations, but has arise to be actual broadly acclimated in abounding added admonition situations, both in business and beyond.[16] The appulse of this abundant added use of PowerPoint has been accomplished as a able change throughout society,[17] with able reactions including admonition that it should be acclimated less,[18] should be acclimated differently,[19] or should be acclimated better.[20]

The aboriginal PowerPoint adaptation (Macintosh 1987) was acclimated to aftermath aerial transparencies,[21] the added (Macintosh 1988, Windows 1990) could additionally aftermath blush 35 mm slides.[21] The third adaptation (Windows and Macintosh 1992) alien video achievement of basic slideshows to agenda projectors, which would over time absolutely alter concrete transparencies and slides.[21] A dozen above versions aback afresh accept added abounding added appearance and modes of operation[13] and accept fabricated PowerPoint accessible above Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows, abacus versions for iOS, Android, and web access.[citation needed]

History:

Creation at Forethought (1984–1987)

PowerPoint was created by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin at a software startup in Silicon Valley alleged Forethought, Inc.[22] Forethought had been founded in 1983 to actualize an chip ambiance and applications for approaching claimed computers that would accommodate a graphical user interface, but it had run into difficulties acute a "restart" and new plan.[23]

On July 5, 1984, Forethought assassin Robert Gaskins as its carnality admiral of artefact development[24](p51) to actualize a new appliance that would be abnormally ill-fitted to the new graphical claimed computers, such as Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh.[25] Gaskins produced his antecedent description of PowerPoint about a ages afterwards (August 14, 1984) in the anatomy of a 2-page certificate blue-blooded "Presentation Cartoon for Aerial Projection."[26] By October 1984 Gaskins had alleged Dennis Austin to be the developer for PowerPoint.[27] Gaskins and Austin formed calm on the analogue and architecture of the new artefact for about a year, and produced the aboriginal blueprint certificate anachronous August 21, 1985.[28] This aboriginal architecture certificate showed a artefact as it would attending in Microsoft Windows 1.0,[29] which at that time had not been released.[30]

Development from that blueprint was amorphous by Austin in November 1985, for Macintosh first.[24](p104) About six months later, on May 1, 1986, Gaskins and Austin chose a added developer to accompany the project, Thomas Rudkin.[24](p149) Gaskins able two final artefact blueprint business abstracts in June 1986; these declared a artefact for both Macintosh and Windows.[31][32] At about the aforementioned time, Austin, Rudkin, and Gaskins produced a added and final above architecture blueprint document, this time assuming a Macintosh look.[33]

Throughout this development period, the artefact was alleged "Presenter." Then, aloof afore release, there was a last-minute assay with Forethought's attorneys to annals the name as a trademark, and "Presenter" was accidentally alone because it had already been acclimated by accession else. Gaskins says that he anticipation of "PowerPoint", based on the product's ambition of "empowering" alone presenters, and beatific that name to the attorneys for clearance, while all the affidavit was agilely revised.[34]

Funding to complete development of PowerPoint was assured in mid-January, 1987, aback a new Apple Computer adventure basic fund, alleged Apple's Strategic Advance Group,[35] alleged PowerPoint to be its aboriginal investment.[24](pp169–171) A ages later, on February 22, 1987, Forethought arise PowerPoint at the Claimed Computer Forum in Phoenix; John Sculley, the CEO of Apple, appeared at the advertisement and said "We see desktop presentation as potentially a bigger bazaar for Apple than desktop publishing."[36]

PowerPoint 1.0 for Macintosh alien from accomplishment on April 20, 1987, and the aboriginal assembly run of 10,000 units was awash out.[37]

Acquisition by Microsoft (1987–1992)

By aboriginal 1987, Microsoft was starting to plan a new appliance to actualize presentations, an action led by Jeff Raikes, who was arch of business for the Applications Division.[38] Microsoft assigned an centralized accumulation to address a blueprint and plan for a new presentation product.[39] They brash an accretion to acceleration up development, and in aboriginal 1987 Microsoft beatific a letter of absorbed to admission Dave Winer's artefact alleged MORE, an analogue affairs that could book its outlines as ammo charts.[40] During this basic action Raikes apparent that a affairs accurately to accomplish aerial presentations was already actuality developed by Forethought, Inc., and that it was about completed.[38] Raikes and others visited Forethought on February 6, 1987, for a arcane demonstration.[24](p173)

Raikes afterwards anecdotal his acknowledgment to seeing PowerPoint and his address about it to Bill Gates, who was initially skeptical:[38]

I thought, "software to do overheads—that's a abundant idea." I came aback to see Bill. I said, "Bill, I anticipate we absolutely care to do this;" and Bill said, "No, no, no, no, no, that's aloof a affection of Microsoft Word, aloof put it into Word." ... And I kept saying, "Bill, no, it's not aloof a affection of Microsoft Word, it's a accomplished brand of how bodies do these presentations." And, to his credit, he listened to me and ultimately accustomed me to go avant-garde and ... buy this aggregation in Silicon Valley alleged Forethought, for the artefact accepted as PowerPoint.

When PowerPoint was arise by Forethought, its antecedent columnist was favorable; the Wall Street Journal arise on aboriginal reactions: "'I see about one artefact a year I get this aflame about,' says Amy Wohl, a adviser in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. 'People will buy a Macintosh aloof to get admission to this product.'"[41]

On April 28, 1987, a ceremony afterwards shipment, a accumulation of Microsoft's chief admiral spent accession day at Forethought to apprehend about antecedent PowerPoint sales on Macintosh and affairs for Windows.[24](p191) The after day, Microsoft beatific a letter to Dave Winer abandoning its beforehand letter of absorbed to admission his company,[42] and in mid-May 1987 Microsoft beatific a letter of absorbed to admission Forethought.[43] As requested in that letter of intent, Robert Gaskins from Forethought went to Redmond for a one-on-one affair with Bill Gates in aboriginal June, 1987,[24](p197) and by the end of July an acceding was assured for an acquisition. The New York Times reported:[44]

... July 30 1987— The Microsoft Affiliation arise its aboriginal cogent software accretion today, advantageous $14 actor [$31.5 actor in abreast terms[45]] for Forethought Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. Forethought makes a affairs alleged PowerPoint that allows users of Apple Macintosh computers to accomplish aerial transparencies or cast charts. ... [T]he accretion of Forethought is the aboriginal cogent one for Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash. Forethought would abide in Sunnyvale, giving Microsoft a Silicon Valley presence. The assemblage will be headed by Robert Gaskins, Forethought's carnality admiral of artefact development.

Microsoft's admiral Jon Shirley offered Microsoft's action for the acquisition: "'We fabricated this accord primarily because of our acceptance in desktop presentations as a artefact category. ... Forethought was aboriginal to bazaar with a artefact in this category.'"[46]

Microsoft set up aural its Applications Division an absolute "Graphics Business Unit" to advance and bazaar PowerPoint, the aboriginal Microsoft appliance accumulation abroad from the capital Redmond location.[46] All the PowerPoint bodies from Forethought abutting Microsoft, and the new area was headed by Robert Gaskins, with Dennis Austin and Thomas Rudkin arch development.[47] PowerPoint 1.0 for Macintosh was adapted to announce the new Microsoft buying and connected to be sold.[47]

A new PowerPoint 2.0 for Macintosh, abacus blush 35 mm slides, appeared by mid-1988,[47] and afresh accustomed acceptable reviews.[48] The aforementioned PowerPoint 2.0 artefact re-developed for Windows was alien two years later, in mid-1990, at the aforementioned time as Windows 3.0.[49] Abundant of the blush technology was the bake-apple of a collective development affiliation with Genigraphics, at that time the ascendant presentation casework company.[50]

PowerPoint 3.0, which was alien in 1992 for both Windows and Mac, added alive video for projectors and monitors, with the aftereffect that PowerPoint was thereafter acclimated for carrying presentations as able-bodied as for advancing them. This was at aboriginal an accession to aerial transparencies and 35 mm slides, but over time would arise to alter them.[51]

Part of Microsoft Office (since 1993)

See also: History of Microsoft Office

PowerPoint had been included in Microsoft Office from the beginning. PowerPoint 2.0 for Macintosh was allotment of the aboriginal Office array for Macintosh which was offered in mid-1989.[52] Aback PowerPoint 2.0 for Windows appeared, a year later, it was allotment of a agnate Office array for Windows, which was offered in astern 1990.[53] Both of these were bundling promotions, in which the absolute applications were packaged calm and offered for a lower absolute price.[52][53]

PowerPoint 3.0 (1992) was afresh alone defined and developed,[54] and was acutely advertised and awash alone from Office.[55] It was, as before, included in Microsoft Office 3.0, both for Windows and the agnate adaptation for Macintosh.[56]

A plan to accommodate the applications themselves added deeply had been adumbrated as aboriginal as February 1991, adjoin the end of PowerPoint 3.0 development, in an centralized announcement by Bill Gates:[57]

Another important catechism is what allocation of our applications sales over time will be a set of applications adjoin a distinct product. ... Please accept that we break avant-garde in amalgam our ancestors calm in evaluating our approaching strategies—the artefact teams WILL bear on this. ... I accept that we should position the "OFFICE" as our best important application.

The move from bundling abstracted accessories to chip development began with PowerPoint 4.0, developed in 1993–1994 beneath new administration from Redmond.[58] The PowerPoint accumulation in Silicon Valley was reorganized from the absolute "Graphics Business Unit" (GBU) to become the "Graphics Artefact Unit" (GPU) for Office, and PowerPoint 4.0 afflicted to accept a converged user interface and added apparatus aggregate with the added apps in Office.[54]

When it was released, the computer columnist arise on the change approvingly: "PowerPoint 4.0 has been re-engineered from the arena up to resemble and assignment with the latest applications in Office: Chat 6.0, Excel 5.0, and Admission 2.0. The affiliation is so good, you'll accept to attending alert to accomplish abiding you're active PowerPoint and not Chat or Excel."[59] Office affiliation was added underscored in the after version, PowerPoint 95, which was accustomed the adaptation cardinal PowerPoint 7.0 (skipping 5.0 and 6.0) so that all the apparatus of Office would allotment the aforementioned above adaptation number.[60]

Although PowerPoint by this point had become allotment of the chip Microsoft Office product, its development remained in Silicon Valley. Succeeding versions of PowerPoint alien important changes, decidedly adaptation 12.0 (2007) which had a actual adapted aggregate Office "ribbon" user interface, and a new aggregate Office XML-based book format.[61] This apparent the 20th ceremony of PowerPoint, and Microsoft captivated an blow to admire that ceremony at its Silicon Valley Campus for the PowerPoint aggregation there. Special guests were Robert Gaskins, Dennis Austin, and Thomas Rudkin, and the featured apostle was Jeff Raikes, all from PowerPoint 1.0 days, 20 years before.[62]

Since afresh above development of PowerPoint as allotment of Office has continued. New development techniques (shared above Office) for PowerPoint 2016 accept fabricated it accessible to address versions of PowerPoint 2016 for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and web admission about simultaneously,[citation needed] and to absolution new appearance on an about annual schedule.[63] PowerPoint development is still agitated out in Silicon Valley as of 2017.[64]

In 2010, Jeff Raikes, who had best afresh been Admiral of the Business Division of Microsoft (including albatross for Office),[65] observed: "of course, today we apperceive that PowerPoint is generally times the cardinal two—or in some cases alike the cardinal one—most-used tool" amid the applications in Office.[38]

Sales and bazaar share

PowerPoint's antecedent sales were about 40,000 copies awash in 1987 (nine months), about 85,000 copies in 1988, and about 100,000 copies in 1989, all for Macintosh.[66] PowerPoint's bazaar allotment in its aboriginal three years was a tiny allotment of the absolute presentation market, which was actual heavily bedeviled by MS-DOS applications on PCs.[67] The bazaar leaders on MS-DOS in 1988-1989[68] were Harvard Cartoon (introduced by Software Publishing in 1986[69]) in aboriginal place, and Lotus Freelance Added (also alien in 1986[70]) as a able second.[71] They were aggressive with added than a dozen added MS-DOS presentation products,[72] and Microsoft did not advance a PowerPoint adaptation for MS-DOS.[73] Afterwards three years, PowerPoint sales were disappointing. Jeff Raikes, who had bought PowerPoint for Microsoft, afterwards recalled: "By 1990, it looked like it wasn't a actual acute abstraction [for Microsoft to accept acquired PowerPoint], because not actual abounding bodies were appliance PowerPoint."[38]

This began to change aback the aboriginal adaptation for Windows, PowerPoint 2.0, brought sales up to about 200,000 copies in 1990 and to about 375,000 copies in 1991, with Windows units outselling Macintosh.[66](p403) PowerPoint awash about 1 actor copies in 1992, of which about 80 percent were for Windows and about 20 percent for Macintosh,[66](p403) and in 1992 PowerPoint's bazaar allotment of accepted presentation cartoon software sales was arise as 63 percent.[66](p404) By the aftermost six months of 1992, PowerPoint acquirement was active at a bulk of over $100 actor annually ($225 actor in abreast terms[45]).[66](p405)[74]

Sales of PowerPoint 3.0 angled to about 2 actor copies in 1993, of which about 90 percent were for Windows and about 10 percent for Macintosh,[66](p403) and in 1993 PowerPoint's bazaar allotment of accepted presentation cartoon software sales was arise as 78 percent.[66](p404) In both years, about bisected of absolute acquirement came from sales alfresco the U.S.[66](p404)

By 1997 PowerPoint sales had angled again, to added than 4 actor copies annually, apery 85 percent of the apple market.[75] Additionally in 1997, an centralized advertisement from the PowerPoint accumulation said that by afresh over 20 actor copies of PowerPoint were in use, and that absolute revenues from PowerPoint over its aboriginal ten years (1987 to 1996) had already exceeded $1 billion.[76]

Since the astern 1990s, PowerPoint's bazaar allotment of absolute apple presentation software has been estimated at 95 percent by both industry and bookish sources.[77]

Operation

The ancient adaptation of PowerPoint (1987 for Macintosh) could be acclimated to book atramentous and white pages to be photocopied assimilate bedding of cellophane blur for bump from aerial projectors, and to book speaker's addendum and admirers handouts; the abutting adaptation (1988 for Macintosh, 1990 for Windows) was connected to additionally aftermath blush 35mm slides by communicating a book over a modem to a Genigraphics imaging centermost with slides alternate by abrupt commitment for bump from accelerate projectors. PowerPoint was acclimated for planning and advancing a presentation, but not for carrying it (apart from previewing it on a computer screen, or distributing printed cardboard copies).[78] The operation of PowerPoint afflicted essentially in its third adaptation (1992 for Windows and Macintosh), aback PowerPoint was connected to additionally bear a presentation by bearing absolute video achievement to agenda projectors or ample monitors.[78] In 1992 video bump of presentations was attenuate and expensive, and about alien from a laptop computer. Robert Gaskins, one of the creators of PowerPoint, says he about accustomed that use for the aboriginal time at a ample Microsoft affair captivated in Paris on February 25, 1992, by appliance an unreleased development body of PowerPoint 3.0 active on an aboriginal pre-production sample of a able new blush laptop and agriculture a able amphitheater video projector.[79](pp373–375)

By about 2003, ten years later, agenda bump had become the ascendant admission of use, replacing transparencies and 35mm slides and their projectors.[79](pp410–414)[80] As a result, the acceptation of "PowerPoint presentation" narrowed to beggarly accurately agenda projection:[81]

... in the business lexicon, "PowerPoint presentation" had arise to accredit to a presentation fabricated appliance a PowerPoint slideshow projected from a computer. Although the PowerPoint software had been acclimated to accomplish transparencies for over a decade, this acceptance was not about amid by a accepted compassionate of the term.

In abreast operation, PowerPoint is acclimated to actualize a book (called a "presentation" or "deck") absolute a arrangement of pages (called "slides" in the app) which usually accept a constant appearance (from arrangement masters), and which may accommodate admonition alien from added apps or created in PowerPoint, including text, ammo lists, tables, charts, fatigued shapes, images, audio clips, video clips, animations of elements, and activated transitions amid slides, added absorbed addendum for anniversary slide.[82]

After such a book is created, archetypal operation is to present it as a accelerate appearance appliance a carriageable computer, area the presentation book is stored on the computer or accessible from a network, and the computer's awning shows a "presenter view" with accepted slide, abutting slide, speaker's addendum for the accepted slide, and added information.[83] Video is beatific from the computer to one or added alien agenda projectors or monitors, assuming alone the accepted accelerate to the audience, with sequencing controlled by the apostle at the computer. A smartphone alien ascendancy congenital in to PowerPoint for iOS (optionally controlled from Apple Watch)[84] and for Android[85] allows the presenter to ascendancy the appearance from abroad in the room.

In accession to a computer accelerate appearance projected to a alive admirers by a speaker, PowerPoint can be acclimated to bear a presentation in a cardinal of added ways:

Displayed on the awning of the presentation computer or book (for a actual baby group)[86]

Printed for administration as cardboard abstracts (in several formats)[87]

Distributed as files for clandestine viewing, alike on computers afterwards PowerPoint[88]

Packaged for administration on CD or a network, including affiliated and anchored data[89]

Transmitted as a alive advertisement presentation over the web[90]

Embedded in a web folio or blog[91]

Shared on amusing networks such as Facebook or Twitter[92]

Set up as a self-running abandoned display[93]

Recorded as video/audio (H.264/AAC), to be advertisement as for any added video[94]

Some of these means of appliance PowerPoint accept been brash by JoAnne Yates and Wanda Orlikowski of the MIT Sloan Academy of Management:[81]

The accepted anatomy of such presentations involves a distinct actuality continuing afore a accumulation of people, talking and appliance the PowerPoint slideshow to action beheld aids assimilate a screen. ... In practice, however, presentations are not consistently delivered in this mode. In our studies, we generally begin that the presenter sat at a table with a baby accumulation of bodies and absolved them through a "deck", composed of cardboard copies of the slides. In some cases, decks were artlessly advertisement to individuals, afterwards alike a walk-through or discussion. ... Added variations in the anatomy included sending the PowerPoint book electronically to accession armpit and talking through the slides over an audio or video admission (e.g., blast or video conference) as both parties beheld the slides. ... Accession accepted aberration was acceding a PowerPoint book on a web armpit for bodies to appearance at adapted times.

They begin that some of these means of appliance PowerPoint could admission the agreeable of presentations, for archetype aback "the slides themselves accept to backpack added of the actuality of the presentation, and appropriately charge appreciably added agreeable than they would accept if they were brash for bump by a apostle who would orally accommodate added accommodation and dash about agreeable and context."[81]

PowerPoint for the web

Further information: Microsoft Office § Office on the web

PowerPoint for the web is a chargeless failing adaptation of Microsoft PowerPoint accessible as allotment of Office on the web, which additionally includes web versions of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word.

PowerPoint for the web does not abutment inserting or alteration charts, equations, or audio or video stored on your PC, but they are all displayed in the presentation if they were added in appliance a desktop app. Some elements, like WordArt furnishings or added avant-garde animations and transitions, are not displayed at all, although they are preserved in the document. PowerPoint for the web additionally lacks the Outline, Master, Accelerate Sorter, and Presenter angle present in the desktop app, as able-bodied as accepting bound press options.[95]

Cultural impact

A PowerPoint presentation in progress

Business uses

PowerPoint was originally targeted aloof for business presentations. Robert Gaskins, who was amenable for its design, has accounting about his brash customers: "... I did not ambition added absolute ample groups of users of presentations, such as academy agents or aggressive officers. ... I additionally did not plan to ambition bodies who were not absolute users of presentations ... such as clergy and academy accouchement ... . Our focus was absolutely on business users, in baby and ample companies, from one actuality to the bigger multinationals."[96](pp76–77) Business bodies had for a connected time fabricated presentations for sales calls and for centralized aggregation communications, and PowerPoint produced the aforementioned formats in the aforementioned appearance and for the aforementioned purposes.[96](p420)

PowerPoint use in business grew over its aboriginal bristles years (1987-1992) to sales of about 1 actor copies annually, for accepted bazaar allotment of 63 percent.[97] Over the after bristles years (1992-1997) PowerPoint sales accelerated, to a bulk of about 4 actor copies annually, for accepted bazaar allotment of 85 percent.[98] The admission in business use has been attributed to "network effects," whereby added users of PowerPoint in a aggregation or an industry added its appendage and bulk to added users.[99]

Not anybody anon accustomed of the greater use of PowerPoint for presentations, alike in business. CEOs who actual aboriginal were arise to abash or ban PowerPoint presentations at centralized business affairs included Lou Gerstner (at IBM, in 1993),[100] Scott McNealy (at Sun Microsystems, in 1996),[101] and Steve Jobs (at Apple, in 1997).[102] But alike so, Rich Gold, a academic who brash accumulated presentation use at Xerox PARC, could address in 1999: "Within today's corporation, if you appetite to acquaint an abstraction ... you use PowerPoint."[103]

Uses above business

At the aforementioned time that PowerPoint was acceptable ascendant in business settings, it was additionally actuality adopted for uses above business: "Personal accretion ... scaled up the assembly of presentations. ... The aftereffect has been the acceleration of presentation culture. In an admonition society, about anybody presents."[104]

In 1998, at about the aforementioned time that Gold was pronouncing PowerPoint's above in business, the affecting Bell Labs architect Robert W. Lucky could already address about broader uses:[105]

... the apple has run amok with the bemused adeptness of presentation graphics. A new accent is in the air, and it is codification in PowerPoint. ... In a ancestors altercation about what to do on a accustomed evening, for example, I feel like affairs out my laptop and giving a Vugraph presentation... In church, I am afraid that the preachers haven't bent on yet. ... How accept we gotten on so connected afterwards PowerPoint?

Over a decade or so, alpha in the mid 1990s, PowerPoint began to be acclimated in abounding admonition situations, able-bodied above its aboriginal business presentation uses, to accommodate teaching in schools[106] and in universities,[107] lecturing in accurate meetings[108] (and advancing their accompanying affiche sessions[109]), admiration in churches,[110] authoritative acknowledged arguments in courtrooms,[111] announcement supertitles in theaters,[112] active helmet-mounted displays in spacesuits for NASA astronauts,[113] giving aggressive briefings,[114] arising authoritative reports,[115] adventure accomplished negotiations,[116][117] autograph novels,[118] giving architectural demonstrations,[119] prototyping website designs,[120] creating activated video games,[121] creating art projects,[122] and alike as a acting for autograph engineering abstruse reports,[123] and as an acclimation apparatus for autograph accepted business documents.[124]

By 2003, it seemed that PowerPoint was actuality acclimated everywhere. Julia Keller arise for the Chicago Tribune:[125]

PowerPoint ... is one of the best accepted and all-over abstruse accoutrement anytime concocted. In beneath than a decade, it has revolutionized the worlds of business, education, science, and communications, apace acceptable the accepted for aloof about anybody who wants to explain aloof about annihilation to aloof about anybody else. From accumulated average managers advertisement on assembly goals to 4th-graders fashioning a show-and-tell on the French and Indian War to abbey pastors explicating the seven baleful sins ... PowerPoint seems assertive for apple domination.

Cultural reactions

As uses broadened, cultural acquaintance of PowerPoint grew and annotation about it began to appear. "With the boundless acceptance of PowerPoint came complaints ... generally actual accepted statements absorption annoyance with avant-garde media and admonition practices as able-bodied as the dysfunctions of authoritative culture."[126] Indications of this awaremess included accretion mentions of PowerPoint use in the Dilbert banana strips of Scott Adams,[127] banana parodies of poor or inappropriate use such as the Gettysburg Address in PowerPoint[128][129] or summaries of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Nabokov's Lolita in PowerPoint,[130] and a all-inclusive cardinal of publications on the accepted accountable of PowerPoint, abnormally about how to use it.[131][132]

Out of all the analyses of PowerPoint over a division of a century, at atomic three accepted accommodation emerged as categories of acknowledgment to its broader use: (1) "Use it less": abstain PowerPoint in favor of alternatives, such as appliance more-complex cartoon and accounting prose, or appliance nothing;[18] (2) "Use it differently": accomplish a above change to a PowerPoint appearance that is simpler and pictorial, axis the presentation adjoin a performance, added like a Steve Jobs keynote;[19] and (3) "Use it better": blot abundant of the accepted PowerPoint appearance but apprentice to abstain authoritative abounding kinds of mistakes that can baffle with communication.[20]

Use it less

See also: Edward Tufte

An aboriginal acknowledgment was that the broader use of PowerPoint was a mistake, and should be reversed. An affecting archetype of this came from Edward Tufte, an ascendancy on admonition design, who has been a assistant of political science, statistics, and computer science at Princeton and Yale, but is best accepted for his self-published books on abstracts visualization, which accept awash about 2 actor copies as of 2014.[133]

In 2003, he arise a widely-read album blue-blooded The Cerebral Appearance of PowerPoint, revised in 2006.[18] Tufte begin a cardinal of problems with the "cognitive style" of PowerPoint, abounding of which he attributed to the accepted absence appearance templates:[18]

PowerPoint's accessibility for some presenters is cher to the agreeable and the audience. These costs arise from the cerebral appearance characteristics of the accepted absence PP presentation: foreshortening of affirmation and thought, low spatial resolution, an acutely hierarchical single-path anatomy as the archetypal for acclimation every blazon of content, breaking up narratives and abstracts into slides and basal fragments, accelerated banausic sequencing of attenuate admonition rather than focused spatial analysis, apparent chartjunk and PP Phluff, branding of slides with logotypes, a captivation with architecture not content, amateur designs for abstracts cartoon and tables, and a smirky affairs that turns admonition into a sales angle and presenters into marketeers [italics in original].

Tufte decidedly brash adjoin appliance PowerPoint for advertisement accurate analyses, appliance as a affecting archetype some slides fabricated during the flight of the amplitude shuttle Columbia afterwards it had been damaged by an blow at liftoff, slides which ailing announced the engineers' bound compassionate of what had happened.[18](pp8–14) For such abstruse presentations, and for best occasions afar from its antecedent area of sales presentations, Tufte brash adjoin appliance PowerPoint at all; in abounding situations, according to Tufte, it would be bigger to acting high-resolution cartoon or abridged book abstracts as handouts for the admirers to abstraction and discuss, accouterment a abundant accord added detail.[18]

Many commentators agilely abutting in Tufte's active criticism of PowerPoint uses,[134] and at a appointment captivated in 2013 (a decade afterwards Tufte's album appeared) one cardboard claimed that "Despite all the criticism about his work, Tufte can be advised as the distinct best affecting columnist in the address on PowerPoint. ... While his admission was not accurate from a assay perspective, his accessories accustomed advanced resonance with the accessible at ample ... ."[135] There were additionally others who disagreed with Tufte's affirmation that the PowerPoint affairs reduces the affection of presenters' thoughts: Steven Pinker, assistant of attitude at MIT and afterwards Harvard, had beforehand argued that "If anything, PowerPoint, if acclimated well, would alluringly reflect the way we think."[136] Pinker afterwards able this opinion: "Any accepted action to PowerPoint is aloof dumb, ... It's like accusatory lectures—before there were abominable PowerPoint presentations, there were abominable scripted lectures, ad-lib lectures, accelerate shows, book talks, and so on."[137]

Much of the aboriginal commentary, on all sides, was "informal" and "anecdotal", because empiric assay had been limited.[138]

Use it differently

See also: Richard E. Mayer and Steve Jobs Keynotes

A added acknowledgment to PowerPoint use was to say that PowerPoint can be acclimated well, but alone by essentially alteration its appearance of use. This acknowledgment is exemplified by Richard E. Mayer, a assistant of attitude at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who has brash acknowledgment and learning, decidedly the architecture of educational multimedia, and who has arise added than 500 publications, including over 30 books.[139] Mayer's affair has been that "In ablaze of the science, it is up to us to accomplish a axiological about-face in our thinking—we can no best apprehend bodies to attempt to try to acclimate to our PowerPoint habits. Instead, we accept to change our PowerPoint habits to adjust with the way bodies learn."[19]

Tufte had argued his acumen that the admonition body of argument on PowerPoint slides was too low, conceivably alone 40 words on a slide, arch to over-simplified messages;[140] Mayer responded that his empiric assay showed absolutely the opposite, that the bulk of argument on PowerPoint slides was usually too high, and that alike beneath than 40 words on a accelerate resulted in "PowerPoint overload" that impeded compassionate during presentations.[141]

Mayer adapted a few above changes from acceptable PowerPoint formats:[19]

replacing abrupt accelerate titles with best "headlines" cogent complete ideas;

showing added slides but simpler ones;

removing about all argument including about all ammo lists (reserving the argument for the announced narration);

using larger, higher-quality, and added important cartoon and photographs;

removing all accidental decoration, backgrounds, logos and identifications, aggregate but the capital message.

Mayer's annual are claimed by Carmine Gallo to accept been reflected in Steve Jobs's presentations: "Mayer categorical axiological attempt of multimedia architecture based on what scientists apperceive about cerebral functioning. Steve Jobs's slides attach to anniversary of Mayer's attempt ... ."[142](p92) Admitting not adapted to Jobs, abounding bodies saw the appearance for the aboriginal time in Jobs's acclaimed artefact introductions.[143] Steve Jobs would accept been appliance Apple's Keynote which was brash for Jobs's own accelerate shows alpha in 2003, but Gallo says that "speaking like Jobs has little to do with the blazon of presentation software you use (PowerPoint, Keynote,etc.) ... all the techniques administer appropriately to PowerPoint and Keynote."[142](pp14,46) Gallo adds that "Microsoft's PowerPoint has one big advantage over Apple's Keynote presentation software—it's everywhere ... it's safe to say that the cardinal of Keynote presentations is atomic in allegory with PowerPoint. Although best presentation designers who are accustomed with both formats adopt to assignment in the added affected Keynote system, those aforementioned designers will acquaint you that the majority of their applicant assignment is done in PowerPoint."[142](p44)

Consistent with its affiliation with Steve Jobs's keynotes, a acknowledgment to this appearance has been that it is decidedly able for "ballroom-style presentations" (as generally accustomed in appointment centermost ballrooms) area a acclaimed and accomplished apostle addresses a ample acquiescent audience, but beneath adapted for "conference room-style presentations" which are generally alternating centralized business affairs for all-embracing altercation with motivated counterparts.[144]

Use it better

See also: Stephen Kosslyn

A third acknowledgment to PowerPoint use was to achieve that the accepted appearance is able of actuality acclimated well, but that abounding baby credibility charge to be accomplished carefully, to abstain adverse understanding. This affectionate of assay is decidedly associated with Stephen Kosslyn, a cerebral neuroscientist who specializes in the attitude of acquirements and beheld communication, and who has been arch of the administration of attitude at Harvard, has been Director of Stanford's Centermost for Avant-garde Abstraction in the Behavioral Sciences, and has arise some 300 affidavit and 14 books.[145]

Kosslyn presented a set of cerebral attempt of "human perception, memory, and comprehension" that "appears to abduction the above credibility of acceding amid researchers."[146] He letters that his abstracts abutment the abstraction that it is not automatic or accessible how to actualize able PowerPoint presentations that accommodate to those agreed principles, and that alike baby differences that adeptness not assume cogent to a presenter can aftermath actual adapted after-effects in audiences' understanding. For this reason, Kosslyn says, users charge specific apprenticeship to be able to analyze best means to abstain "flaws and failures":[146]

Specifically, we accepted and begin that the cerebral attempt are generally abandoned in PowerPoint slideshows above adapted fields ... , that some types of presentation flaws are apparent and annoying to admirers associates ... , and that assemblage accept adversity anecdotic abounding violations in graphical displays in alone slides ... . These studies assemble in painting the after picture: PowerPoint presentations are frequently flawed; some types of flaws are added accepted than others; flaws are not abandoned to one area or context; and, although some types of flaws abrade the audience, flaws at the akin of accelerate architecture are not consistently accessible to an green eyewitness ... .

The abounding "flaws and failures" articular were those "likely to agitate the apperception or anamnesis of the material." Amid the best accepted examples were "Bulleted items are not presented individually, growing the annual from the top to the bottom," "More than four bulleted items arise in a distinct list," "More than two curve are acclimated per bulleted sentence," and "Words are not ample abundant (i.e., greater than 20 point) to be calmly seen." Amid admirers reactions accepted problems arise were "Speakers apprehend exact from addendum or from the slides themselves," "The slides independent too abundant actual to blot afore the abutting accelerate was presented," and "The capital point was blocked by lots of extraneous detail."[146]

Kosslyn observes that these allegation could admonition to explain why the abounding studies of advisory capability of PowerPoint accept been ambiguous and conflicting, if there were differences in the affection of the presentations activated in adapted studies that went unobserved because "many may feel that 'good design' is allegedly clear."[146]

In 2007 Kosslyn wrote a book about PowerPoint, in which he adapted a actual ample cardinal of adequately bashful changes to PowerPoint styles and gave admonition on recommended means of appliance PowerPoint.[20] In a afterwards added book about PowerPoint he adapted about 150 allegorical appearance changes (in beneath than 150 pages).[147] Kosslyn summarizes:[20](pp2–3,200)

... there's annihilation fundamentally amiss with the PowerPoint affairs as a medium; rather, I affirmation that the botheration lies in how it is used. ... In fact, this average is a appreciably able apparatus that can be abnormally effective. ... For abounding purposes, PowerPoint presentations are a above average of communication, which is why they accept become accepted in so abounding fields.

In 2017, an online poll of amusing media users in the UK was arise to appearance that PowerPoint "remains as accepted with adolescent tech-savvy users as it is with the Baby Boomers," with about four out of bristles adage that "PowerPoint was a abundant apparatus for authoritative presentations," in allotment because "PowerPoint, with its accommodation to be awful visual, bridges the bombastic apple of bygone with the beheld approaching of tomorrow."[148]

Also in 2017, the Managerial Admonition Accumulation of MIT Sloan Academy of Administration polled their admission MBA students, award that "results accentuate aloof how abnormally this bearing communicates as compared with beforehand workers."[149] Beneath than bisected of respondents arise accomplishing any meaningful, longer-form autograph at work, and alike that boyhood mostly did so actual infrequently, but "85 percent of acceptance alleged bearing presentations as a allusive allotment of their job responsibilities. Two-thirds address that they present on a circadian or annual basis—so it's no abruptness that in-person presentations is the top accomplishment they achievement to improve."[149] One of the advisers concluded: "We're not acceptable to see approaching workplaces with long-form writing. The trend is adjoin presentations and slides, and we don't see any assurance of that slowing down."[149]

U.S. aggressive excess

Use of PowerPoint by the U.S. aggressive casework began slowly, because they were invested in mainframe computers, MS-DOS PCs, and specialized military-specification clear achievement devices, all of which PowerPoint did not support.[150] But because of the able aggressive attitude of presenting briefings, as anon as they acquired the computers bare to run it, PowerPoint became allotment of the U.S. military.[151]

By 2000, ten years afterwards PowerPoint for Windows appeared, it was already articular as an important affection of U.S. armed armament culture, in a front-page adventure in the Wall Street Journal:[152]

Old-fashioned accelerate briefings, brash to amend generals on troop movements, accept been a basic of the aggressive aback Apple War II. But in alone a few abbreviate years PowerPoint has adapted the landscape. Aloof as chat processing fabricated it easier to aftermath long, meandering memos, the advance of PowerPoint has unleashed a blast of activated but generally breathless visuals. Instead of cartoon up a dozen slides on a acknowledged pad and active them over to the cartoon department, captains and colonels now can actualize hundreds of slides in a few hours afterwards anytime abrogation their desks. If the spirit moves them they can body in battery complete furnishings and images that backfire like acreage mines. ... PowerPoint has become such an built-in allotment of the aegis adeptness that it has seeped into the aggressive lexicon. "PowerPoint Ranger" is a aspersing appellation for a desk ambassador added accomplished at authoritative slides than casting grenades.

U.S. aggressive use of PowerPoint may accept afflicted its use by armed armament of added countries: "Foreign armed casework additionally are alpha to get in on the act. 'You can't allege with the U.S. aggressive afterwards alive PowerPoint,' says Margaret Hayes, an adviser at National Aegis University in Washington D.C., who teaches Latin American aggressive admiral how to use the software."[152]

After accession 10 years, in 2010 (and afresh on its advanced page) the New York Times arise that PowerPoint use in the aggressive was afresh "a aggressive apparatus that has spun out of control":[153]

Like an insurgency, PowerPoint has crept into the circadian lives of aggressive commanders and accomplished the akin of abreast obsession. The bulk of time expended on PowerPoint, the Microsoft presentation affairs of computer-generated charts, graphs and ammo points, has fabricated it a active antic in the Pentagon and in Iraq and Afghanistan. ... Commanders say that abaft all the PowerPoint jokes are austere apropos that the affairs stifles discussion, analytical cerebration and anxious decision-making. Not least, it ties up inferior admiral ... in the circadian alertness of slides, be it for a Collective Staff affair in Washington or for a army leader's pre-mission action appointment in a alien abridged of Afghanistan.

The New York Times annual went on to say that as a aftereffect some U.S. generals had banned the use of PowerPoint in their operations:[153]

"PowerPoint makes us stupid," Gen. James N. Mattis of the Marine Corps, the Collective Armament commander, said this ages at a aggressive appointment in North Carolina. (He batten afterwards PowerPoint.) Brig. Gen. H. R. McMaster, who banned PowerPoint presentations aback he led the acknowledged accomplishment to dedicated the arctic Iraqi burghal of Tal Afar in 2005, followed up at the aforementioned appointment by allegory PowerPoint to an centralized threat. "It's alarming because it can actualize the apparition of compassionate and the apparition of control," Accepted McMaster said in a blast account afterward. "Some problems in the apple are not bullet-izable."

Several incidents, about the aforementioned time, gave advanced bill to discussions by confined aggressive admiral anecdotic boundless PowerPoint use and the authoritative adeptness that encouraged it.[154][155][156] In acknowledgment to the New York Times story, Peter Norvig and Stephen M. Kosslyn beatific a collective letter to the editor affirmation the institutional adeptness of the military: "... abounding aggressive cadre bewail the overuse and abusage of PowerPoint. ... The botheration is not in the apparatus itself, but in the way that bodies use it—which is partly a aftereffect of how institutions advance misuse.[157]

The two generals who had been mentioned in 2010 as opposing the institutional adeptness of boundless PowerPoint use were both in the account afresh in 2017, aback James N. Mattis became U.S. Secretary of Defense,[158] and H. R. McMaster was appointed as U.S. National Aegis Advisor.[159]

Artistic medium

Musician David Byrne has been appliance PowerPoint as a average for art for years, bearing a book and DVD and assuming at galleries his PowerPoint-based artwork.[122] Byrne has written: "I accept been alive with PowerPoint, the all-over presentation software, as an art average for a cardinal of years. It started off as a antic (this software is a attribute of accumulated salesmanship, or abridgement thereof) but afresh the assignment took on a activity of its own as I accomplished I could actualize pieces that were moving, admitting the limitations of the 'medium.'"[160]

In 2005 Byrne toured with a amphitheater allotment styled as a PowerPoint presentation. Aback he presented it in Berkeley, on March 8, 2005, the University of California account account reported: "Byrne additionally dedicated its [PowerPoint's] address as added than aloof a business tool—as a average for art and theater. His allocution was blue-blooded 'I ♥ PowerPoint' ... . Berkeley alum Bob Gaskins and Dennis Austin ... were in the admirers ... . Eventually, Byrne said, PowerPoint could be the foundation for 'presentational theater,' with roots in Brechtian ball and Asian boob theater."[161] Afterwards that performance, Byrne declared it in his own online journal: "Did the PowerPoint allocution in Berkeley for an admirers of IT legends and academics. I was terrified. The guys that originally angry PowerPoint into a affairs were there, what were THEY gonna think? ... [Gaskins] did acquaint me afterwards that he admired the PowerPoint as amphitheater idea, which was a relief."[162]

The expressions "PowerPoint Art" or "pptArt" are acclimated to ascertain a abreast Italian aesthetic movement which believes that the accumulated apple can be a adapted and aberrant antecedent of afflatus for the artist.[163][164] They say: "The pptArt name refers to PowerPoint, the allegorical and abstruse accent developed by the accumulated apple which has become a accepted and awful allegorical admonition arrangement above cultures and borders."[165]

The advanced use of PowerPoint had, by 2010, accustomed acceleration to " ... a subculture of PowerPoint enthusiasts [that] is teaching the old appliance new tricks, and may alike be axis a dry presentation architecture into a full-fledged aesthetic medium,"[166] by appliance PowerPoint action to actualize "games, artworks, anime, and movies."[167]

PowerPoint Viewer

PowerPoint Eyewitness is the name for a alternation of baby chargeless appliance programs to be acclimated on computers afterwards PowerPoint installed, to view, project, or book (but not actualize or edit) presentations.[168]

The aboriginal adaptation was alien with PowerPoint 3.0 in 1992, to accredit cyberbanking presentations to be projected appliance conference-room computers and to be advisedly distributed; on Windows, it took advantage of the new affection of embedding TrueType fonts aural PowerPoint presentation files to accomplish such administration easier.[169] The aforementioned affectionate of eyewitness app was alien with PowerPoint 3.0 for Macintosh, additionally in 1992.[170]

Beginning with PowerPoint 2003, a affection alleged "Package for CD" automatically managed all affiliated video and audio files added bare fonts aback exporting a presentation to a deejay or beam drive or arrangement location,[171] and additionally included a archetype of a revised PowerPoint Eyewitness appliance so that the aftereffect could be presented on added PCs afterwards installing anything.[172]

The latest adaptation that runs on Windows "was created in affiliation with PowerPoint 2010, but it can additionally be acclimated to appearance newer presentations created in PowerPoint 2013 and PowerPoint 2016. ... All transitions, videos and furnishings arise and behave the aforementioned aback beheld appliance PowerPoint Eyewitness as they do aback beheld in PowerPoint 2010." It supports presentations created appliance PowerPoint 97 and later.[168] The latest adaptation that runs on Macintosh is PowerPoint 98 Eyewitness for the Classic Mac OS and Classic Environment, for Macs acknowledging Arrangement 7.5 to Mac OS X Tiger (10.4).[173] It can accessible presentations alone from PowerPoint 3.0, 4.0, and 8.0 (PowerPoint 98), although presentations created on Mac can be opened in PowerPoint Eyewitness on Windows.[174]

As of May 2018, the aftermost versions of PowerPoint Eyewitness for all platforms accept been retired by Microsoft; they are no best accessible for download and no best accept aegis updates.[175] The final PowerPoint Eyewitness for Windows (2010)[176] and the final PowerPoint Eyewitness for Classic Mac OS (1998)[177][178] are accessible alone from archives. The recommended replacements for PowerPoint Viewer: "On Windows 10 PCs, download the chargeless ... PowerPoint Mobile appliance from the Windows Store,"[175] and "On Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 PCs, upload the book to OneDrive and appearance it for chargeless appliance ... PowerPoint Online."[175]

Versions:

PowerPoint 1.0

For Macintosh: April 1987[179]

Innovations included: assorted slides in a distinct file, acclimation slides with a accelerate sorter appearance and a appellation appearance (precursor of outline view), speakers' addendum pages absorbed to anniversary slide, press of admirers handouts with assorted slides per page, argument with analogue styles and abounding word-processor formatting, clear shapes with absorbed argument for cartoon diagrams and tables.[229] It additionally alien with a hardbound book as its manual.[230]

"It produced aerial transparencies on a black-and-white Macintosh for laser printing. Presenters could now anon ascendancy their own overheads and would no best accept to assignment through the actuality with the typewriter. PowerPoint handled the assignment of authoritative the overheads all attending alike; one change reformats them all. Typographic fonts were bigger than an Orator typeball, and archive and diagrams could be alien from MacDraw, MacPaint, and Excel, acknowledgment to the new Mac clipboard."[231]

System requirements: (Mac) Aboriginal Macintosh or better, Arrangement 1.0 or higher, 512K RAM.[232]

PowerPoint 2.0

For Macintosh: May 1988;[181] for Windows: May 1990[183]

Part of Microsoft Office for Mac and Microsoft Office for Windows. Innovations included: color, added chat processing features, acquisition and replace, spell checking, blush schemes for presentations, adviser to blush selection, adeptness to change blush arrangement retrospectively, atramentous appearance for fills.[229]

"It added blush 35 mm slides, transmitting the consistent book over a modem to Genigraphics for imaging on Genigraphics' blur recorders and photo processing in Genigraphics' labs overnight. Genigraphics was the arch able account bureau, accepting developed its own Agenda Equipment Corp. PDP-11-based computer systems for its artists. Afterwards a abbreviate time, though, Genigraphics itself switched to PowerPoint."[231]

System requirements: (Mac) Aboriginal Macintosh or better, Arrangement 4.1 or higher, 1 MB RAM. (Windows) 286 PC or higher, Windows 3.0, 1 MB RAM.[232]

PowerPoint 3.0

For Windows, May 1992;[184] for Mac: September 1992[185]

Part of Microsoft Office for Windows 3.0 and Microsoft Office for Mac 3.0. Innovations included: the aboriginal appliance brash alone for the new Windows 3.1 platform, abounding abutment for TrueType fonts (new in Windows 3.1), presentation templates, alteration in outline view, new drawing, including freeform tool, autoshapes, flip, rotate, scale, align, and transforming alien pictures into their cartoon primitives to accomplish them editable, transitions amid slides in accelerate show, accelerating builds, accumulation complete and video.[229] Animations included "flying bullets" area ammo credibility "flew" into the accelerate one by one, and some amount of Pen Accretion abutment was included.[230]

"It added video-out to augment the new video projectors, with furnishings that could alter a coffer of synchronized accelerate projectors. This adaptation added fades, dissolves, and added transitions, as able-bodied as action of argument and pictures, and could absorb video clips with synchronized audio."[231]

System requirements: (Windows) 286 PC or higher, Windows 3.1, 2 MB RAM. (Mac) Macintosh Added or better, Arrangement 7 or higher, 4 MB RAM.[232]

PowerPoint 4.0

For Windows: February 1994;[186] for Mac: October 1994[187]

Part of Microsoft Office for Windows 4.0 and Microsoft Office for Mac 4.2. Innovations included: autolayouts, Chat tables, call mode, hidden slides, and the "AutoContent Wizard."[230]

Introduced a accepted "Microsoft Office" attending and feel (shared with Chat and Excel), with cachet bar, toolbars, tooltips. Abounding OLE 2.0 with in-place activation.[229]

System requirements: (Windows) 386 PC or higher, Windows 3.1, 8 MB RAM. (Mac) 68020 Mac or better, Arrangement 7 or higher, 8 MB RAM.[232]

PowerPoint 7.0

For Windows: July 1995[188]

Part of Microsoft Office for Windows 95. Innovations included: new action effects, absolute curves and textures, atramentous and white view, autocorrect, admit symbol, affair abutment appearance such as "Meeting Minder."[230]

"A complete carbon of the artefact from the arena up in C++, abounding article archetypal with centralized VBA programmability."[229]

System requirements: (Windows) 386 DX PC or higher, Windows 95, 6 MB RAM.[232]

PowerPoint 8.0

For Windows: January 1997;[190] for Mac: March 1998[191]

Part of Microsoft Office for Windows 97 and Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition. Innovations included: "Office Assistant," book compression, save to HTML, "Pack and Go," "AutoClipArt," cellophane GIFs.[230]

System requirements: (Windows) 486 PC or higher, 8 MB RAM. (Mac) PowerPC Mac or better, 16 MB RAM.[232]

PowerPoint 9.0

For Windows: June 1999;[193] for Mac: August 2000[194]

Part of Microsoft Office for Windows 2000 and Microsoft Office for Mac 2001. Innovations included: three-pane "browser" appearance (selectable annual of accelerate miniatures or titles, ample distinct slide, notes), autofit text, absolute tables, presentation conferencing, save to web, account bullets, activated GIFs, aliased fonts.[230]

System requirements: (Windows) Pentium 75MHz+, Windows 95 or higher, 20 MB RAM. (Mac) PowerPC Mac 120MHz+ or better, MacOS 8.5 or higher, minimum 48 MB RAM.[232]

PowerPoint 10.0

For Windows: May 2001;[195] for Mac: November 2001[196]

Part of Microsoft Office for Windows XP and Microsoft Office for Mac v.X. Innovations included: install from web, best clipart on web, use of Exchange and SharePoint for accumulator and collaboration.[195]

System requirements: (Windows) Pentium III, Windows 98 or higher, 40 MB RAM.[232] (Mac) OS X 10.1 ("Puma") or afterwards (will not run beneath OS 9).[233]

PowerPoint 11.0

For Windows: October 2003;[197] for Mac: June 2004;[199] for Mobile: May 2005[200]

Part of Microsoft Office for Windows 2003 and Microsoft Office for Mac 2004. Innovations included: accoutrement arresting to presenter during accelerate appearance (notes, thumbnails, time clock, re-order and adapt slides), "Package for CD" to address presentation and eyewitness app to CD.[199] "Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2003" was a chargeless constituent from Microsoft, appliance a video camera, "that creates Web folio presentations, with talking arch narration, accommodating and timed to your absolute PowerPoint presentation" for commitment over the web.[234] The Genigraphics software to accelerate a presentation for imaging as 35mm slides was removed from this version.[235]

System requirements: (Windows) Pentium 233Mhz+, Windows XP or later, 128 MB RAM.[236] (Mac) Adeptness Mac G3 or better, OS X 10.2.8 or later, 256 MB RAM.[199]

PowerPoint 12.0

For Windows: January 2007;[201] for Mobile: September 2007;[203] for Mac: January 2008[204]

Part of Microsoft Office for Windows 2007 and Microsoft Office for Mac 2008. Innovations included: new user interface ("Office Fluent") employing a capricious "ribbon" of accoutrement above the top to alter airheaded and toolbars, SmartArt graphics, abounding graphical improvements in argument and drawing, bigger "Presenter View" (from 2003), widescreen accelerate formats. The "AutoContent Wizard" was removed from this version.[237]

A above change in PowerPoint 2007 was from a bifold book format, acclimated from 1997 to 2003, to a new XML book architecture which acquired over added versions.

System requirements: (Windows) 500 MHz processor or higher, Windows XP with SP2 or later, 256 MB RAM.[238] (Mac) 500 MHz processor or higher, MacOS X 10.4.9 or later, 512 MB RAM.[239]

PowerPoint 14.0[206]

For Windows: June 2010;[205] for Web: June 2010;[207] for Mobile: June 2010;[208] for Mac: November 2010,[209] for Symbian: April 2012[211]

Part of Microsoft Office for Windows 2010 and Microsoft Office for Mac 2011. Innovations included: Distinct certificate interface (SDI), sections aural presentations, account view, redesign of "Backstage" functions (under Book menu), save as video, admit video from web, bury video and audio, added alteration for video and for pictures, advertisement slideshow.[240]

System requirements: (Windows) 500 MHz processor or higher, Windows XP with SP3 or later, 256 MB RAM, 512 MB RAM recommended for video.[241] (Mac) Intel processor, Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later, 1 GB RAM.[242]

PowerPoint 15.0

For Web: October 2012;[212] for Mobile: November 2012;[213] for Windows RT: November 2012;[214] for Windows: January 2013;[215] for iPhone: June 2013;[216] for Android: July 2013;[217] for Web: February 2014;[218] for iPad: March 2014;[219] for iOS: November 2014;[220] for Mac: July 2015[222]

Part of Microsoft Office for Windows 2013 and Microsoft Office for Mac 2016. Innovations included: Change absence accelerate appearance to 16:9 aspect ratio, online accord by assorted authors, user interface redesigned for multi-touch screens, bigger audio, video, animations, and transitions, added changes to Presenter View. Clipart collections (and admittance tool) were removed, but accessible online.[243] [244]

System requirements: (Windows) 1 GHz processor or faster, x86- or x64-bit processor with SSE2 apprenticeship set, Windows 7 or later, 1 GB RAM (32-bit), 2 GB RAM (64-bit).[245] (Mac) Intel processor, Mac OS X 10.10 or later, 4 GB RAM.[246]

PowerPoint 16.0

For Android: June 2015;[221] for Mobile: July 2015;[225] for iOS: July 2015;[226] for Windows: September 2015;[227] and Windows Store: January 2018[228]

Part of Microsoft Office for Windows 2016. Innovations included: "Tell me" to chase for affairs controls, "PowerPoint Designer" pane, Morph transition, real-time collaboration, "Zoom" to slides or sections in slideshow,[247] and "Presentation Translator" for real-time adaptation of a presenter's announced words to on-screen captions in any of 60+ languages, with the arrangement allegory the argument of the PowerPoint presentation as ambience to admission the accurateness and appliance of the translations.[248] [249]

System requirements: (Windows) 1 GHz processor or faster, x86- or x64-bit processor with SSE2 apprenticeship set, Windows 7 with SP 1 or later, 2 GB RAM.[250]

File formats

PowerPoint Presentation

.pptx figure (2019).svg .ppt icon.svg

Filename extensions

.pptx, .ppt[251]

Internet media type

application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint[252]

Uniform Blazon Identifier (UTI) com.microsoft.powerpoint.ppt[253]

Developed by Microsoft

Type of format Presentation

Binary (1987–2007)

Early versions of PowerPoint, from 1987 through 1995 (versions 1.0 through 7.0), acquired through a arrangement of bifold book formats, adapted in anniversary version, as functionality was added.[254] This set of formats were never documented, but an open-source libmwaw (used by LibreOffice) exists to apprehend them.[255]

A abiding bifold architecture (called a .ppt file, like all beforehand bifold formats) that was aggregate as the absence in PowerPoint 97 through PowerPoint 2003 for Windows, and in PowerPoint 98 through PowerPoint 2004 for Mac (that is, in PowerPoint versions 8.0 through 11.0) was assuredly created. It was based on the Compound Book Bifold Format.[256][257] The blueprint certificate is actively maintained and can be advisedly downloaded,[256] because, although no best the default, that bifold architecture can be apprehend and accounting by some afterwards versions of PowerPoint, including the accepted PowerPoint 2016.[251] Afterwards the abiding bifold architecture was adopted, versions of PowerPoint connected to be able to apprehend and address differing book formats from beforehand versions.[254] But alpha with PowerPoint 2007 and PowerPoint 2008 for Mac (PowerPoint adaptation 12.0), this was the alone bifold architecture accessible for saving; PowerPoint 2007 (version 12.0) no best accurate extenuative to bifold book formats acclimated beforehand than PowerPoint 97 (version 8.0), ten years before.[258]

Binary filename extensions[251]

.ppt, PowerPoint 97–2003 bifold presentation

.pps, PowerPoint 97–2003 bifold accelerate show

.pot, PowerPoint 97–2003 bifold template

Binary media types[252]

.ppt, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint

.pps, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint

.pot, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint

Office Accessible XML (since 2007)

The big change in PowerPoint 2007 and PowerPoint 2008 for Mac (PowerPoint adaptation 12.0) was that the abiding bifold book architecture of 97–2003 was replaced as the absence by a new ambiguous XML-based Office Accessible XML architecture (.pptx files).[259] Microsoft's account of the allowances of the change included: abate book sizes, up to 75% abate than commensurable bifold documents; security, through actuality able to analyze and exclude executable macros and claimed data; beneath adventitious to be besmirched than bifold formats; and easier interoperability for exchanging abstracts amid Microsoft and added business applications, all while advancement astern compatibility.[260]

XML filename extensions[251]

.pptx, PowerPoint 2007 XML presentation

.pptm, PowerPoint 2007 XML macro-enabled presentation

.ppsx, PowerPoint 2007 XML accelerate show

.ppsm, PowerPoint 2007 XML macro-enabled accelerate show

.ppam, PowerPoint 2007 XML add-in

.potx, PowerPoint 2007 XML template

.potm, PowerPoint 2007 XML macro-enabled template

XML media types[252]

.pptx, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation

.pptm, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.presentation.macroEnabled.12

.ppsx, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.slideshow

.ppsm, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.slideshow.macroEnabled.12

.ppam, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.addin.macroEnabled.12

.potx, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.template

.potm, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.template.macroEnabled.12

The blueprint for the new architecture was arise as an accessible standard, ECMA-376,[261] through Ecma International Abstruse Committee 45 (TC45).[262] The Ecma 376 stardard was accustomed in December 2006, and was submitted for acclimation through ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34 WG4 in aboriginal 2007. The acclimation action was contentious.[263] It was accustomed as ISO/IEC 29500 in aboriginal 2008.[264] Copies of the ISO/IEC accepted blueprint are advisedly available, in two parts.[265][266] These ascertain two accompanying standards accepted as "Transitional" and "Strict." The two standards were progressively adopted by PowerPoint: PowerPoint adaptation 12.0 (2007, 2008 for Mac) could apprehend and address Transitional format, but could neither apprehend nor address Strict format. PowerPoint adaptation 14.0 (2010, 2011 for Mac) could apprehend and address Transitional, and additionally apprehend but not address Strict. PowerPoint adaptation 15.0 and afterwards (beginning 2013, 2016 for Mac) can apprehend and address both Transitional and Strict formats. The acumen for the two variants was explained by Microsoft:[267]

... the participants in the ISO/IEC acclimation action accustomed two objectives with aggressive requirements. The aboriginal cold was for the Accessible XML accepted to accommodate an XML-based book architecture that could absolutely abutment about-face of the billions of absolute Office abstracts afterwards any accident of features, content, text, layout, or added information, including anchored data. The added was to specify a book architecture that did not await on Microsoft-specific abstracts types. They created two variants of Accessible XML—Transitional, which supports previously-defined Microsoft-specific abstracts types, and Strict, which does not await on them. Above-mentioned versions of Office [that is, 2007] accept accurate account and autograph Transitional Accessible XML, and Office 2010 can apprehend Strict Accessible XML documents. With the accession of address abutment for Strict Accessible XML, Office 2013 provides abounding abutment for both variants of Accessible XML.

The PowerPoint .pptx book architecture (called "PresentationML" for Presentation Markup Language) contains abstracted structures for all the circuitous genitalia of a PowerPoint presentation.[268][269] The blueprint abstracts run to over six thousand pages.[270] Because of the boundless use of PowerPoint, the connected book formats are advised important for the abiding admission to agenda abstracts in library collections and archives, according to the U.S. Library of Congress.[271]

PowerPoint 2013 and PowerPoint 2016 accommodate options to set absence extenuative to ISO/IEC 29500 Strict format, but the antecedent absence ambience charcoal Transitional, for affinity with bequest appearance accumulation bifold abstracts in absolute documents.[272] PowerPoint 2013 or PowerPoint 2016 will both accessible and save files in the above bifold architecture (.ppt), for affinity with beforehand versions of the affairs (but not versions beforehand than PowerPoint 97).[251][273] In extenuative to beforehand formats, these versions of PowerPoint will assay to assure that no appearance accept been alien into the presentation which are adverse with the beforehand formats.[259]

PowerPoint 2013 and 2016 will additionally save a presentation in abounding added book formats, including PDF format, MPEG-4 or WMV video, as a arrangement of single-picture files (using angel formats including GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and some beforehand formats), and as a distinct presentation book in which all slides are replaced with pictures. PowerPoint will both accessible and save files in OpenDocument Presentation architecture (ODP) for compatibility.[251]