Office 2003 Research and Reference Pane

File this one under “oldie but goodie.”

Way back in early 2003 we started working with Microsoft to explore ways to use AWS within what was then called “Office 10”. Microsoft had been describing all of the ways in which Office 10 would be friendly to XML and to Web Services, so the collaboration seemed very natural.

The most visible result of that joint effort was really neat tool called the Amazon.com Research Services for Microsoft Office System. In plain English, this is an Amazon lookup tool which runs inside of Word and Excel 2003. You can make a selection in the text and then Alt-click to initiate an Amazon search. From there you can see the search results, get more details, and even insert them into the document, all without leaving the Office application. It demo’s really well, and it really shows how formerly standalone applications can benefit from the ability to reach out, inhale, and process external data.

The tool was built by Charles Maxson of Office Zealots.

There’s even an article telling you how to build one yourself.

Of course, if you need a copy of Office 2003, you can get it here.

Modified 2/11/2021 – In an effort to ensure a great experience, expired links in this post have been updated or removed from the original post.