MS 08 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment Write short notes on

Question. 5)Write short notes on

a)      Bernoulli Trials

b)      Standard Normal distribution

c)      Central Limit theorem

Ans :

a) Bernoulli trials

The Bernoulli trials process is one of the simplest, yet most important, of all random processes. It is an essential topic in any course in probability or mathematical statistics. The process consists of independent trials with two outcomes and with constant probabilities from trial to trial. Thus it is the mathematical abstraction of coin tossing. The process leads to several important probability distributions: the binomial, geometric, and negative binomial.

In the theory of probability and statistics, a Bernoulli trialis an experiment whose outcome is random and can be either of two possible outcomes, "success" and "failure".

In practice it refers to a single experiment which can have one of two possible outcomes. These events can be phrased into "yes or no" questions:

• Did the coin land heads?
• Was the newborn child a girl?

Therefore success and failure are labels for outcomes, and should not be construed literally. Examples of Bernoulli trials include

• Flipping a coin. In this context, obverse ("heads") conventionally denotes success and reverse ("tails") denotes failure. A fair coin has the probability of success 0.5 by definition.
• Rolling a die, where a six is "success" and everything else a "failure".
• In conducting a political opinion poll, choosing a voter at random to ascertain whether that voter will vote "yes" in an upcoming referendum.

Mathematical description

Mathematically, a Bernoulli trial can be described by asample space Ω consisting of two values, s for "success" and f for "failure". Therefore the sample space is . Then a random variable X can be defined on this sample space, that is, a function . In this case the random variable is very simple and given by

If p is the probability of observing a 1 and 1 − p the probability of observing a 0 (the probability distribution ofX), then X has a Bernoulli distribution and the expected value and the variance of X are given by

The standard deviation of X is  This distribution is a special case of the Binomial distribution.

A Bernoulli process consists of repeatedly performing independent but identical Bernoulli trials.

The process of determining an expectation value and deviation, based on a limited number of Bernoulli trials is colloquially known as "checking if a coin is fair".

b) Standard Normal Distribution

The standard normal distribution is a special case of the normal distribution. It is the distribution that occurs when a normal random variable has a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one.

Standard Score (aka, z Score)

The normal random variable of a standard normal distribution is called a standard score or a z-score. Every normal random variable X can be transformed into a z score via the following equation:

z = (X - μ) / σ

where X is a normal random variable, μ is the mean mean of X, and σ is the standard deviation of X.

Standard Normal Distribution Table

A standard normal distribution table shows a cumulative probability associated with a particular z-score. Table rows show the whole number and tenths place of the z-score. Table columns show the hundredths place. The cumulative probability (often from minus infinity to the z-score) appears in the cell of the table.

For example, a section of the standard normal table is reproduced below. To find the cumulative probability of a z-score equal to -1.31, cross-reference the row of the table containing -1.3 with the column containing 0.01. The table shows that the probability that a standard normal random variable will be less than -1.31 is 0.0951; that is, P(Z < -1.31) = 0.0951.

z	0.00	0.01	0.02	0.03	0.04	0.05	0.06	0.07	0.08	0.09
-3.0	0.0013	0.0013	0.0013	0.0012	0.0012	0.0011	0.0011	0.0011	0.0010	0.0010
...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...
-1.4	0.0808	0.0793	0.0778	0.0764	0.0749	0.0735	0.0722	0.0708	0.0694	0.0681
-1.3	0.0968	0.0951	0.0934	0.0918	0.0901	0.0885	0.0869	0.0853	0.0838	0.0823
-1.2	0.1151	0.1131	0.1112	0.1093	0.1075	0.1056	0.1038	0.1020	0.1003	0.0985
...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...
3.0	0.9987	0.9987	0.9987	0.9988	0.9988	0.9989	0.9989	0.9989	0.9990	0.9990

Of course, you may not be interested in the probability that a standard normal random variable falls between minus infinity and a given value. You may want to know the probability that it lies between a given value and plus infinity. Or you may want to know the probability that a standard normal random variable lies between two given values. These probabilities are easy to compute from a normal distribution table. Here's how.

• Find P(Z > a). The probability that a standard normal random variable (z) is greater than a given value (a) is easy to find. The table shows the P(Z < a). The P(Z > a) = 1 - P(Z < a).
  
  Suppose, for example, that we want to know the probability that a z-score will be greater than 3.00. From the table (see above), we find that P(Z < 3.00) = 0.9987. Therefore, P(Z > 3.00) = 1 - P(Z < 3.00) = 1 - 0.9987 = 0.0013. 
• Find P(a < Z < b). The probability that a standard normal random variables lies between two values is also easy to find. The P(a < Z < b) = P(Z < b) - P(Z < a).
  
  For example, suppose we want to know the probability that a z-score will be greater than -1.40 and less than -1.20. From the table (see above), we find that P(Z < -1.20) = 0.1151; and P(Z < -1.40) = 0.0808. Therefore, P(-1.40 < Z < -1.20) = P(Z < -1.20) - P(Z < -1.40) = 0.1151 - 0.0808 = 0.0343.

c)      Central Limit theorem

The central limit theorem explains why many distributions tend to be close to the normal distribution. The key ingredient is that the random variable being observed should be the sum or mean of many independent identically distributed random variables. One version of the theorem is

In this applet, we look at rolling dice again. Let X be the number of spots showing when one die is rolled. The mean value  for rolling one die is 3.5, and the variance is . If S_n is the number of spots showing when n dice are rolled, then if n is ``large'' the random variable

should be approximately standard normal, so S_n itself should be approximately normal with mean 3.5*n and variance 35n/12. The red curve is the graph of the density function with these parameters.  

MS 07 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment- It is said Information and communication are most of the time complementary and sometimes supplementary to each other

Question. 5)It is said,” Information and communication are most of the time complementary and sometimes supplementary to each other”. Elaborate!. What do you understand by competitiveness of ICT? Highlight the impact of ICT for the developing nations with respect to the economic activities.

Ans :

For the first time in the history of ICTs, consumers are utilizing technologies at home that are more advanced and accessible than those typically used in the workplace. This shift, in which people suddenly have significant knowledge of the use and benefits of ICT tools and services, is driving social change. This, in turn, is having a direct impact on how companies are organized and how they relate to their clients.

Paradigm shift

Social networks, smart phones, Big Data and the cloud are key components of this new digital era. Moreover, the capacity to process information is advancing at an unprecedented pace, he said. Technology is also blurring the line between professional and personal life.

“This is taking us to a new paradigm. Without knowledge of the possibilities that new technologies offer, executives cannot set out a viable strategy for their companies,” he said.

Consumerization is altering flows of information, as well as specific social norms. Zamora stressed that companies need to leverage the benefits that ICTs offer so they can move ahead of rivals and increase competitiveness.

He went on to describe how tools such as email, Google and its multiple applications and Facebook have now become a fundamental aspect of the future of many firms. “Have we seen the full potential of social networks? I believe we will also see the rise of corporate social networks.”

The post-PC era

New technologies and the vast possibilities offered by Web 2.0 facilitate bidirectional communication, in which customers have the chance to express their opinions directly to companies during every interaction. He noted that society has entered the post-PC era, when mobile platforms are gaining ground over traditional PCs.

“This means that we are giving greater decision power to customers and employees, and it implies an atomization of business processes and an increase in competitiveness,” he said. In this context, “digital natives” – people who were born after the advent of ICTs – are gaining greater importance. This new generation will soon transform into new customers and employees, and therefore have a greater impact on business activities.
What will be the consequences of the consumerization of ICTs? Zamora noted that the consumer will have greater capacity to make decisions in real time; employees will look for greater participation and control in business processes; citizens will seek greater interaction with politicians; and clients will use social networks to adopt brands.

The power of ICTs is unquestionable, he said. While the radio took 38 years to reach an audience of 50 million people, the Internet took just four years to reach this number. Facebook did it in just two years. Today more than 1 billion people use the network founded by Mark Zuckerberg. Against this background, a key challenge for executives is to identify ways to manage cultural changes and adapt their organizations accordingly, Zamora concluded

The economic benefit of telecommunications is enormous, both as a growing industry in its own right and in terms of its influence on economic development. Telecommunications is making the world a smaller place and creating new information highways of high speed electronic data exchange. The economic implication of ICT are far-reaching; mobile telephones, satellite television and automatic teller machines are just a few examples of the way in which ICT is changing how people communicate, become informed or do business.

The relation between ICT and economic development and benefit has been a topic of numerous studies. And all agree that there is a close relation. In a landmark research by Ifidon, (2002); Adoni, (2008); Ochai, (1996/87) and Eyitayo, (1980) on rural economic development implications of ICT in Nigeria in particular, the research found an interdependent relationship between economic activity and ICT infrastructure investment at state and country levels. With the advent of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) as introduced by the Fourth Republic and a democratic government in power, the problems of inefficiency in telecommunication are now to some extent solved.

The federal government issued a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) operating license. The telecommunication companies that got the operating license were: Zain (Econet) wireless and MTN communications, M-Tel, the NITEL counterpart was given an automatic license while in 2003 GLOBACOM was granted operating license. The findings of the various research works including this study support the conclusion that ICT investments affects economic activity and that economic activity affects ICT investments. And there is a serious reduction in Nigeria business costs resulting from telecommunications. Moreover, telecommunications brings about important technological change: openness, connectivity, decentralization and accessibility. It brings people together, links like minded groups, saves cost of transports, business transactions take place without crossing the border, promotes self employment such as phone booths and business centres to mention but few.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) network is the basic facility through which information needs of industry, commerce and agriculture can be satisfied. Industrial development requires the coordination of a series of operation, including the acquisition of supplies, recruitment of labour, control stocks, processing of materials, delivery of goods to buyers, as well as billing and record keeping. Information technology is vital to the effective development and control of many of these operations. Commerce is essentially on information processing activity, effective buying, selling and brokerage rely on the continual supply of up-to-date information regarding the availability of prices of goods and services. Farmers on the other hand, must not only grow food but they must sell effectively and buy seeds and fertilizer. They also need information on weather conditions, disease outbreaks and new agricultural techniques.

Social Benefit of ICT Policy

The social benefit of ICT is completely invaluable and cannot easily be listed. Notwithstanding, a good number of the social benefits can still be discussed. And these benefits include social interactions. Keeping in touch with friends and relations is one of the major social benefits of ICT. Igyor (1996) also declared the same view that ICT has changed the way transactions are conducted, the way in which information is circulated and the way in which we educate and inform ourselves.

ICT has also reduced inequalities of opportunity between rural areas and the Urban Centres with the introduction of Internet Services, which delivers educational programmes to remote locations. Educational institutions are becoming more dependent on telecommunications to access super computers and broadcast instructions. This has paved way for the introduction of distance learning, which can improve educational achievement in rural areas (Davidson, 1991). Significantly, ICT policy which has given birth to Open Air University in Nigeria has led to population declines in cities and demographics shifts and pressure on rural libraries.

ICT policies and implementation has also helped to reduce costs and improve efficiency in health care delivery. Patients’ records can also be stored and transmitted electronically so that doctors can call upon specialist as the case may be. Other telemedicine applications include connecting remote supper computers to lasers for precision, focusing, transmission of digitized X-ray photographs, etc (Davidson, 1991).

Conclusion

From the context of this study, a sound conclusion can be drawn with emphasis that ICT policies in its economic and social development role, are just catalyst meant to aid national development. The benefits of ICT policies to a national economy should be measured as an input to other economic activities. And more importantly should also be considered as complementary to other sectors. ICT development is linked with and complements the development of industry, trade, farming, education, housing, health and financial institutions. It is this complementary role of ICT that makes it appropriate to link ICT planning to a national economic and social planning.

MS 07 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment - What are the different phases of traditional system life cycle?

Question. 4)What are the different phases of traditional system life cycle? In which phase of system life cycle the following are performed? Defining the problem, identifying its causes, specifying the solution, and identifying the information requirements.

Ans :

The SDLC process was designed to ensure end-state solutions meet user requirements in support of business strategic goals and objectives. In addition, the SDLC also provides a detailed guide to help Program Managers with ALL aspects of IT system development, regardless of the system size and scope. The SDLC contains a comprehensive checklist of the rules and regulations governing IT systems, and is one way to ensure system developers comply with all applicable Government regulations, because the consequences of not doing so are high and wide ranging. This is especially true in the post 9/11 environment where larger amounts of information are considered sensitive in nature, and are shared among commercial, international, Federal, state, and local partners.

The seven-step process contains a procedural checklist and the systematic progression required to evolve an IT system from conception to disposition. The following descriptions briefly explain each of the seven phases of the SDLC:

1. Conceptual Planning. This phase is the first step of any system's life cycle. It is during this phase that a need to acquire or significantly enhance a system is identified, its feasibility and costs are assessed, and the risks and various project-planning approaches are defined. Roles and responsibilities for the Asset Manager, Sponsor's Representative, System Development Agent (SDA), System Support Agent (SSA), and other parties in SDLC policy are designated during this stage and updated throughout the system's life cycle.

2. Planning and Requirements Definition. This phase begins after the project has been defined and appropriate resources have been committed. The first portion of this phase involves collecting, defining and validating functional, support and training requirements. The second part is developing initial life cycle management plans, including project planning, project management, Configuration Management (CM), support, operations, and training management.

3. Design. During this phase, functional, support and training requirements are translated into preliminary and detailed designs. Decisions are made to address how the system will meet functional requirements. A preliminary (general) system design, emphasizing the functional features of the system, is produced as a high-level guide. Then a final (detailed) system design is produced that expands the design by specifying all the technical detail needed to develop the system.

4. Development and Testing. During this phase, systems are developed or acquired based on detailed design specifications. The system is validated through a sequence of unit, integration, performance, system, and acceptance testing. The objective is to ensure that the system functions as expected and that sponsor's requirements are satisfied. All system components, communications, applications, procedures, and associated documentation are eveloped/acquired, tested, and integrated. This phase requires strong user participation in order to verify thorough testing of all requirements and to meet all business needs.

5. Implementation. During this phase, the new or enhanced system is installed in the production environment, users are trained, data is converted (as needed), the system is turned over to the sponsor, and business processes are evaluated. This phase includes efforts required to implement, resolve system problems identified during the implementation process, and plan for sustainment.

6. Operations and Maintenance. The system becomes operational during this phase. The emphasis during this phase is to ensure that sponsor needs continue to be met and that the system continues to perform according to specifications. Routine hardware and software maintenance and upgrades are performed to ensure effective system operations. User training continues during this phase, as needed, to acquaint new users to the system or to introduce new features to current users. Additional user support is provided, as an ongoing activity, to help resolve reported problems.

7. Disposition. This phase represents the end of the system's life cycle. It provides for the systematic termination of a system to ensure that vital information is preserved for potential future access and/or reactivation. The system, when placed in the Disposition Phase, has been declared surplus and/or obsolete and has been scheduled for shutdown. The emphasis of this phase is to ensure that the system (e.g., equipment, parts, software, data, procedures, and documentation) is packaged and disposed of in accordance with appropriate regulations and requirements.

MS 07 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment What are integrated software applications? Talk about their advantages and business utility.

Question. 3)What are integrated software applications? Talk about their advantages and business utility. Write notes on the business software solutions provided by:

 a) SAP

b) PeopleSoft

c) Oracle

d) Microsoft

Ans :

Integrated software is a single program that contains "modules" for many popular business applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, database management,  graphics and communications. The user can easily switch from one type of application to another without exiting the program.

The advantages of integrated software are:

1.      Low cost

2.      Only one program to install and learn

3.      Consistent interface from one module to another

4.      The ability to share information between modules

5.      Usually only one reference manual

6.      Ideal for personal use or small business

The disadvantages are:

1.      Each module is limited to basic functions

2.      May not be compatible with other popular business software

3.      Not suited for large companies or professional use

Integrated software usually costs around $200 and offers basic word processing, spreadsheet, database management, graphics and communications features. To obtain the same assortment of features by purchasing individual applications, you would have to buy five programs at a total cost of over $1000.00!

Integrated software might not be such a bargain for many users because a lot of features are left out in order to keep the cost down. Many users eventually outgrow this type of program and end up buying the full-featured equivalent software.

a)      SAP

SAP Exchange Infrastructure (SAP XI) is SAP's enterprise application integration (EAI) software, a component of the NetWeaver product group used to facilitate the exchange of information among a company's internal software and systems and those of external parties. Like other NetWeaver components, SAP XI is compatible with software products of other companies.
SAP calls XI an integration broker because it mediates between entities with varying requirements in terms of connectivity, format, and protocols. According to SAP, XI reduces integration costs by providing a common repository for interfaces. The central component of SAP XI is the SAP Integration Server, which facilitates interaction between diverse operating systems and applications across internal and external networked computer systems.

SAP has certified the AWS platform for SAP Business Suite production deployments. Enterprise customers may now run their mission critical applications, including SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), SAP Customer Relationship Management (CRM), SAP Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), SAP Supply Chain Management (SCM) and SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) and the complete SAP NetWeaver ABAP and Java technology stacks on the AWS cloud. This recent certification follows other prior certifications of SAP Business Objects, SAP Rapid Deployment Solutions (RDS), SAP All-in-One ERP, SAP Afaria, and SAP HANA One, to offer customers of any size more options to run their SAP production workloads on the flexible, secure, low cost, and elastic AWS cloud infrastructure.

b)     PeopleSoft

         PeopleSoft products continue to be very creative and innovative. They also tend to make simpler and more intuitive products. SAP is harder to learn and use while Oracle products are widely considered to be more buggy. PeopleSoft have really revolutionized ERP software with the introduction of their PIA (PeopleSoft Internet Architecture). This enabled their applications to be rolled out with no client footprint at all. The PeopleSoft community is actually a pretty small community where it feels like we all kinda know each other. Bottom line, it's a fun community.

It provides businesses with an unmatched competitive advantage. The Real-Time Enterprise sets the standard for business performance in the 21st century, and PeopleSoft is at the forefront of enabling businesses to make this model a reality.

PeopleSoft was the world's second largest provider of enterprise application software. PeopleSoft's business solutions are built with the flexibility to fit your business today and the adaptability to change with your business over time.

A broad portfolio of applications with industry-specific functionality gives you unprecedented flexibility to optimize business operations and compete more effectively.

PeopleSoft is a worldwide leader in providing complete solutions for more than 24 industries—from industrial manufacturing and consumer goods to financial services, healthcare, and public sector organizations.

More than 12,200 organizations worldwide—from mid-sized manufacturing companies to the largest service enterprises in both the private and public sectors—are using PeopleSoft solutions to build stronger and more profitable businesses.
PeopleSoft applications are built on innovative and open technology, enabling easy integration with third-party applications and legacy systems. And PeopleSoft's pioneering Total Ownership Experience initiative ensures the best overall user experience at the lowest cost of ownership.

c)      Oracle

Based in Redwood, California, Oracle Corporation is the largest software company whose primary business is database products. Historically, Oracle has targeted high-end workstations andminicomputers as the server platforms to run its database systems. Its relational database was the first to support the SQL language, which has since become the industry standard.

Along with Sun Microsystems, Oracle has been one of the leading champions of network computers.

Oracle has many advantages and features that makes it popular and thereby makes it as the world’s largest enterprise software company. Oracle comes with new versions with new features implemented in new version while the features of earlier versions still being maintained. One important aspect is Oracle databases tend to be backwards compatible. Also when Oracle releases a new version, their documentation contains a list of all the features new to that version thus makes it user friendly for one to learn the new features. 

Oracle takes a lead role because of some of the following reasons:

Oracle is used for almost all large application and one of the main applications in which oracle takes its major presence is banking. In fact ten of the world’s top 10 banks run Oracle applications this is because oracle offers a powerful combination of technology and comprehensive, pre-integrated business applications, including key functionality built specifically for banks.

Some similar databases like Sybase, SQL-Server one have facilities for using loops, conditions, arrays and so on in a program and also facilities like cursors and temp tables but all this would be used in a convoluted fashion which are very slow and resource consuming operations. The operations are not implemented as in Oracle which is efficient enough.

Also with the features available in oracle with the earlier versions in market the oracle company keeps upgrading and releasing new products into market, new versions releases which serves better than the earlier versions and thus the performance is improved much in later versions and thereby retaining the market growth and thus proves greater satisfaction to the customers using this technology. Thus the advantage of a higher version is that one would have more features and better capabilities.

For instance oracle 8i version has many new features which helped users namely like with oracle 8i one could run Java in the database, had features like new features on partitioning to support large database and so on. With the next version 9i oracle had these facilities maintained and had more new facilities added to it namely like new features added to help the DBA to handle change database configuration and so on.

Oracle is a database that responds very well with excellent performance in demanding environments. Oracle is a major database which along with its added features passes the ACID test, which is important in insuring the integrity of data. This is very important because data is the heart of any system in organization. A reliable and adequate database system has the following properties:

Atomicity:
That is Results of a transaction’s execution are either all committed or all rolled back. 

Consistency:
The database is transformed from one valid state to another valid state. Illegal transactions aren’t allowed and, if an integrity constraint can’t be satisfied then the transaction is rolled back. 

Isolation:
The results of a transaction are invisible to other transactions until the transaction is complete thus increasing the security on data. 

Durability:
Once committed (completed), the results of a transaction are permanent and survive future system and media failures and thus ensuring maintenance and protection of data.

All the above are well maintained by Oracle database.

The latest version oracle 10g has many features and one new feature is the introduction of recycle bin. This option when enabled could be used by users just like Windows recycle bin or Mac Trash. Dropped tables go "into" the recycle bin, and can be restored from the recycle bin.

One of the main advantage of oracle over other databases is in its recent version oracle has the concept of Flashback technology. That is we all know that data is the heart of any application or organization and thus this requires careful maintenance. But sometimes application outage can occur and mostly DBA claim the reasons for this as hardware failure and apart from this the reason would be human errors like accidental deletion of valuable data, deleting the wrong data, or dropping the wrong table. So it is very essential to take care of such situation and this is done in oracle’s latest technology called flash introduced in its latest version. By Flash technology it helps in recovery by working just on the changed data. Thus Flashback provides an

§  Efficient recovery from human errors 

§  Faster database recovery 

§  Helps in simplifying the management and administration processes

and so on.  

Thus oracle has many advantages and features that give security, protection, maintenance, reliability and performance on operation of data and with this in addition its main popularity and stability is because it keeps on adding new features which makes it user friendly for users and popularly used database among organizations.

d)     Microsoft

Microsoft dubs OneNote a note-taking and management program, a rather bland description considering all the cool things the software can do.

Those of you who are still scratching your heads wondering what exactly OneNote is, you're not alone; I'm assuming that Microsoft hasn't done enough to market the software or has focused its marketing on the tablet pc niche market, which is a shame.

Although tablet pc users will probably get more use out of OneNote's extra features, like the ability to incorporate hand-written notes, it would be a mistake to assume that OneNote holds no benefits for desktop or laptop users.

In fact, I will be so bold as to venture that it is best suited for use on laptop computers: One can harness the portability factor (I'm guessing most people will want to take notes while they're in the "field," whether that's on the job, at the library, or hanging out at a coffee shop) and bypass the temptation to rely on the handwriting and opt for the keyboard instead.

After all, the purpose of the program is to help one organize notes one intends to incorporate into a lengthier document -- we have PDA's to handle our to-do lists and other notes to ourselves that never need to make it into print.

That said, the ability to incorporate and prioritize to-do lists is beneficial when one is working on a lengthy research project.

For those who are relatively comfortable in Word but who are wary of new programs, you can relax: OneNote's appearance and controls resemble a 

trimmed-down version of Word.

This is deliberate, as the program is designed to complement Office and integrate seamlessly with its components -- think of it as a go-between for Word and Outlook.

There are, of course, features not represented in Outlook or Word, but these are easily learned.

The one thing that may trip new users up is the handling of files. OneNote is clearly intended to be used by one person, and one person only, as the program creates a single Notebook in which all notes are saved (I've tried to create additional notebooks but haven't been able to find a way yet).

Within the notebook, there are folders, sections, pages, and sub-pages. Navigating through the notebook is easy enough, but one can become confused until comfortable with the controls.

While it is difficult enough to explain what OneNote is, it is even more difficult trying to explain fully the features of the program and how they work.

Users can move pages of notes or portions of notes around as one sees fit, and this is one of its greatest strengths; one can use OneNote to plan a project, conduct research for the project (yes, there are built in features to help you with online research, as well as integration with an encyclopedia and thesaurus), and then arrange the research notes to come up with a structure for written materials related to the project.

No longer is one constricted by the structure imposed by Word, yet it is easy enough to send information to Word when one is ready to produce a complete, polished document.

Other nifty features include flagged notes that are readily accessible via a task pane (great for to-do items), prioritized lists, the ability to share notes with others via net meetings, the ability to incorporate handwriting and audio clips, and an outstanding screen-clip feature.