Office 2010 beta goes public next month

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David Flynn20 October 2009, 5:18 AM

With Windows 7 crossed off the to-do list Microsoft is now gearing up for next year’s launch of Office 2010, with the first public beta available in November.


Microsoft will shepherd its next-gen Office suite into the public arena next month, ahead of its launch in the first half of next year.

Office 2010 has already been through an invitation-only ‘technical preview’ stage. More recently Microsoft began previewing the suite’s Office Web Apps components – slimmed-down versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, which run in a browser and point back to Microsoft-hosted servers for cloud-based storage.

However it’s not known if next months’ public preview edition will contain the Office Web Apps or remain restricted to the conventional ‘offline’ components.

Joining Office 2010 on the test track will be Project 2010, Visio 2010, SharePoint Server 2010 plus the network multi-player game Minesweeper Extreme 2010 (we’re kidding about one of these – see if you can guess which it is).

The earlier technical preview was based on the Office Professional Plus 2010 edition which included the 2010 versions of Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access, OneNote, Publisher, InfoPath, Viso and SharePoint Workspace 2010, which is the new name for the Groove document collaboration program which Microsoft acquired in March 2005.

(That deal also delivered Groove’s founder and Lotus Notes creator Ray Ozzie, who a year later replaced Bill Gates as Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect).

Like the final Office 2010 release the public beta is expected to be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions and run on Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.


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Raindog (Senior Forumologist):

So let me get this right, we do know there is a new office release mooted, we don't know what will be different or improved, we do know who has been tasked with it, we don't know whether it encompassed web apps or not, but we are pretty sure with a guess at the name and which of the suggested release dates is true.

Knowledge sure is power. Raindog is off to bait some breath, well maybe after several coffees.

20 October 2009, 8:13 AM (5 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

djsflynn (APC staff):

Actually we don't even know if Office 2010 exists, but we DO have a photo accidentally captured by an amateur photographer, which looks like a series of Office 2010 boxes moving along the surface of Loch Ness. :P

20 October 2009, 8:29 AM (5 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (Senior Forumologist):

Great... Another round of compatibility issues, interface differences and general pain in the arse problems Microsoft cause every few years when they release a new version of Office.

I wonder if I can beta test this one in WINE.

20 October 2009, 9:21 AM (5 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tony23 (User):

Yeah the last office was a big step backward. My productivity went south with a rocket. Wile MS Office is superior, it's not superior enough to make me fork out for it. It's open office for me.

As for this article, it's a good stub on which to have another bitch-fest about lack of innovation and getting screwed over by the MS monopoly, but it doesn't really have much in the way of information.

As for Windows 7 being crossed off the to-do list, there's probably a guy who told Bill back in the day that "Now Vista's off the to do list, perhaps we can talk about resurrecting "Bob"...the markets really ready for it, and its the only thing we have that won't choke a netbook!".

20 October 2009, 9:06 PM (5 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

mtarm1 (User):

well i am a technical preveiwer and i have to say ther are massive improvements over 2007... and the web apps will happen they just might not be open to the public or the beta testing...

all in all it is very well put together and productivity (for me personally) is much better.

the menus are much easier to nav andi do beleive you can create custom ribbons now too.

21 October 2009, 3:06 AM (5 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

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