November 20th, 2009

Office Starter 2010 private beta, with 'Office to GO,' goes to testers

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 8:21 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Office 2010/Office 14, Office Live, Office Live Workspace, PDC 2009, SharePoint Server, Utility/cloud computing, Virtualization

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Beta, Microsoft Office, Office Suites, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft released a bunch of public betas of various Office 2010 products this week. But it also released another one under non-disclosure to a select group of testers: Office Starter 2010.

Microsoft made the code for Office Starter 2010 available to select testers via its Connect Web site late this week. Office Starter 2010, as Microsoft officials have disclosed previously, Office Starter 2010 is the replacement for Microsoft Works. It will be free and ad-supported, includes Word and Excel only and allows only basic document viewing and editing.

There’s one new feature in Office Starter 2010 that I had not heard about previously. It’s called “Office to GO,” according to testers with whom I spoke, who asked not to be named. Office to GO is installed using the Click-to-Run setup that is part of Office 2010. (Click to Run is one of the new ways Microsoft is planning to distribute the Office 2010 bits. It streams the bits onto a user’s PC using virtualization technology so that users can be up and running with Office more quickly than if they had to wait for the entire product to download.)

The Office to GO application allows users to download Word Starter, Excel Starter and any related documents to a USB drive that users can then run onany  Windows Vista Service Pack 1 or Windows 7 PC, according to the aforementioned tester.

Office Starter 2010 also includes a permanent sidebar that includes links to a Gettting Started guide, help and support, templates and clip art, and an “upgrade to a paid version now” (with PowerPoint and/or Outlook) setting. Here’s what that sidebar looks like (click on the image to enlarge):

I’ve asked Microsoft for more details about Office to GO and will add anything I get back to this post.

Update (November 23): Here’s the statement I received from a Microsoft spokesperson regarding my questions on Office to GO:

“Office Starter To-Go is a product where Office Starter users can create a USB device that temporarily enables them to use Word Starter and Excel Starter on another PC on as long as the USB device is plugged in.  The technology used by Office Starter To-Go, is similar to how “Click-to-Run” works in that the USB device is being used as the server for a version of Starter on the device.  When the device is removed from a PC, Office Starter To-Go is also removed. Starter To-Go is only part of Office Starter edition that is pre-installed on new PC’s.  It cannot be installed on a separate PC, but it gives our customers the ability to take their Office with them and use it on any PC to open and work with their Word and Excel documents.”

Meanwhile, in other Office 2010 news from this week, I have a bit of additional information about the Office Web Apps public beta that Microsoft released to testers this week.

As Microsoft officials have said before, Office Web Apps — the Webified versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote — will be available in three versions. One will be free and ad-supported and aimed at consumers. The consumer version, which is tied to Microsoft’s SkyDrive, is what Microsoft released as a Community Technology Preview (CTP) test build to selected testers this past summer. Microsoft officials told me this week that the final version of the free Office Web Apps product will be released in conjunction with Windows Live Wave 4 (which sounds as if it is a “spring 2010″ kind of thing).

There also are going to be two business-focused versions of Office Web Apps that are going to be available as paid subscription offerings: One that will be available to enterprise customers to run on-premises and one that will be hosted by Microsoft. The beta that went out this week is the on-premises business version of the Office Web Apps release. To be clear: It’s not the updated beta version of the consumer test build that Microsoft released earlier this fall. (It sounds like the consumer version of Office Web Apps may not get a new public build refresh before it is released in final form this spring.)

The business versions require SharePoint Server on the back end. Microsoft’s Office Web Apps team did a blog post earlier this week explaining more about the Office Web Apps-SharePoint tie-in. That post includes this diagram:

I’m interested in hearing more from anyone who’s test-driving the new Office Web Apps beta and/or Office Starter 2010. How are the products shaping up? What’s working or not for you?

November 16th, 2009

Office 2010 Beta downloadable by MSDN, Technet subscribers today

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 10:50 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, Office Live, PDC 2009, SharePoint Server

Tags: Microsoft Developer Network, Microsoft Corp., Beta, Microsoft TechNet, Microsoft Office, Office Suites, Software, Mary Jo Foley

As widely expected, Microsoft has begun rolling out the public beta of its Office 2010 suite this week.

On November 16, Microsoft made the beta code available to subscribers to its MSDN and TechNet services. Microsoft is expected to open up the beta, so that anyone who’d like to try it can download it — possibly this week (though Microsoft officials refused to confirm that when I asked them today).

Microsoft also has made the 64-bit Beta version of Office Web Apps — its Web-centric versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote — available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers today. (No word yet if/when the 32-bit version of Office Web Apps will appear on MSDN/TechNet). The public also is expected to get the refreshed Office Web Apps bits, possibly this week. Again, Microsoft officials won’t confirm the public availability date, beyond saying it will be “in November.”

Microsoft has set up a download page from which the public will be able to download the Beta bits. On that page, Microsoft lists as the versions it will make available the Office Home and Business 2010; Office Professional 2010 and Office Professional Plus 2010 versions of the product.

Among the noticeable changes between the beta and the Community Technology Preview (CTP) build of Office 2010 that Microsoft released this summer are the new installation procedures for the beta build, a new Upload Center, modifications to the Backstage view; and new icons for all the Office products that are part of the suite, according to a post on the Redmond Pie blog.

Last week, a build of Office 2010 build that was marked “Beta 2″ leaked to the Web. That build was number 14.0.4514.1009. Microsoft officials told me that the leaked build was not the same one as would be released later this month.

Many Microsoft watchers are expecting the company to make the public beta bits available on November 18, as that is the day that one of Microsoft’s Office big-wigs, Senior Vice President Kurt DelBene, is keynoting the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles. Given that Microsoft often releases bits to MSDN and TechNet subscribers anywhere from a couple of days to a week-plus before it makes them available to the public, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the public Office 2010 and Office Web Apps Beta 2s to go live this week.

Microsoft is expected to launch the final version of Office 2010 client, Office Web Apps and SharePoint Server 2010 in May/June 2010.

I’d like to hear what folks think of the Beta once they’ve had a chance to download and try out the client and Office Web Apps versions both. What is new and different?

November 13th, 2009

Office 2010 Beta 2 bits leak to the Web

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:44 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, Office Live, Office Live Workspace, PDC 2009, SharePoint Server

Tags: Web, Web Application, Microsoft Corp., Beta, Microsoft Office, Office Suites, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft has been having a tough time keeping its Office 2010 bits from leaking.

On November 13, the Professional Plus version of the next version of Microsoft’s productivity suite leaked again. The version that is making its way over the torrents is marked as Beta 2, according to the Neowin.net site, and is build number 14.0.4514.1009.

Microsoft officials have said they plan to release public beta builds of Office 2010 client, Office Web Apps and SharePoint Server 2010 in November. Many company watchers are expecting Microsoft to make those bits available next week, in conjunction with the company’s Professional Developers Conference. (Microsoft also could share details about its Office Mobile 2010 at the PDC next week, as well, I hear.)

(I’ve asked Microsoft whether the leaked build is the actual Beta 2 build the company is planning to distribute this month. No word back so far.) A spokesperson said thes newly leaked bits are not the Beta 2 ones, and added “Microsoft has not released the official beta code and recommends that people do not download code from unauthorized sources.”)

According to Neowin, the differences between the leaked Beta 2 build and the current Community Technology Preview (CTP) build of Office 2010 that Microsoft made available to select testers this summer aren’t huge. The interface has been “refined” and the program icons updated, Neowin notes.

Testers with whom I’ve spoken are most interested in seeing the new features and changes that Microsoft plans to make available as part of the Office Web Apps with Beta 2. (The Office Web Apps Beta 2 bits are not part of what leaked this week.) The first test build of Office Web Apps was rough and didn’t include OneNote Web App at all. Microsoft officials have said they’ll have more to say about how and when Office Web Apps — the Webified versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote — will be able to be accessed via mobile phones around the time the company releases the public beta.

In other Office 2010 news from earlier this week, Microsoft has begun signing up testers for the free Office Starter 2010 release.

Update: Blogger Long Zheng has information on some of the changes Microsoft is making to the Office.com online portal, which is now in beta, that Microsoft also is likely to be showing off at the PDC next week.

November 12th, 2009

Microsoft lines up testers for free Office Starter 2010 product

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 5:31 am

Categories: Apple, Corporate strategy, Google, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, Office Live, Office Live Workspace, Open source, SharePoint Server

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Office Starter 2010, Potential Tester, Microsoft Office, Office Suites, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft is soliciting existing Office Live Workspace users to be part of a pool of testers for its forthcoming, free (but ad-supported) Office Starter 2010 product.

The ithinkdiff.com enthusiast site has posted a copy of the Office Starter 2010 invitation that Microsoft has sent out. Potential testers are asked to commplete a survey, which includes questions about the personal productivity applications and services they currently use. On the list are Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Apple’s iWork, Microsoft Works, Open Office and Microsoft Office.

In spite of its name, Office Starter 2010 really has little resemblance to Windows 7 Starter Edition. Office Starter 2010 is a new version of Microsoft’s Office suite that is expected to launch in May/June 2010. Office Starter will bundle together stripped-down versions of Word and Excel only, Microsoft officials said in October. (Stripped-down here means basic document viewing and editing only.) Starter will be ad-supported and free. Microsoft is positioning Office Starter as a replacement for the Microsoft Works trial that is often preloaded on new PCs.

Microsoft officials also said recently that Microsoft is planning to phase out Office Live Workspace, the company’s existing add-on to Office that allows users to share and collaborate on documents over the Web. Office Web Apps, another of Microsoft’s new Office SKUs being introduced in 2010, is the natural successor to Office Live Workspace.

Microsoft officials have said the company is planning to field a public beta of Office 2010 in November. Many are expecting that beta to be opened up next week, in conjunction with Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC). Microsoft is  on tap to make available public betas of Office 2010, Office Web Apps, SharePoint Server 2010. Microsoft also may show off the Office Mobile 2010 product, a version of Office for mobile phones, next week as well.

November 5th, 2009

Microsoft to add SharePoint access to Live@edu

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 8:33 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, Exchange Server, Google, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, Office Live, SharePoint Server, Utility/cloud computing, Web conferencing

Tags: Microsoft SharePoint, Web Application, Microsoft Corp., Live@edu, Content Management, Collaboration, Groupware, Enterprise Software, Microsoft Office, Software

Paving the way for its Office Web Apps rollout, Microsoft is adding SharePoint Online to the services it offers students and academics as part of its Live@edu offering.

Microsoft made the announcement at the Educause conference in Denver, according to a posting on the Live@edu blog. The SharePoint Online service should be available to Live@edu subscribers for no additional cost some time next year.

Microsoft officials played up both the collaboration and conferencing capabilities and the Office Web Apps access as being behind the planned addition. Students and educators are a big audience for Google Docs and expected to be one of Microsoft’s biggest group of initial adopters of Office Web Apps.

From the November 3 Live@edu blog post:

“In conjunction with the Live@edu program, we will be bringing a solution to market for students, based on SharePoint Online, for free. So what does that mean? Well, lets look at some possibilities:

“* Work with a class group on a research assignment – documents, background research, project plans can all be stored online and worked on from anywhere.
“* Office Web Apps support means that a user can access Office files on almost any machine to simply view the content, or to make essential modifications.
“* Microsoft Office integration ensures they get a rich, integrated experience with SharePoint Online and the Office Web Apps, if required… and of course offline access to files.”

Microsoft officials have said they plan to offer three different modes of distribution for Office Web Apps — Microsoft’s Webified versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote — due out by mid-2010. There will be a free, consumer-focused version that will be accessible via Microsoft’s Windows Live SkyDrive service. There also will be two paid versions for business customers: A Microsoft-hosted version and an on-premises, user-hosted version. The two hosted versions will require SharePoint/SharePoint Online as part of the back-end infrastructure.

Microsoft already offers hosted Exchange email, among other Microsoft services, to Live@edu subscribers. The Exchange Online version for students/academics is known as “Outlook Live.” There’s no word yet on how Microsoft will rebrand the SharePoint Online offering that will be available via Live@edu.

(Hat tip to Network World for the heads-up on the SharePoint and Live@edu news.)

November 2nd, 2009

Microsoft chops prices of its hosted enterprise cloud offerings

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 3:28 pm

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, Exchange Server, Office, Office Live, Resellers, SharePoint Server, Speech, Systems integrators, Telecommunications, Utility/cloud computing, VOIP, Web conferencing

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Office, Cloud Computing, Tools & Techniques, Office Suites, Software, Management, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft is cutting prices of its Microsoft-hosted Exchange, as well as its suite of business services (known as the Business Productivity Online Suite, or BPOS), and is refunding the difference to existing hosting customers.

Microsoft is cutting its Exchange Online pricing from $10 per user per month to $5 per user per month. It also is cutting the price of the BPOS bundle — which includes SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, Communications Online and Live Meeting — from $15 per user per month, to $10 per user per month.

Microsoft is leaving the pricing for its Deskless Worker versions of its hosted Online offerings the same. Exchange Online Deskless Worker and SharePoint Online Deskless Worker remain $2 per user per month. The bundle of the two Deskless Worker offerings stays at $3 per user per month.

Not surprisingly, Microsoft officials didn’t attribute the price cut to competition from Google Apps or other hosted offerings. Instead, they attributed the cuts to “rapid customer adoption, global scale and improved efficiencies from new software such as Exchange Server 2010″ (according to the press release).

Microsoft is making BPOs available in 15 new countries before the end of the year. Later this week, BPOS will be commercially available in Singapore; trials are slated to begin in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania and Taiwan. Commercial availability in India is also expected later this year, officials said.

Microsoft officials are now claiming to have more than 1 million paying users for Microsoft’s Online family of services (not counting Live Meeting, for which there are many more paying customers, according to company officials). Newly signed BPOS customers include Hofstra University, Lions Gate Entertainment, McDonald’s Corporation, Rexel Group, Swedish Red Cross and Tyco Flow Control.

Microsoft will be adding a paid, Microsoft-hosted version of Office Web Apps — the Webified versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote– to its Online stable next year. Company officials have said that paid offering will also be available to Microsoft volume-license customers so that they can host Office Web Apps themselves, on-premises, instead of or in addition to allowing Microsoft to host it for them. There will be additional (and, as yet, still unannounce) features that will be part of the paid Office Web Apps offering that aren’t part of the free, ad-funded version.

Microsoft is currently rolling out refreshes to its Online family of services every 90 days or so, according to Ron Markezich, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Online. Some of the new features the company is rolling out to its on-premises software — such as Exchange 2010 — are debuting in the hosted, Online offerings before they are available to customers as server-based products. (The final Exchange 2010 software bits are slated to go to customers starting next week.)

I’m sure Microsoft customers will be upbeat about the price cuts for Microsoft’s hosted offerings. But I’d think Redmond’s partners who are trying to make money from selling Microsoft’s hosted services (if not their own hosted version of Microsoft’s wares) might be less enthusiastic…

October 24th, 2009

Microsoft expanding Office Web Apps test program

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 10:16 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, Office Live, SharePoint Server, Utility/cloud computing

Tags: Web Application, Microsoft Corp., Office Web Apps, Microsoft Office, Cloud Computing, Office Suites, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft is allowing more testers to join the Office Web Apps Technical Preview program just a few weeks before the company is set to release a public beta of Office 2010.

Office Web Apps are the Web-ified versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote that Microsoft plans to deliver alongside the client-based version of Office 2010 by mid-2010.

According to a post from earlier this week on the Office Web Apps team blog:

“(W)e are opening up the Technical Preview and inviting more people to try out the Office Web Apps.

“For a limited time, you can sign-up for a Technical Preview account here (if you are already a part of the technical preview, this link will generate an error): http://skydrive.live.com/acceptpreview.aspx/.documents?aobrp=browse.

“The features in this expanded Technical Preview are the same as the initial preview; however, during the preview (and beyond) you can expect to see new functionality added over time. Thanks for helping us make Office Web Apps even better!

Nick Simons
Program Manager, Office Web Apps”

Microsoft made available to selected testers a test build of Office Web Apps in mid-September. The test build was quite rough and didn’t include all of the functionality that will be in the final release (or even the public beta, which is slated for November). The test build is of the free, consumer-focused version of Office Web Apps. Microsoft also is readying two paid variants of the suite: One that will be run by companies on premises and one that will be hosted by Microsoft.

Microsoft officials have said they plan to add functionality to Office Web Apps so that it will work on certain mobile phones — starting with the public beta. But they won’t say how this is happening or for which devices/browsers. Currently, the Office Web Apps test build works (and is being supported by Microsoft) on Windows, Mac OS and Linux machines running Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher; Firefox 3.5 or higher or Safari 4 for the Mac.

In related news, Microsoft officials told Office 2010 testers that the company is planning to close down the Technical Preview of the client-based suite in a few weeks to pave the way for the public beta (which I wouldn’t be surprised to arrive right around the time of the Professional Developers Conference in mid-November).

From a note Microsoft sent to the current Office 2010 Technical Preview testers — which one tester shared with me –  this past week:

“The Beta release of Office 2010 marks the end of the Technical Preview program you currently belong to. We will release the Beta on public download sites, where you can download and install a newer build of Office 2010 client software. At that time, you will also get your first look at the exciting new features we have added to server products such as SharePoint.”

October 2nd, 2009

Comparing oranges to oranges: Microsoft's hosted collaboration suites vs. IBM's LotusLive iNotes

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 11:17 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, Exchange Server, Office, Office Live, SharePoint Server, Utility/cloud computing, Web conferencing

Tags: Google Inc., Collaboration Suite, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Corp., IBM Corp., Exchange Online Deskless Worker, E-mail, Collaboration, Content Management, Groupware

IBM’s announcement of a new hosted entry-level communications offering has led to lots of punditry around how it compares to Google Apps. But I’m not sure that’s IBM’s main competition here.

Google Apps Premier, which costs $50 per user per year, includes Web-based office applications (Google Docs), plus Gmail for businesses, Google Calendar, Google Sites and Postini hosted/archived email. IBM’s LotusLive iNotes includes hosted email, calendar and contact management service — but no hosted productivity apps — for $36 per user per year.

I’ve seen almost no one analyzing IBM’s new hosted offering in comparison to what Microsoft is offering business users.

Microsoft already has a business-focused hosted e-mail/collaboration product on the market known as the Deskless Worker Suite, which includes Exchange Online and SharePoint Online. Customers can get that suite for $36 per user per year. Exchange Online Deskless Worker includes e-mail, calendaring, global contact lists, anti-virus and anti-spam filters, and provides access to company e-mail via Outlook Web Access Light. SharePoint Online Deskless Worker gives you read-only access to SharePoint portal and team sites. If users want only Exchange Online Deskless or SharePoint Online Deskless, it’s $24 per user per service per year.

Microsoft offers a more comprehensive hosted communications/collaboration subscription service — one that includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Communications Online (corporate instant messaging and presence) and Live Meeting (Web conferencing and videoconferencing) — for $180 per user per year. That is the company’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).

I asked Microsoft for its take on IBM’s LotusLive iNotes announcement. I received back a statement from Clint Patterson, Director, Microsoft Unified Communications Group:

“Our competitors are just awakening to the fact that - when it comes to communications - one size doesn’t fit all.  This flexibility - to equip occasional users with a low-priced, integrated email service as part of Exchange Online - has really resonated with our customers, and we’ve seen companies like GlaxoSmithKline choose Exchange Online Deskless, which costs $2 per user per month and works with the applications they already use, for more than 10% of their employees. Businesses don’t care for consumer offerings dressed up as enterprise ready solutions, and millions of companies - and more every day - are choosing Exchange for the scalability and reliability it delivers, whether on-premises or online.”

When Microsoft unveiled its Deskless Worker offerings back in the summer of 2008 that a number of pundits wondered aloud who the “deskless workers” were whom Microsoft was targeting with these products. As I recall, Microsoft’s unveiling and explanation of the Deskless Worker features and pricing was confusing to us in the press and many in Microsoft’s partner network alike. Now it seems as though industry watchers have forgotten that Microsoft has been selling these products for more than a year.

September 17th, 2009

Microsoft Office Web Apps go to testers: Ten things to know

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 9:57 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Google, Office, Office 2007, Office 2010/Office 14, Office Live, Office for Mac, SharePoint Server, Windows Live, Windows Mobile

Tags: Web Application, Official, Microsoft Corp., Community Technology Preview, Tester, SkyDrive, Cloud Computing, Microsoft Office, Office Suites, Software

Microsoft is making available to thousands of pre-selected testers on September 17 the first Community Technology Preview (CTP) test build of its Web-ified version of Office.

(Check out some new screen shots of the Office Web Apps.)

Microsoft officials first announced plans for Office Web Apps — an offering that many industry watchers consider the Redmondians’ response to Google Docs — in November 2008. The Office Web Apps CTP originally was due to tester in August. Throughout the past few months, Microsoft officials have continued to stress that Office Web Apps aren’t meant to replace Office, but to complement it. (We’ll see whether that actually comes to pass, given tight IT budgets and the multiple-hundred-dollar price tag for client-based Office — two factors that seem to be doing Google Docs no harm among small- and mid-size business users, according to a new IDC study.)

Microsoft plans to make the CTP of the free, consumer version available to testers via Windows Live SkyDrive, around 1 pm ET. Testers will get access to Word Web App, Excel Web App and PowerPoint Web App. One Note Web App access will be added this fall. Contrary to some Web reports, Microsoft has no plans to add a Visio Web App to the line-up.

Microsoft’s game plan remains to deliver a public beta of Office Web Apps later this fall and the final version in the first half of calendar 2010 (I’ve heard May/June). Microsoft officials also confirmed today that the final name for Office Web Apps will be… drum roll…. Office Web Apps. (So much for all that research on other possible names.)

Here are ten things about the CTP of Office Web Apps that I found interesting:

1. Who’s getting access to today’s CTP? Just because you were part of Microsoft’s Office 2010 and/or SharePoint 2010 July CTPs doesn’t guarantee you also will be part of the Office Web Apps CTP. Microsoft officials told me thousands of testers will be granted access to the Web Apps, including many Office Live Workspace users, partners and other testers. Testing at this stage is being limited to U.S. English and Japanese users, Microsoft officials said.

2. How can I get the CTP? The way testers and, ultimately, consumers, will get Office Web Apps is by accessing documents stored in Windows Live SkyDrive, Microsoft’s free online storage service. Microsoft officials had said previously that the Web Apps would be made available via Windows Live/Office Live (which are now one thing known as Windows Live) but didn’t explain further. This means if you want Office Web Apps, you’ll need a Windows Live account (which is free). Under the “More” tab, users can find their pre-designated SkyDrives. SkyDrive has a limit of 25 GB and that applies to Office Web Apps, as well.

3. Why is feature “X” not working? This CTP is not feature-complete. It includes only the Web-based versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. (OneNote is coming with the beta later this fall.) And even those apps are pretty far from done. The Word Web App in the CTP doesn’t allow users to create or edit documents; those capabilities won’t go live until the beta release. And in the CTP, neither the Excel Web App nor the PowerPoint Web App will let you publish, or embed, a PowerPoint slide show or Excel Spreadsheet directly into into a blog or website.

4. What happens to Office Live Workspace? If you’re among the 10.5 million people Microsoft officials say are currently using Office Live Workspace, Microsoft’s collaboration service that was a pre-cursor to Office Web Apps, here’s what to expect: Office Live Workspace will be superseded by Office Web Apps. Workspace customers will be upgraded automatically to Office Web Apps and Microsoft is committing to provide migration information and assistance in migrating data once Web Apps are available.

Read the rest of this entry »

August 31st, 2009

Office 2010: What Microsoft will and won't say

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 4:08 pm

Categories: Corporate strategy, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, Office Live, SharePoint Server, Utility/cloud computing, Web 2.0

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Ribbon, Backstage Feature, Microsoft Office, Office Suites, Software, Mary Jo Foley

A new build of Office 2010 — more recent than the Community Technology Preview (CTP) Microsoft delivered in July to a select group of testers — allegedly has leaked. (But as of this posting, not yet leaked to the Web.)

The new build, which, according to Wzor, is labeled “Beta 1,” (Build 14.0.4417.1000) includes some updates to Office 2010’s built-in Backstage document-management platform and some of the new volume-licensing-activation tweaks that company officials recently acknowledged were coming. There is also a new “upload center” in the leaked build, which could be related to Office Web Apps, the Web-ified versions of key Office apps that Microsoft is planning to release to testers this fall.

Microsoft officials declined to comment on the leak. I asked whether the allegedly leaked bits would be what Microsoft is planning to release as part of the public Beta 1 of Office 2010 due out later ths fall. A spokeswoman provided this statement in response:

“Microsoft officially released the Office 2010 technical preview in July and we are on track to deliver the public beta later this year. No additional Office 2010 code has been released by Microsoft since the technical preview. We strongly recommend that customers only download or use officially released Microsoft products, through appropriate Microsoft channels, since unofficial copies might contain malicious code.”

Even though Office 2010 seems pretty well baked, there’s still lots the company won’t say about the release, which Microsoft execs indicated to partners will ship in May/June 2010.

However, there are a few things the Office team is willing to talk about, especially regarding the product’s user-interface changes.

As Microsoft officials have said before, with Office 2010, all of the Office apps are getting the Ribbon interface. In Office 2010, OneNote, Publisher and Visio all will become “Ribbonized,” as will the rest of Outlook, said Aaron Butcher, Senior Program Manager on the Office User Experience Team. The Ribbon works a bit differently with each app, so adding it isn’t as straightforward a task for the User Experience team as it might seem. (The User Experience Team, a group of about 70 testers, designers, programmers and usability engineers, are the ones behind the UI changes in Office.)

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