Archive for the ‘ Office ’ Category

Office 2007 delayed (again)

Following the news that WinFS is being discontinued, Microsoft recently announced that the release date for Office 2007 is now “early 2007″, instead of the previous “early January 2007″ timeframe, citing “performance issues”.

Thanks to a new launch schedule, Microsoft is now giving a more vague “late 2006″ release for volume licensees and “early 2007″ for retail availability. It appears that Microsoft is taking feedback that it is receiving from Office 2007 Beta 2 to heart and is making some changes under the hood. “Based on internal testing and beta 2 feedback around product performance, we are revising our development schedule to deliver the 2007 Microsoft Office system by the end of year 2006, with broad general availability in early 2007. Feedback on quality and performance will ultimately determine the exact dates,” said a Microsoft spokesman.

2006
07/03
CATEGORY
Microsoft
Office
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The Betas are here! The Betas are here!

The 23rd of May was a pretty busy day for the Redmond giant, since Microsoft launched the Beta 2 versions of both Windows Vista and Office 2007. I would have written this post earlier, but I really didn’t have the time to do so until now.

For right now, Windows Vista Beta 2 is only available to IT professionals and developers with MSDN and TechNet subscriptions. In the coming weeks, Microsoft will start the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program (CPP) for developers and IT professionals who are not members of the subscription services.

The Windows Vista CPP will also be available to technology enthusiasts that want to install and test a copy of Windows Vista Beta 2. You can get a head start on your Windows Vista CPP preparation by visiting the Get Ready section of the official Windows Vista site and downloading the Windows Vista Product Guide (60 MB Word doc – definitely worth reading!).

The Office 2007 Beta 2 is freely available however, if you want to try it out. If you intend to keep in touch with the latest information on both Vista and Office, you can subscribe to the Beta Experience site, where you’ll also receive notifications and download information for both products.

You can also ensure that your current installations of Microsoft Office XP and Office 2003 are ready for the new Microsoft Office Open XML Formats by downloading the Compatibility Pack.

I will return with more info later on, but this should do for now. :D

2006
05/25
CATEGORY
Free stuff
Microsoft
Office
Windows
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Genuine Validation extends to Office

The Genuine Microsoft Software programme was recently extended to include validation for Office as well, along with the former Windows Genuine validation. Some reasons for users to validate their copies of Microsoft Office applications include:

  • Reliability
    You will have access to many product support resources and ongoing updates.
  • Additional value
    You will have access to add-ins, templates, learning tools, Smart Tags and stationery that can help you get more value from Office.
  • Confidence and peace of mind
    You will know that your software is authentic, is properly licensed, and the media does not include any unauthorized or potentially harmful programs.

The program will initially be piloted in seven languages: Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Greek, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Russian and Spanish.

Still, users of the Windows XP operating systems might not put up with the alert invasion, especially since in Microsoft Office’s case there is a very powerful and “very free” competitor, Open Office.org 2.0.

A recent poll carried out by iTWire has revealed that if they had to choose between trying Open Office.org and buying MS Office 2003, most of the users would go with the first choice. Of the 441 users who voted in 18 hours since the poll was posted, 381 (86.4%) chose the first option, while only 60 (13.6%) went for the second.

One could say that Microsoft’s decision to introduce Office Genuine Advantage before releasing the new Microsoft Office 2007, available in January together with Windows Vista, was not quite a wise one. This could significantly boost the Open Office.org 2.0′s market share.

2006
05/01
CATEGORY
Microsoft
Office
Windows
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Office 2007 delayed

Fresh on the heels of a delay in broad availability of Windows Vista, Microsoft confirmed late Thursday that it is also pushing the mainstream launch of Office 2007 to next year.

As with Vista, Microsoft hopes to finish the code for Office 2007 this year. The company said work will be completed by October, when it will make Office 2007 available to business customers that have signed up for Microsoft’s volume-licensing program. And, again like Vista, Microsoft plans to ship retail and original equipment manufacturer versions of the product in January.

With the twin postponements, the PC industry’s holiday season is shaping up to be quite different than the one originally expected. Microsoft has said it doesn’t expect the Vista delay to dent PC sales in the fourth quarter, but analysts have largely disagreed.

Microsoft is making major changes to Office, which will feature all-new XML-based file formats, as well as a completely overhauled user interface, among other changes. Anyway, with both Vista and Office 2007 coming out at the same time, the consumer market will probably be a bit overwhelmed. We’ll just have to see…

2006
03/27
CATEGORY
Microsoft
Office
Windows
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