Microsoft Office 2010

Development started in 2006 while Microsoft was finishing work on Office 12, released as Microsoft Office 2007. The version number 13 was skipped due to triskaidekaphobia — aversion to the number 13. It was previously thought that Office 2010 (then called Office 14) would ship in the first half of 2009,however Steve Ballmer has officially announced that Office 2010 will ship in 2010. According to an article published in InfoWorld in April 2006, Office 2010 will be more “role-based” than previous versions.The article cites Simon Witts, corporate vice president for Microsoft’s Enterprise and Partner Group, as claiming that there would be features tailored to employees in “roles such as research and development professionals, sales persons, and human resources.” Borrowing from ideas termed “Web 2.0″ when implemented on the Internet, it is likely that Microsoft will incorporate features of SharePoint Server in Office 2010.

Office 2010 will implement the ISO compliant version of Office Open XML which was standardized as ISO 29500 in March 2008. Microsoft plans to offer a Web-based version of its Office productivity suite, known as Office Web, that will debut with the release of Office 2010. Office Web will include online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

The next versions of Microsoft Office Visio, Microsoft Outlook, OneNote, Microsoft Office Project, and Publisher will feature the ribbon interface element used in other Office 2007 applications.On April 15, 2009, Microsoft confirmed that Office 2010 will be officially released in the first quarter of 2010. They announced on May 12, 2009 at a Tech Ed event , that Office 2010 will begin technical testing during July. It will also be the first version of Office to ship in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Alpha

On January 10, 2009, screenshots of an Office 2010 alpha build was leaked by a tester.

Technical Preview

Microsoft announced that users can sign up and register for the preview at http://www.office2010themovie.com/ ,with the intention of testing beginning early to mid July 2009. On May 15, 2009, the first Technical Preview was leaked to torrent websites.Shortly after this, Microsoft claimed through their Technet blogs that they had been monitoring various torrents and found “quite a few” to be infected with malware.

info : www.wikipedia.org

image from : www.megaleecher.net

Windows 7 on track for August RTM, October on-sale

Unlike Vista, new OS will be ready for holidays, say Microsoft execs

Microsoft is on track to wrap up Windows 7 and ship it to computer makers in August, a company executive said today.

“If the feedback and telemetry on Windows 7 match our expectations, then we will enter the final phases of the RTM process in about 3 months,” said Steven Sinofsky, the senior vice president of the Windows engineering group, in a post to a company blog Monday morning.

“If we are successful in that, then we tracking to our shared goal of having PCs with Windows 7 available this holiday season,” Sinofsky said, echoing comments made by another executive, Bill Veghte, the senior vice president who runs the Windows Business unit.

Sinofsky’s three-month timeline for RTM, which stands for “release to manufacturing,” means Windows 7 would be ready to ship to computer manufacturers in August.

Previously, Computerworld had noted that that if Windows 7 followed the development pace of its two predecessors, Windows Vista and Windows XP, Microsoft could start shipping the new operating system anytime between August 28 and Sept. 20.

Assuming Sinofsky’s three months means Windows 7 goes RTM around Aug. 11, three months from today, Windows 7 could go on sale and be available on new PCs around Oct. 11 if Microsoft adheres to a schedule identical to XP’s. If it uses a trajectory like Vista’s, the on-sale date would be near Nov. 4.

Traditionally, the U.S. holiday selling season kicks off on the Friday after Thanksgiving, the so-called “Black Friday.” This year, Black Friday is Nov. 27.

Although Sinofsky predicted that Windows 7 would go RTM in August, he cautioned that there was no set date for that to happen. “We do not have a ‘deadline’ we are aiming to meet,” Sinofsky said. “The quality of the product and a smooth finish are the most important criteria.”

He also spelled out the type of issues that Microsoft will deal with between RC and RTM, hinting that any could delay delivery of the RTM build. Sinofsky ticked off seven possible problems that could throw a wrench into the Windows 7 works, including installation glitches, security fixes, crashes, device incompatibilities, trouble installing third-party software, issues with Windows Update and finally, potential problems with brand-new hardware that partners are prepping for Windows 7.

“Obviously any vulnerability is a potential for something we would fix,” Sinofsky acknowledged, referring to security issues that would drive Microsoft to go back into the Windows 7 code between RC and RTM. “We will use the same criteria to address these issues as we would for any in-market product.”

Microsoft has already pushed one Windows 7 patch to users of the English-language, 32-bit edition.

The company will also stress test the Windows Update component in Windows 7 tomorrow by feeding users 10 test updates.

Microsoft has yet to set pricing of Windows 7, and Sinofsky did not bring up the issue in his blog entry.

Last week, Microsoft issued Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) to the general public, following its release to subscribers of the company’s developer and IT professional services five days earlier.

source : computerworld.com