Microsoft’s forthcoming Office suite has shed its Office 12 codename and officially received its new “2007 Microsoft Office” moniker.
The productivity suite is currently in beta and is scheduled for release by the end of this year. A second beta has been promised before June.
The most visible enhancement to the suite is the new user interface that the company first demonstrated at the Professional Developer Conference last year. Menu buttons are set to change according to the task that the user is performing, eliminating the need to access drop down menus when searching for appropriate items.
Microsoft plans to make seven editions of the suite available. Consumers and small business will see few if any changes, but the software maker has created a new version catering for enterprises called Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007.
The suite that was previously known as Microsoft Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003 is to be rebranded as Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007. The two suites are available through volume pricing only. In addition to the applications that are available in the Pro Plus package, the Enterprise version also offers the OneNote note taking application and the Groove collaboration suite.
The new prices for the Small Business Suite are identical to the fees charged for equivalent current versions of Office.
Each of the applications in the bundled offerings will also be available as stand-alone products. Microsoft is also offering discounts for users upgrading from older versions.
Ltd
