The first service pack for Office 2003 will transcend the usual hodgepodge of bug fixes and security updates - customers can expect to receive significant new functionality added to InfoPath.

Many of the capabilities partners and customers have wanted from InfoPath fell outside of the key scenarios Microsoft sought to deliver in the software's first revision. As a result, Redmond is busy readying enhancements that will extend InfoPath's efficacy.

In an unusual step, Microsoft has issued a free preview of its planned upgrade to the InfoPath platform. Customers will get a chance to test out new solutions and provide their feedback on any issues they encounter through error reporting tools.

A Microsoft spokesperson said, "The quality of the code they create is the InfoPath team's top priority."

New features include security enhancements, increased support for digital signatures, enhanced document recovery, data submission and filtering controls, additional handwriting support for tablet users, an improved ability to handle InfoPath attachments in e-mail, richer page layout controls for working with printed forms, easier integration into existing business process and workflows, additional tools for developers using managed code, and enhanced support for handling XML schemas.

Microsoft promises full compatibility with the gold release of InfoPath that shipped with Office 2003.

"I'm not surprised customers' use of InfoPath might be different than Microsoft expected, which is one explanation for the company rushing out a bunch of off-cycle changes," Jupiter Senior analyst Joe Wilcox told BetaNews.

"InfoPath is a product that I expect to deviate from some of Microsoft's projected customer uses. That is in one sense testimony to the product's flexibility and another sense Microsoft's inexperience in the forms/information capture and retrieval market."

Office 2003 Service Pack 1 is expected to ship in June.