The news from Microsoft Tuesday evening of the first technical previews of Office 2010, coming in the third quarter of this year, referred to being limited to several thousand testers -- Exchange product manager Julia White told us perhaps a few hundred thousand, after all the invitations were processed. But a technical preview is not exactly a "public beta," so when a prepared Q&A Monday with Microsoft's senior VP Chris Caposella failed to mention a public beta for Office 2010, some bloggers and journalists came to the conclusion that there wouldn't be one.

So when Microsoft reported today that there would be a public beta, it was reported in various locations that the company had changed its mind. In fact, as a Microsoft spokesperson verified for Betanews this afternoon, not only was there no change of mind, but no statement regarding the lack of a public beta was ever made. Microsoft told Betanews earlier this week that there would be a public beta of Office 2010, though the company has not yet finalized a date.