RSSWinHEC 2006 Brings New Office, Vista
By Nate Mook | Published May 23, 2006, 1:15 PM
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates kicked off the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in Seattle Tuesday, heralding the arrival of the Beta 2 releases of Windows VIsta, Office 2007 and Longhorn Server. Both Office and Vista betas will be available for public download in order to garner more feedback as the products near completion.
The announcement marked the first time Microsoft has simultaneously released test versions of its flagship products. The Redmond company says it has focused on four main areas with the new releases: simplifying how people work together, better content protection and management, improved search and more robust security.
Office 2007 brings to the table the biggest change to Microsoft's ubiquitous productivity suite to date, including a completely revamped task-based user interface. A "Ribbon" replaces the standard Office toolbars with options that change depending on the what the user is doing with a document.
WinHEC also marks the first time the general public, which has counted 5 years since Windows XP made its debut, will get a peek at the next-generation version of Windows. A "Customer Preview Program" will be available in the "coming weeks," providing users with access to Windows Vista Beta 2. Testers and MSDN subscribers can download the build starting today.
“The release of these three betas is a significant milestone for Microsoft and a major step toward delivering the platforms that will drive the next decade of computing,” Gates said. "The combination of these innovative platform technologies and the new hardware and software being developed by our partners will make PCs and other devices more powerful, more useful and more intelligent for businesses today and into the future.”
Delays have plagued Vista's development, although Microsoft says it remains on track to deliver the final bits by October. Volume licensing and business customers will receive Windows Vista in November, with a public launch slated for January. Microsoft will hold launch events around the world to celebrate Vista's arrival.
"Office and Windows public betas are sure to increase pressure on Microsoft, particularly given shifting release dates. The Blogsphere is sure to illuminate every possible problem with the products. The bright lights might ultimately make for better products, but the process will publicly unfold," commented Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox.
Beta 2 of Office 2007 is openly available beginning Tuesday. Customers can download the release or choose to receive it on DVD for a small shipping fee. Microsoft is making available all of the Office 2007 bits, including the full range of client and server applications. The primary Office applications weigh in at 550MB, with the full suite at 2GB.
Microsoft will not provide technical support for Beta 2, and the build will expire on February 1, 2007.
"Public betas turn on the glaring lights and turn up the definition. But any bad buzz should dispel as Microsoft fixes problems and customers find product benefits," Wilcox added.
At WinHEC, Microsoft also announced a partnership with Motorola to create a phone that supports Windows Live services. The dual-mode handset works as a traditional phone as well as the Internet through a service provided by Verizon. A beta Windows Live SDK will be available this summer to encourage other partners to build compatible solutions.
Gates additionally shared details on Microsoft's virtualization efforts. The technology will ship within six months after Windows Server Longhorn is released to manufacturing, and an initial beta release is expected by the end of 2006. Microsoft's "hypervisor" software runs atop the hardware and enables multiple versions of Windows to be running simultaneously on a single machine.
Office 2007 Beta 2 is available for download via FileForum.
I have tried multiple times to load on Vista Beta 2 and office 2007 will not work on vista. Moved to XP and same download installed great. I hope Microsoft will fix this. I can't believe they wouldn't think people might want to beta at the same time!
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|Using, happy, even using beta2 in production. I will be getting this.
I think they finally figured out that there's less to improve functionally, but Office could most definitely use some usability improvements. Nice going so far. Not perfect, but finally an Office worth dropping duckets for.
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|I could not install Office 2007 on my Beta2 Vista - acutally I could not install much of my usual software on Vista.
Yes, I know it is a beta-version, and I am not complaining, just noticing :)
Installed Office on XP - and will use it for a while - look great already though.
Vista looked great too - too bad I could not use it.
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|I too had the same problem ... could not get Office 2007 to work with Vista.
I was a bit surprised by this as I was under the impression that Office 2007 required Vista to be fully functional.
Also be aware that Outlook 2007 will not shutdown properly if you have Mindmanager version 6 installed.
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|omg , this is programming perfection , making me very happy in the pants.
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|Well what can I say this is what we expect from Microsoft absolutely brilliant. This is the best to date works excellent with Vista what an interface. Keep up the good work.
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|Looks like child software. I think it needs to be themed differently.
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|What build of Vista have you installed? I ask because Office 2007 does not work with my 64bit version of Vista.
Well what can I say this is what we expect from Microsoft absolutely brilliant. This is the best to date works excellent with Vista what an interface. Keep up the good work.
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|good interface !!! well i guess is designed for vista only ... outlook not proper didn't support linux mail server for mails...
kept restarting
it should be ALPHA Rel 2 instead of BETA 2
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|I played with it for an hour. Had to pull it from my machine. I was really looking forward to the Outlook 2007, but it is not so good in this version on my machine.
Wouldn't render messages is my primary problem. Wouldn't send messages (well the header only) so I have to take it off.
Too bad, next month maybe.
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|is funny to read all of you MICROSOFT haters ...
yet, i dare bet, every single one of you was using WINDOWS while posting.
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|Funny how 90% of the comments in here are about not being able to wait to use it, and the 4 or so flamebait posts are the only ones that catch your eye.
Are you looking for a fight, or do you have some sort of "Positive Comment" filter?
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|I have activated it ok on my pc last night, however a few of my friends can't activate because of the internet message posted by readers here. Hopefully MS will fix this....
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|Just a quick comment is anyone else having trouble activating office 2007??? Haven't been able to for 2 days
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|ArcHammer,
So am I not able to activate. Stupid program keeps telling me it can't find my Internet connection. Only 46 more times to open it, I guess. Way to go, Microshaft.
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|Thanks for your reply... You would figure they would have the activation process up as soon as it was released. Well I wont be checking my mail for a while i guess.
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|Hi,
Try again ... it started to work for me late yesterday evening (11PM GMT)
ArcHammer,
So am I not able to activate. Stupid program keeps telling me it can't find my Internet connection. Only 46 more times to open it, I guess. Way to go, Microshaft.
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|Vista is not yet available to the public.
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|I have been unable to find the public beta, only the developers one.
Anyone have a link?
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|Search for "Office" in the fileforum, dude...
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|Been playing with Office for the last couple of hours and it's great! Some things are taking a bit of getting use to, like finding where things are (which is exactly what they were trying to solve!). Being a power user, I'm used to where things are in the menus, and they're obviously not there anymore. No problem, I'll get it.
Still downloading Vista, and it's taking waaaaaayyyyy too long. The rest of you get off Connect download so I can have it!! Jeez people! Thank goodness I got Office before the crowd. Oh well. It'll be a fun next couple of days.
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|Garbage by any other name remains garbage. Microsoft products should are available at your nearest hay-loft to be converted into much needed ethanol....lol
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|Did you ever hear the warning, “be careful what you wish for, it might come true?” Well, because Microsoft is the company most people love to hate, I decided to ask a cross section of industry cognoscenti this simple question: What would happen if Microsoft and all of its technology disappeared tomorrow?
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|the answer is: companies would finally port all their programs to linux. and the world would be a better place. :-p
MS doesn't provide anything other companies can't
you know, that's not a bad idea. making MS dissapear and all.
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|it's conoscenti and a world without Microsoft would be a better world .The alternatives are there for the choosing.It's not a MS world any longer
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|Just one question though. Who would provide hardware and Unix applications/support to education around the globe? MS has become the standard, like it or not. It used to be Apple (remember playing "Oregon Trail" for the Apple IIE?) but now it is Microsoft. Unix is just not feasible as a platform for education.
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|Finally! It only took 3 years of delays!
LOL@microsux
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|Is that a new user interface for the Office suit?
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|Yeah for Most of the applications. MSOffice 2007 is great except I cant seem to get through to an activation server.
I did download this from microsoft. :(
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|Yummy!
Office is on it's way, and I'll have Vista tonight.
Can't wait. Should be an interesting week.
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|Indeed.. This is a very good day! :)
Gunzip
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|Agreed. I can't wait to play around.
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|Definitaly. Can't wait till i install it and try it out.
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|Hey, i'm new to this forum, but... how did u all download the windows vista? can someone send me the setup file plz?
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