Office 2010 Available For Public Testing
The next edition of Microsoft Office is now available for free testing by the public. As well as a desktop edition of Office 2010, there is also a dedicated application for Windows Mobile devices.
One of the main new features in Office 2010 comes in Outlook, which now has a ‘Social Connector’. The idea is to coordinate your Outlook contact list with any online social networks you are a member of. The system will let you synchronize the different networks so that you can access a single record for a colleague, client or friend and see all the e-mails, instant messages and links you have exchanges with them across the different services. However, the full effects of this may be difficult to appreciate in the beta edition as Microsoft is still working both to agree partnerships with some social networks and then to sort out the logistics of linking them into the system.
The other main changes are to the look and feel of the package. Most significantly, the ribbon interface introduced in some parts of Office 2007 is now used across the board.
You can download the beta at microsoft.com/2010. It will then work until October next year. When you install the beta you can choose between ‘Upgrade’ (which replaces any current edition of Office on your PC) and ‘Custom’ (which runs the two editions side-by-side.)
Microsoft has also released a beta copy of its Office 2010 app for mobile devices. It has mobile editions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, allowing users to both view and edit documents on their handheld device. It also has a neat-sounding feature by which you can connect your phone to a computer and display a PowerPoint presentation on the computer’s screen, but use your phone’s screen if you need to refer to your notes (or ‘cheat sheet’) about the presentation.
It’s available for devices running Windows Mobile 6.5 until April and can be downloaded via the Windows for Mobile Marketplace app store, or from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/catalog/cataloghome.aspx.
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