Office software
Office 2010 (Preview)
By Neil McAllister, Infoworld (US) | InfoWorld | Published: 10:10, 14 July 2009
Say what you will about the Windows monopoly, it was Office that made Microsoft's fortune. After all, what's an OS without applications? Over the years, Microsoft evolved a humble word processor and spreadsheet into a tightly integrated suite of groupware and productivity applications. Today you'll scarcely find a business desktop without Microsoft Office installed.
At the same time, competition has never been tougher. Open source alternatives, such as OpenOffice, now offer the basic functionality of business productivity software for free. And web-based productivity software, including Google Apps and Zoho Office, threatens to subvert the traditional desktop software model altogether.
But Microsoft is no slouch. Office 2010, the next version of the software suite, is not expected to arrive until next year, but a technology preview shows it to be another solid effort from the Redmond-based giant. With this release, Microsoft has polished and expanded upon the groundwork it laid with Office 2007, while continuing to add new capabilities, particularly in the area of networked collaboration.
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When Microsoft first revealed its revamped UI concept for Office 2007, some hailed it as revolutionary. Others complained that the Ribbon was too big and too awkward, and created an unnecessary learning curve by messing around with menus that worked perfectly fine where they were.
I happen to belong to the first camp, but if you count yourself among the Ribbon-haters you'll definitely be disappointed with Office 2010. This time, the Ribbon is pervasive across all components of the Office suite, including those that lacked it in Office 2007 (such as OneNote, Outlook, and Visio). For those of us who feel more productive with the Ribbon, this consistency is a welcome improvement. Sorry, haters.
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Comments
boe said: 3 Offer the old menu bar for people most of my clients who dont want to learn the new menu bar You can finally modify the ribbon to some extent in 2010 however my clients just want their old ribbon bar Frankly I have no issue with the new menu bar but Im one person and most of my clients dont like it so prefer to stick with office 2003 MS could make money selling the new version if they just offered the old menu as a choice with the new ribbon
boe said: 1 Made outlook open multiple e-mail accounts as full exchange -not an additional mailbox with some functionality or popimap with very limited functionality but two seperate exchange profiles simultaneously from multiple exchange servers
boe said: 2 Full OLE support for pictures in access - umm wasnt that functional with Office XP - why take that out Why should someone have to code to add pictures to a personal database Might was well use oracle or a real database if you are going to have to use code Adding Office XP photo editor is the work around but why not just add photo editor back into office if that is the solution
Ado said: I tend to favour SSuite Offices free office suites Their software also dont need to run on Java or NET like so many open source office suites so it makes the software very small and efficientwwwssuitesoftcom