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Office 14 Alpha to Begin Testing this Year
Posted by Mark Wilson at 9:20 AM on August 20, 2008
It's not yet ready for your download, but according to a now-pulled post on a company blog, Microsoft is accepting internal applications to be part of their technology adoption program (TAP) for Office 14. The new touted feature is Office's PerformancePoint Server, a boring-for-most-of-us business performance analysis system. Other details are scant and Microsoft has no official announcements to make, but an alpha of Office this year should beckon a new release next year. No word yet on whether or not Microsoft will allow Pam and Jim to finally get married. [ZDNet and The Inquirer]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
missedmyexit
Posted 10:09 AM 20/8/08
@TailsNZ: Yeah I agree, I like the ribbons, it's just taking me some time to get used to them.
missedmyexit
slungsolow
Posted 10:06 AM 20/8/08
"performance analysis system" sounds ominous for slackers.
slungsolow
TailsNZ
Posted 10:03 AM 20/8/08
I have to admit the ribbons in Office 2007 took some getting used to but there's no way I'd go back now. It's so much easier to find things. Also the live previews are really handy. Just as you move your mouse over options it shows you in real time what your page would look like if you clicked.
TailsNZ
Jrsy
Posted 9:55 AM 20/8/08
Is it just me or does Pam look like she's about to whisper some snarky comment about a coworker that they're gazing at..
Oh wait, they're looking at me..
Jrsy
missedmyexit
Posted 9:55 AM 20/8/08
I'm still trying to figure out the "ribbons" in Office 2007, never mind the next version... Now where did I leave that formatting toolbar?
missedmyexit
Amiash is a starred immature
Posted 9:41 AM 20/8/08
Jim is hot.
Amiash is a starred immature
PC+Mac Coexist
Posted 9:41 AM 20/8/08
I <3 Pam
PC+Mac Coexist
oneclick
Posted 9:32 AM 20/8/08
Office 2007 does have the ability to post directly to the blog of your choice - I think that is useful for average non-corporate types. Much nicer than the wordpress interface.
oneclick
gambrinus2
Posted 9:28 AM 20/8/08
You might guess it from the name, but corporate users are kind of the target market for Office...
gambrinus2
jpj007
Posted 9:24 AM 20/8/08
Have there even been any new Office features that are actually useful for the average non-corporate user since Office 2000?
jpj007
Bueller
Posted 10:13 AM 20/8/08
@slungsolow: Yes, just another thing to integrate with the latest Windows Live Doodah Omniwhacker ViewPoint Server Administration Interface Server. One of 4.2 million obscure things in the windows MSDN pile that I've never seen or heard of ANYONE using.
Bueller
leetXcore
Posted 10:48 AM 20/8/08
The Office is the greatest thing to grace network television.
leetXcore
pobox90210
Posted 10:39 AM 20/8/08
@jpj007:
In Excel 2007 there's a really cool feature.
When you highlight cells in a column and scroll down to the bottom of your data what usually happens is that it ZOOOOOOOOMS past the bottom. You then scroll up and it ZOOOOOOOOMS past it again. With Excel 2007, it slows down near the bottom of your data and then stops for a bit....before moving on, giving you time to stop at the last populated cell.
For me, Office 2007 has lots of useful little things like that. Nothing has really changed but it's just that little bit more user friendly.
pobox90210
fredcadete
Posted 12:12 PM 20/8/08
And why are they naming it Office 14, you might ask.
Well, Microsoft Office was supposed to be named always with its version number, but Bill Gates wanted that to begin only after 13 because he's very superstitious?
He is, have you ever seen him walk under a ladder?
fredcadete
the_amazing_doug
Posted 12:09 PM 20/8/08
@PC+Mac Coexist: yeah. agreed. pam = awesome.
the_amazing_doug
ron___b
Posted 12:03 PM 20/8/08
I wonder if MS will manage to fix the steaming pile of turdz that Word for Mac has become?
ron___b
lpranal
Posted 12:40 PM 20/8/08
Nice, can't wait to see how they'll manage to make the user interface even more cryptic than 2007. Perhaps a rothko-inspired interface comprised solely of 4 unlabled colored bars, and no menus.
lpranal
Usama
Posted 12:35 PM 20/8/08
I agree with some of the posts above.. I love the Office 2007 ribbon interface and all the other nice small tweaks that came with it. I think Pages (is that what the Mac's word processor is called?) had that live preview stuff before Office did but it doesn't matter, now we both have it and all is great. Thanks Microsoft.
Usama
surrix
Posted 1:28 PM 20/8/08
Office 2007 was Office12, why is this Office14?
surrix
Paul
Posted 1:26 PM 20/8/08
I'm PerformancePoint certified, and it is awesome.
Paul
utube2007
Posted 10:01 PM 20/8/08
@surrix: There superstitious of the number 13 so they skipped it.
utube2007
ahbi
Posted 10:32 AM 20/8/08
The ribbons would be nice if they had all the features I use. Plus IIRC they are not customizable, short of programming a custom ribbon. Thank God for Classic Menus & the Office Search add-on.
Which brings me to ask, why not start putting the smaller dialog boxes in the dynamically added ribbons? Find/Replace has been a huge hassle for ages in Word (especially once you're used to Firefox's toolbar approach to Find. Move find/replace to a dynamically added ribbon!!!
I wonder if Office 14 will add back the menus in the same way Office 12 (?) added back the single window interface (vs. Office 11's you must use multiple windows).
Also, when is Visio going to start marching in step with the UI of the rest of Office?
ahbi
missedmyexit
Posted 7:23 AM 21/8/08
We all know what number the next Office REALLY is though. *Evil snicker*
missedmyexit