Beta code of 'Office 11' emerges

Posted on 23 Oct 2002 at 13:04

Microsoft sets off along the road to 'Office 11', the next version of its massively popular office software suite.

The company has now officially announced the release of Beta 1 code.

Don't rush, however, to get your hands on the software. As we reported last week, the Beta 1 release will be a closed program with 6,000 copies released worldwide. Beta 2, following on in 2003, will be slightly more open with 3,000 customers involved in the UK.

Microsoft describes Office 11 'a significant step forward in the delivery of Microsoft's vision for improving information worker productivity'.

The software suite has a greater orientation towards corporate applications. For example, it becomes tied to Microsoft's SharePoint Team Services, for group collaboration. As well as editing documents simultaneously, work groups will be able to receive real-time notification of changes and be connected together via Windows Messenger. There's also access to shared task lists, calendars, discussion strings and new Meetings Workspaces. The idea is to minimise the logistics of team communication, leaving more time for concentrating on the content.

'The key word to describe Office 11 is "connected",' said Joe Eschbach, VP of Microsoft's Information Worker Product Management Group. 'It's about connecting people with all the disparate sources of information in their work environment, with the processes necessary to complete their jobs, and with the other people they rely on to complete projects and make decisions. In short, it's about making them more productive by removing unnecessary barriers to success.'

Underlying Office 11 is the use of XML and one of the features building on this is the use of XDocs, or 'Smart Documents' as they have already been renamed by Microsoft. The idea is that multiple sources of data can be easily combined, either to present data to a front end or simplify back-end system business processes.

On the email side of things, the Outlook messaging and collaboration client has been overhauled, including the way you prioritise, file and track e-mail. Another feature involves email for those working offline. Outlook includes a new cached e-mail system for quicker and smoother transfers between data connections.

'Office 11' is not scheduled to appear - in final release form - before the summer of 2003.