Final Public Office 2007 Test Build Due Thursday

Microsoft plans to make the final public test build of Office 2007 available on Sept. 14 to the more than 3.5 million testers who were part of the companys Beta 2 test program.

Microsoft will allow Office Beta 2 testers to download for free the Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh from the Microsoft Office Preview site, starting at 9:00 a.m. PST on Thursday.

The new build includes better product integration, improved collaboration tools and "some general fit and finish changes," according to a Microsoft spokeswoman.

Click here to read eWEEK Labs review of Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh.

Microsoft is not making a CD or DVD version of the Office 2007 Beta 2 TR available, the spokeswoman confirmed.

Office 2007 Beta 2 TR is the test build of the next major version of Office that is optimized to work with Windows Vista Release Candidate 1, which Microsoft began rolling out to testers at the beginning of September.

Microsoft may still provide select testers with one or more private test builds of Office 2007 before the product is completed. Microsoft still anticipates being able to release Office 2007 to manufacturing before the end of calendar 2006, and make the product available to business users with volume license agreements before year-end, officials reconfirmed on Sept. 13. The worldwide launch of Office 2007 is expected to coincide with the Windows Vista launch at the end of January 2007.

Read the full story on Microsoft Watch: Final Public Office 2007 Test Build Due Thursday