Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News

      Final Public Office 2007 Test Build Due Thursday

      By
      Mary Jo
      -
      September 13, 2006
      Share
      Facebook
      Twitter
      Linkedin

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

        Microsoft will allow Office Beta 2 testers to download for free the Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (TR) 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.

        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 (RC) 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 September 13. The worldwide launch of Office 2007 is expected to coincide with the Windows Vista launch at the end of January 2007.

        Some testers have said they are expecting Microsoft to release Office 2007 to manufacturing in October.

        That timetable doesn’t leave Microsoft with much wiggle room, said Peter O’Kelly, an analyst with the Burton Group.

        “With Office 2007 (client and server, e.g., Windows SharePoint Services v3), as with Windows Vista, Microsoft is rapidly running out of testing time,” O’Kelly said. “If they’re going to hit their release date targets.

        ” I’m impressed with Office 2007, including recent enhancements such as the Quick Customize Menu,” O’Kelly added. but Microsoft needs to wrap up testing and tweaking soon, if it’s going to hit its target deadlines.”

        The Office 2007 Quick Customize Menu– detailed by Jensen Harris, a manager on Microsoft’s Office user experience team on his blog this week – is a new feature that is part of Office 2007 Beta 2. The menu allows users to add a core set of features to Office 2007’s Quick Access Toolbar.

        “If you’re running Windows Vista RC 1, you’ll be happy to know that B2TR (Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh) works great on RC1 (unlike the much earlier Office Beta 2, which has some problems on Vista RC1.),” Harris also noted on his blog.

        “B2TR represents an iterative step forward for the UI design—a refinement and polishing of each component,” Harris blogged. “The UI is now totally feature complete, and you will see only cosmetic differences between B2TR and the final version in most areas.

        According to Harris, Microsoft made nearly 1,000 individual improvements to the Ribbon user interface that is built into Office 2007 – “everything from redesigning the Home tab of PowerPoint to subtle changes to scaling or labels to work better on small monitors.” Improved support for the “minimize Ribbon” capability is also part of the new test build, Harris confirmed.

        Office 2007 will run on Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista. The server components of the product, known as SharePoint Server 2007, will run on Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server Longhorn.

        (This article was updated to include the correct number of Office 2007 Beta 2 testers.)

        Mary Jo

        MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

        Cybersecurity

        Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

        James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
        I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
        Read more
        Cloud

        Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

        James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
        Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
        Read more
        Big Data and Analytics

        GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

        James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
        I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
        Read more
        Applications

        Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

        James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
        I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
        Read more
        IT Management

        Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

        James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
        I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
        Read more
        Logo

        eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

        Facebook
        Linkedin
        RSS
        Twitter
        Youtube

        Advertisers

        Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

        Advertise with Us

        Menu

        • About eWeek
        • Subscribe to our Newsletter
        • Latest News

        Our Brands

        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms
        • About
        • Contact
        • Advertise
        • Sitemap
        • California – Do Not Sell My Information

        Property of TechnologyAdvice.
        © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

        Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

        ×