The Complete Guide To Microsoft’s Office 2010
July 13, 2009 ·Filed Under Technology News
The web has been abuzz the past few weeks with chatter about Microsoft’s announcement today at its Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans about the new version of Microsoft’s Office 2010. There’s even a mini-movie about its debut. Facing potential challenges from the browser from Google’s Apps product and its new Chrome OS, Microsoft has been touting its three screens strategy, which is the ability for products to synchronize across the phone, browser, and desktop, for some day now.
With the release of Office 2010, SharePoint Server 2010 and Visio 2010, we finally see implementation Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie’s mantra. We had the opportunity to see an in-depth demo of the new suite of products from Microsoft’s Group Product Manager for Office 2010, Chris Bryant. Here’s a complete breakdown of all the functionality that has been added, including screenshots:
The Move To The Browser
Most certainly a direct challenge to Google Apps, Microsoft is rolling out lightweight, FREE, Web browser versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote. All based in the cloud, the web-based versions of these products have less features than their desktop cousins but still let users that users basic tools to edit and change documents.
PowerPoint 2010
PowerPoint has been upgraded not only with a new browser version, but plus a slew of bells and whistles to the desktop version. Users now have the capability of editing video and images within PowerPoint with a basic video editing tool (not so different from the capabilities of iMovie) and a image editing tool, which is like a basic, simple version of Adobe Photoshop. Microsoft has additionally added the ability for users to launch a Web-ex-like live sharing feature with other users. So whether you create a slideshow in PowerPoint, you can share it with other citizens in real-time (which can be run on top of Sharepoint).
Here’s what the video editing tools look like in PowerPoint:
To share a deck with other users, you send an newsletter to individuals with a link. Once they visit the link, they will see the slideshow within the browser. that feature can additionally be used on a mobile phone’s browser. You can additionally create a slideshow in the desktop version and thereupon publish it to the web version to access it via the browser. The browser version of PowerPoint doesn’t include the video editing features, but most of the functionality of 2008 is included in the browser version.
Excel 2010
Excel spreadsheets can now run in the browser, and similar to PowerPoint, spreadsheets can be published to the browser via the desktop version. The browser version of Excel has limited features, but offers more in-depth functionality than Google Spreadsheets. Microsoft has added a particularly innovative feature called Sparklines, which gives a visual snapshot image of a details trend by moment within a cell. You can plus share Excel via the browser with other users and set special permissions on who can access the document.
Here’s what the web version of Excel looks like:
Word 2010
Bryant says that the number one piece of feedback from users producing documents on Microsoft Word is that they want to preserve the look and feel of a document created in the desktop version in the browser. Microsoft calls that “document fidelity” and created the browser version of MS Word accordingly. In the browser, documents retain the same look and
An image of the web version of Word:
Microsoft has plus updated the desktop version to have collaborative features so that multiple users can be editing a document at once. that collaboration is not available in the web, unfortunately. Microsoft says that users don’t want that feature but that might be a move to protect the Office revenue model.
When two citizens are editing at the same document (in the desktop version) at the same instance, Word will inform each user when there are changes that need to be synced with their document. The copy/paste operate of the desktop version has additionally received an upgrade, where you can see see a live preview for the paste operate. The paste operate additionally has an advanced option to create and insert screenshots. To construct moving around a distant document easier, Word now has a navigation visual pane and section header breakdown which makes it easy to jump from different sections of a document.
Outlook 2010
Outlook 2010 now has a ribbon user interface, like Word, PowerPoint and Excel. The UI of mail conversations has been upgraded to look nearly like a note tree, allowing users a more visual view of sent and incoming emails. Search functionality has been improved as well, making it much easier to find composition. plus, you can preview calendars in emails and choose to disregard selective mail conversations.
Sharepoint 2010
Like Outlook, Sharepoint now gets a ribbon UI, making the document hosting product more similar to Microsoft’s flagship products, like Word. You can tag authors of documents now and can share documents and files more easily.
Microsoft says that its browser versions have been tested on all major browsers aside from Web Explorer, including Firefox and Safari. Office 2010 is still being tested and reworked to operate on Chrome. Microsoft additionally announced that it is streamlining the number of Office editions from eight to five. Office Web applications will be available in three ways: through Windows Live, where consumers will have access to Office Web applications at no cost; via on-premises versions; and via Microsoft Online Services, where customers will be able to purchase a subscription of MS Office. Microsoft says Office 2010 will be available in the first half of next year.
The key part of all of that news is the free, browser-based versions of Microsoft’s most popular Office products. Bryant says that Microsoft expects the browser products to be particularly popular amongst student, but I think that the web-based applications will be hugely popular in the enterprise space as well, as distant as there are protection precautions taken to put documents in a secure part of the cloud.
But as more and more businesses are becoming comfortable with trusting cloud environments, Microsoft’s move to the browser could pay off in a big way, particularly considering it’s so easy to use both the desktop and browser versions of products interchangeably. The more successful Microsoft is in its browser strategy, the more they validate Google’s approach in the space, which will eventually put price pressure on Office.
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