Microsoft Office 2010 Preview  MS Office 2010 |
Even though the Microsoft Office 2010 technical preview is available and it is not in the final form, chances are there that Microsoft may pull it off.
According to Microsoft, the focus of this update was on three things: to make work flows more efficient; to effectively use Web applications to make your work available anywhere; and to make collaboration with others much easier.
This article will help to have a look at some of the notable feature changes across many of the applications. Microsoft says Office 2010 has the potential to allow the user to use the PC, phone, and the Web to make his projects come together in a more efficient way.
The Ribbon (introduced in Office 2007) helps to keep frequently used features handy at the top of the user’s work space. But in Office 2010, a person will have access to the Ribbon across all of the applications in the suite, with contextual tabs and features to help the user get the most out of each program.
In Outlook 2010, a Quick Steps section of the Ribbon has options to let the user quickly create team meetings, move threads to specific folders, or custom forward messages (with pre-made subjects) to specific recipients.
In Excel, the user can flip through the tabs for accessing the formulas, insert diagrams and charts, and quickly import data from connected sources. Having an easy way to access the most-used functions of each of the Office applications is very handy, and it is clear that Microsoft did its research to make the most of each application's Ribbon.
It is also clear that Microsoft has paid attention to patterns across all of the applications to come up with easier ways to get things done.
The new Paste Preview lets the user switch easily between the paste options so that he can know that the work will be formatted correctly in his document before he commits.
In Outlook, it's now possible to turn long e-mail threads into conversations, so that the user can quickly find information from specific participants without having to scroll through long, confusing threads.
Another new feature lets the user ignore the entire threads including the future e-mails on a subject so that the user can eliminate noise and distractions in his workday.
Office 2010 includes many new time-saving features like these across the entire suite, but there are more than just tweaks to existing work flow.
Some of the flashier feature additions will be good news to those who work with media in their documents and presentations. PowerPoint now has options for editing video right within the program. The user will be able to trim the video so that the audience sees only the video content the user wants them to see. The user can also add video effects, fades, and even create video triggers for launching animations during his presentation. When he is working on a static presentation like a publication, newsletter, or pamphlet--Office 2010 lets the user to edit and add effects to images so that he does not require a third-party image editor.
Microsoft has also added easy access to Ligatures and Stylistic Alternates to fonts in Publisher so that the user can add his own personal touches to his publications. Like most of the new features in Office 2010, the user can find most of these added options in the Ribbon for that particular application.
Office 2010 will offer several options to help people work together. Though the Web-based components of the Office suite are not available in the technical preview, adding these options will make sharing information easier--whether it's from your home computer, your phone, or when you're travelling for business. Lightweight Web browser versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote have been announced, and, according to Microsoft, they will preserve the look and feel of a document regardless of the device you're working on--even if it's your smart phone.
New co-authoring in Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote and advanced e-mail management and calendaring capabilities in Outlook will make collaboration much easier, reducing the time it takes to finish large projects with several contributors. Businesses will be required to use Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 or Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services to gain access, but private users will be able to access their work using Windows Live.
One of the key improvements in Office 2010 is what Microsoft calls the Backstage view. Offered as a replacement for the File menu, Backstage gives the user a launching point to share documents, print out the work, set permissions, and other program specific options to get his project ready for distribution. The user will find all of the usual document management features like open and save, here as well, but he will also get a nice layout of templates for new documents, several different ways to share his work, and print settings and page layouts all in one place. Once the user gets used to using the Backstage view for all of his file management, the he will find it useful and efficient to have access to everything in one place.
Microsoft Office 2010 is scheduled to be released early next year.
