Microsoft is allowing early adopters of Office 2010 to enhance the first public development milestone of the release with filter packs. Office 2010 (Beta) Filter Packs are currently up for grabs via the Microsoft Download Center at no charge, and they will enhance the way that end users can access information related to documents of the Office productivity suite. Essentially, the Office 2010 (Beta) Filter Packs make it possible for data stored into files produced with the Office System to be searchable and indexable.

“The Microsoft Filter Pack is a single point-of-distribution for Office IFilters. IFilters are components that allow search services to index content of specific file types, letting you search for content in those files. They are intended for use with Microsoft Search Services (Sharepoint, SQL, Exchange, Windows Search),” Microsoft explained.

There are two flavors of the Office 2010 Beta Filter Packs available for download, each tailored to the 32-bit (x86) and to the 64-bit (x64) versions of Office 2010 respectively. The downloads come as .EXE files and need for the users to run them locally.

“Install this product if you want to search for content in the file types listed below. The Filter Pack includes: legacy Office Filter (97-2003; .doc, .ppt, .xls); Metro Office Filter (2007; .docx, .pptx, .xlsx); Zip Filter; OneNote filter; Visio Filter; Publisher Filter; [and] Open Document Format Filter,” Microsoft added.

At the Professional Developer Conference 2009, the Redmond company announced the availability of the first Beta for Office 2010. Early adopters can now download Office Home and Business 2010, Office Professional 2010, and Office Professional Plus 2010, directly from Microsoft. All Beta testers will need to, first of all, sign up with Microsoft in order to receive the product activation keys that will allow them to run Office 2010 Beta. 

Microsoft Office 2010 (Beta) Filter Packs are available for download here.

Office 2010 Beta 14.0.4536.1000 is available for download here.