Free Office 2010 Beta Downloaded over 1 Million Times

The first Beta testing program for the next iteration of the Office System is a smashing success. According to Microsoft, in excess of 1 million users around the world have crowded to Office 2010 Beta and downloaded the bits since the development milestone was made available at the Professional Developers Conference 2009 (PDC 2009) in Los Angeles in mid-November. Via the official Office 2010 beta website, the Redmond-based company is offering testers the following downloads: Office Web Apps, Office Mobile, Office Home and Business 2010, Office Professional 2010, and Office Professional Plus 2010.

“You may have already heard, but we have some exciting news from the Office team - earlier this week we reached the 1 millionth download of Office 2010! This means that more than 1 million people across the world are now experiencing and testing the next version of Office. You’ll recall we launched the public beta just two weeks ago at the Professional Developer’s Conference and in reaching the 1 millionth download milestone, Office 2010 has had more people download it in the first two weeks than any other version of Office including Office 2007! It’s super gratifying to see so many people interested in experiencing the next version of Office and help us deliver the best product possible,” revealed a member of the Office team.

Microsoft said from the get go that it wanted a very large Beta testing pool for Office 2010, and it looks like the company got its wish. In fact, the software giant didn’t even mention a time limit at which point users would no longer be able to grab the Office 2010 Beta bits. Essentially, both Office 2010 Beta 14.0.4536.1000 and the associated activation product keys continue to be available from the maker, and those that want to get a taste of what Office 2007’s successor will be like can, of course, download and start test driving their own copy.

“The Office 2010 Beta is available in all of the following languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese (Simplified), and Japanese,” Microsoft stated. “The beta version of Office 2010 will expire in October 2010. Users can choose to download the trial or buy the full version of Office 2010 at that time.”

The company is reportedly planning to launch Office 2010 in June 2010, but the date has yet to be officially confirmed.

Office 2010 Beta 14.0.4536.1000 is available for download here.