14 DAY TRIAL // Office 14 is the codename that Microsoft is using to point to the next version of the Office System. The Redmond Company's Windows Omerta also extends to Office, and as such, details are scarce to say the least. However, Microsoft is doing a hell of a job at revealing information via secondary channels while gagging the official channels of communication.
This was the case with Windows Seven, the next version of Windows designed to replace Windows Vista and planed for general availability sometime in 2009. While keeping all things Seven a closely guarded secret, Microsoft did post details on a program manager opening for Windows 7. "Do you want to be at the forefront of driving a Windows release from a planning and quality perspective? Join the Windows Engineering and Release Management team and be at the center of the Windows 7 release effort," Microsoft stated.
Well, they've done it again. This time with the next version of the Office System. "The new Office Workspaces team for Office 14 is a V1 effort chartered to excel at empowering our Information Worker customers to easily organize their documents around the projects they work on and to seamlessly collaborate with others on these documents," reads a fragment of the job description for Office 14.
Currently, Office 14 is scheduled for commercial availability by 2009, but Microsoft has not confirmed this information through its official channels. While with the 2007 Office System Microsoft has focused intensively on delivering a new look and feel for the suites, the Redmond Company's priorities with the next version of Office have not changed.
"We will deeply integrate elegant UI into the major Office applications along with creating a new standalone interface and effective integration into the Windows shell. In addition to delivering simple document organization, we will also make document synchronization and collaborative merging an intuitive cinch," Microsoft informs in the job details for Software Development Engineer in Test.