In January 2007, Microsoft made available Windows Vista and the Office 2007 System in tandem, in an effort to emphasize the intimate connection between its flagship products. And it appears that the Redmond company will attempt similar marketing tactics with the releases of the next iterations of the Windows client and the Office System. Windows 7 was confirmed by Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer for the end of 2009, and the latest information available from Microsoft indicates that Office 14, the successor of Office 2007, will also be released next year.

According to a Podcast for SharePoint (PKS) Frequently Asked Questions document published on CodePlex (via Mary Jo Foley), the next iteration of SharePoint will be labeled 2009, just as the current version, released last year, is SharePoint Server 2007.

"Q: What features of PKS will be part of SharePoint 2009? A: The SharePoint 2009 feature set has not been publicly disclosed yet. We know the video storage story will be improved. Q: Tagging is a future SharePoint feature - how would that future feature be compatible with the custom one developed here? A: The answer is unknown at this point and will be better understood when the first public release of SharePoint 2009 is available," reads a fragment of the Q&A which was subsequently modified.

For now, the document no longer contains any references to SharePoint 2009, but only to the "next release of SharePoint." A Microsoft representative explained that mentioning SharePoint 2009 was just a mistake.

"Honest mistake on my part, this Q&A is a transcript of a LiveMeeting conversation with our TAP customers... I should have corrected the SharePoint 2009 reference and for mysterious reasons haven't, so thanks for pointing it out! I honestly have no idea how the next release of SharePoint will be named. I promise," reveals an explanatory note added to the Q&A.

Microsoft has yet to make available the first Beta build of Office 14, but a potential 2009 release date was the subject of past speculation. Still, even if Office 14 is launched next year, a public Beta build will only be released once Microsoft has reached a complete featured development milestone.

A 2009 availability deadline, however, indicates two things. First off, the next version of Office will be dubbed Office 2009. And second, the releases of Windows 7 and Office 14 could be synchronized following the same model as Vista and Office 2007.