14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 7 is not the only upcoming Microsoft product that gets its own special nook in the blogosphere. The Redmond company is now ready to provide a similar level of attention to both its main cash cows. In this regard, the upcoming version of the Office System also got a blog in the TechNet network. The Microsoft Office 2010 IT Blog debuted on May 11, 2009, and there's nothing much to see for the time being, with the exception of a welcome message, but the new online destination seems to share the same focus as the Engineering Windows 7 blog.
“This blog is being created by the Office team to help our IT professionals and enthusiasts get a better idea of what we are building with Office 2010 and discuss the key issues that matter to you. We are all incredibly excited to start talking about the new version of Office and hope you will participate here,” revealed a member of the Office team.
Just as Engineering Windows 7, the new blog for the successor of Office 2007 will deliver an insight into the engineering process of Office 2010. At the same time, Microsoft Office 2010 IT Blog will be a place for the software giant to gather feedback on the next iteration of the Office System. But most importantly, the debut of the blog signals the fact that Microsoft is finally ready to kick the chatter on Office 2010 to the next level.
In mid-April 2009, the Redmond company pointed to 2010, namely the first half of the coming year, for the RTM and General Availability of Office 2010, formerly codenamed Office 14. One part of Office 2010 is already available to testers, as the software giant offered the first public beta of Exchange 2010 the past month. According to Chris Capossela, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Information Worker Product Management Group, Office 2010, plus Office Web applications, SharePoint Server 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010 will all be available as a technical preview come the third quarter of 2009.
Exchange Server 2010 Public Beta is available for download here.