14 DAY TRIAL // Just as it was the case for its other flagship product, it looks like Microsoft will also be a tad late when it comes down to unveiling the box art for its next generation of the Office System. The Redmond company only confirmed that the leaked details on Windows 7 packaging were indeed real months after the information made it into the wild. This will probably be the case with Office 2010, as the box art for the official packaging was leaked at the end of last week.
Users can, of course, feast their eyes on the Office 2010 RTM box designs by viewing the images included in this article, courtesy of CentrumXP. The Polish website has earned a reputation for delivering solid leaks when, back in May 2009, it was the very first to unveil the Windows 7 retail box designs. In this context, although Microsoft has yet to confirm that these are indeed examples of the official Office 2010 packaging art, the probability that customers buying the successor of Office 2007 via retail outlets will come across these boxes is extremely high.
In order to help you compare Office 2010 with Office 2007 as far as packaging is concerned, I also included the boxes for Office 2007 Professional and Home and Student editions. As you can see, the actual boxes are very similar, and users should expect to see them open in the same manner as those for Windows 7.
Otherwise, the new packaging incorporates the overhauled Office 2010 logo, built to be simpler, with an emphasis on clarity, and with a less rich color gamma. In fact ,the colors used in the new Office 2010 logo are the same that also define the box art. Users will be able to notice that the yellow to orange gradient from the logo is found on the boxes themselves as well, albeit in a different direction.
Moreover, it appears that Microsoft will use a single, unifying, color gamma across the packaging for all Office 2010 SKUs, while there will be exceptions, such as Office Professional Academic 2010, an edition with limited availability, aimed at an academic audience. Early adopters now have the chance to test Office 2010 Beta, released at the Professional Developers Conference 2009 in Los Angeles, in mid-November. While the Beta build can be run until October 2010, Microsoft is planning to launch Office 2010 for purchase in June of the coming year.
Office 2010 Beta 14.0.4536.1000 is available for download here.
