14 DAY TRIAL // In mid-November 2009, Microsoft opened up access to the next iteration of its Office System. Office 2010 Beta Build 14.0.4536.1000 as well as the associated activation product keys continue to be available for download from the Redmond company. But as it usually is the case with the software giant, the company is accompanying Office 2010 Beta with a range of resources, the vast majority of which, just as the Build 14.0.4536.1000 bits themselves can be grabbed free of charge. It is the case of the “First Look: Microsoft Office 2010” e-book, which the Redmond company is delivering to customers as a free download.
“For a limited time you can download this free e-book without stepping through any registration. First Look: Microsoft Office 2010, by Katherine Murray, offers 14 chapters of early content, organized like so: Part I, “Envision the Possibilities,” introduces you to the changes in Office 2010 and shows you how you can make the most of the new features to fit the way you work today. Part II, “Hit the Ground Running,” focuses on each of the Office 2010 applications in turn, spotlighting the key new features and showing how they relate to the whole. Part III, “Next Steps with Office 2010,” zooms up to the big picture and provides examples to help you think through interoperability,” a Microsoft representative noted.
So far, Microsoft had been offering the free Office 2010 First Look book via Windows Live SkyDrive, but multiple users complained that they were unable to access the resource. The book is essentially a PDF weighing in about 10.5 MB. It appears that while some users have no problems downloading the file, others had no success at all. Microsoft is working to repost the download, and as soon as that happens I’ll provide and update, so watch this space.
“We're going to be placing the free ebook one a server with the Office group soon, but we wanted to get this out as soon as possible. Sorry for the download issues. We've heard that some people have had luck getting it this afternoon. We'll let everyone know when it has a new home if you can't download it this week,” noted Kim Spilker, from the Microsoft Press Marketing team.
Office 2010 Beta 14.0.4536.1000 is available for download here.