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Microsoft today announced the availability of Service Pack 2 for Office 2007. What’s in it for Office 2007 users?
Users should notice the improved performance and stability of Outlook, better charting functionality in Excel, and more control over the appearance of SmartArt graphics.
On the server side, IT professionals will notice several enhancements to the security and performance of SharePoint Server 2007, including support for read-only content databases, improvements to forms-based authentication, and an STSADM command-line utility that enables administrators to scan sites that use the variations feature for errors. SharePoint Server will also feature better support for newer versions of the Firefox browser.
Also, having a wider array of file-format choices should really benefit customers. With SP2, Office 2007 now has built-in support for Open XML, ODF and PDF, along with the dozen or so other formats that were already supported in Office 2007.
Office 2007 users can download SP2 right away or wait for it via Microsoft Update where it will appear "no sooner than three months from now, and with at least 30 days notice."
Microsoft is rolling out the PR for Office 2010 (formerly Office 14) and Exchange 2010:
We’re announcing that Microsoft will begin releasing new versions of Office-related products this year. Exchange 2010 will be the first product in this lineup, entering beta for customers to download today. Exchange 2010 will become available in the second half of 2009. Office 2010 — including Office Web applications, SharePoint Server 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010 — will enter a technical preview in the third quarter of 2009 and will release to manufacturing in the first half of 2010.
So what goodies does Microsoft have for users of Exchange 2010 and Office 2010 (which reportedly will have both 32 and 64-bit versions)? Well, that’s a bit hard to discern amidst the flummery, but beyond the improved Outlook Web Access Webmail client, one other theme seems clear:
IT professionals will have more flexibility and choice to simplify deployment and lower management costs, while maintaining control. For example, Exchange 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010 give users the same value whether deployed on-premises, as a service from Microsoft and industry partners, or a mix of both.
As for the Exchange 2010 beta:
Exchange 2010 is part of the next wave of Microsoft Office-related products and is the first server in a new generation of Microsoft server technology built from the ground up to work on-premises and as an online service. This release of Exchange 2010 introduces a new integrated e-mail archive and features to help reduce costs and improve the user experience. A public beta of the server is available for download starting today at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/2010.
There is a full laundry list of new Exchange 2010 features at the link, not a few of which are rather obscure.
As anticipated, Microsoft today launched Windows Live Hotmail worldwide with a spiffy new AJAX interface and the intent of retiring its venerable MSN Hotmail which has over 280 million users. Some key aspects:
There are more new features and aside from the nomenclature madness, this all seems worthwhile, but now begins the long transition of existing users which Major anticipates will be complete by November. I can’t help but observe that the transition would be faster if they had the Outlook Connector and the new Live Mail client ready now.
Update: Ina Fried has an interesting Hotmail background story that reveals that the new AJAX interface was deemed too slow, particularly on dial-up lines, and that was the reason that an updated “classic” interface was reintroduced to the final product at some delay.
Microsoft’s Windows Live OneCare PC security package has been getting some bad press lately and it didn’t improve today - Windows Live OneCare eats Outlook mail for lunch:
A recent update to the Microsoft antivirus engine for Windows Live OneCare will quarantine the PST file used to store e-mail messages for Microsoft Outlook, preventing access to messages, appointments, tasks and journal entries. It affects versions of Outlook, including Outlook 97 and 2000, and Outlook Express running on Windows XP when the .pst file contains an infected attachment. Microsoft will issue an update on Patch Tuesday, March 13, 2007.
Follow the link for some terse directions on how to solve the problem in the meantime or head over to AppScout for more details including this observation:
OneCare is aimed at the home and non-technical user - maybe not for you, but for your Granny. So, how well do you think Granny could follow the instructions above to keep OneCare from cannibalizing her email?
Good question, but Microsoft is undaunted and is getting ready for OneCare 2.0:
According to Microsoft, OneCare Live 2.0 will include all the security features of OneCare Live 1.5 and will be able to be licensed for as many as three PCs per household. OneCare Live 2.0 will also include wireless connection setup and security features, a boot-time optimizer, automated monthly computer usage and security reports, online photo backup functionality (for an additional charge), unified monitoring and maintenance of networked PCs, printer sharing, and automated PC tune-ups.
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The OneCare Live 2.0 beta will begin in late April, and Microsoft plans to ship the final version of OneCare Live 2.0 in third quarter 2007. You can sign up for the beta at Microsoft’s Web site.
You can sign up for the beta here. Neil Rubenking also has more details on the new features in OneCare version 2.0.
