Business users to get Office 2010 on May 12
Microsoft is specifying a real date on which business users will be able to get their hands on Office 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010: May 12.
Consumers will have to wait until June to buy the product online and at retail, Microsoft officials said on March 5, via a post to the Microsoft Office 2010 Engineering blog.
Microsoft officials have been saying for the past few months that the company planned to make the final Office 2010 bits available by June of this year. A near-final Release Candidate (RC) test build of the product is being tested by a select group, with the release-to-manufacturing expected any time during the coming weeks.
Microsoft also began offering users who are purchasing Office 2007 a free upgrade to Office 2010, as of today, March 5.
Word of the Office Tech Guarantee leaked earlier this year. Here are the qualification terms:
- Purchase Office 2007, or a new PC with Office 2007, and activate it between March 5, 2010 and September 30, 2010
- Have, or create a Windows Live ID
- Redeem your Tech Guarantee before October 31, 2010 by visiting www.office.com/techg
Meanwhile, while I'm blogging about Office, Google announced today that it has purchased DocVerse, a company formed by former Microsoft employees, which enables Office users to collaborate in real time via the Web. Office 2010, via Office Web Apps, will provide that same functionality. Microsoft currently provides some of that same collaboration functionality via Office Live Workspace, which will be replaced by Office Web Apps.