Microsoft Office Live

Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed that the next version of Office, code-named Office 14, will come in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

The 64-bit version is a first for both Office and for Microsoft's mainstream desktop applications, though a number of its server products, such as SQL Server, are already available in 64-bit versions.

Office 14, which is expected to be called Office 2010, is slated to ship next year. Among its other notable features is the fact that Microsoft will offer browser-based versions of Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and OneNote, in addition to the traditional Windows-based desktop programs.

By extending … Read more

Despite the fact that Microsoft has competing products of its own, some influential folks within the company have seen some merits of "Open Web" technology that's a standard part of browsers.

The interesting case in point is Microsoft Office 14, the upcoming version of one of the company's core products and profit engines. The software, due in beta form in 2009, is of Microsoft's highest-profile efforts to bring its desktop software power to the Web.

Specifically, when it comes to the best tools for building rich Web applications, Microsoft has promoted its own Silverlight plug-in … Read more

For those wondering about Microsoft exec Stephen Elop's suggestions that Office is coming to the iPhone, let me be unequivocal. It is.

How do I know? Microsoft has already said so. The software maker is planning over the coming months to introduce Web-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. Those programs will run not only in Internet Explorer, but also in Safari and Firefox. And, lest there be any ambiguity, Microsoft has already confirmed that this means Office for iPhone and Office for Linux.

Don't get me wrong. Those are both big deals--particularly Office for Linux (think … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--For a company that is happy to list a million reasons why Office is better than OpenOffice or Google Docs or other rivals, Microsoft sure is putting a tremendous amount of effort into working better with those products.

The next version of Office will natively support the OpenDocument format (as will the next service pack for Office 2007). As it is developing the next Office, Microsoft is also documenting every change it is making as part of its commitment to documenting all of Office's various formats and protocols.

"We often talk about the changing needs of … Read more

Just because Office 14 won't be fully released until next year doesn't mean consumers will have to wait that long to try out the products.

In an interview this week Senior Vice President Chris Capossela said that Microsoft will offer more details on the beta "relatively soon," noting that Office has traditionally made its products available to millions of testers well before the final version ships.

"That's been true of the suite," he said. "That will certainly be true of the suite this time and of the Web apps."

With Office … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--Rajesh Jha likens complex software projects to building a skyscraper.

That means in the end, the thing might look pretty good. Along the way, though, it tends to be kind of a mess.

"If you walk by the site of a skyscraper under construction, it looks chaotic," Microsoft corporate VP Rajesh Jha said in an interview last week. "It looks confused. You will see dirt, scaffolding."

At the end, though, if it is useful, it will be something worth all the dust.

"If it is designed well, what comes out is something that … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--When Microsoft showed its Seadragon technology some time ago, it was clear that a bird's-eye view was a neat way to do photos. But Microsoft clearly thinks the "bird's-eye" view of content has applications way beyond photos.

On Friday, Microsoft is releasing a free add-on, dubbed Canvas for OneNote, that takes that same approach to viewing one's notebooks in OneNote.

Because it is an adjunct to OneNote, Canvas requires one really be a heavy user of that program to get the benefit. (It also requires Windows Vista and uses Microsoft's Windows Presentation … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--Among the many tidbits in Steve Ballmer's talk to financial analysts Tuesday was the fact that folks should not expect the next version of Office, code-named Office 14, to come out this year.

"From a strategy perspective, the next big innovation milestone is Office 14, our next Office release, which will not be this year," Ballmer told the Wall Street crowd. "There's a version of SharePoint. There's a version of Exchange. There's a new version of Office Live."

As it has been with Windows 7, Microsoft has been cagey about … Read more

Microsoft confirmed on Friday that it is pushing together its Office Live and Windows Live efforts.

The company isn't changing the development cycle or the leadership of the teams working on the products, but it is promising that consumers will be able to get to both sets of services from a common Web location.

Microsoft didn't say exactly what that spot will be, but the Windows Live branding is expected to be the one that survives the combination, I'm hearing. (But what about Officeliveworkspacecommunity.com? Does Microsoft really want to give up that prime, easy-to-remember address?)

Although … Read more