After the initial rollout of Microsoft Office 2010 to businesses with Software Assurance back on April 27th and then becoming available through our Volume Licensing programs for business customers in May, today Microsoft Office 2010 becomes available through over 35,000 retail locations and on new PCs worldwide for consumers and end users everywhere!  Microsoft Office 2010 brings a ton of new functionality and benefits to users as well as additional ways to access, use and share the information they need whether in the office, at home, or on the road, including the ability to access that information through a huge variety of devices.

If you are not familiar with Microsoft Office 2010 yet, here are several resources for you that you may want to check out:

• Check out the Microsoft Office 2010 virtual launch event if you missed it earlier
• Microsoft Office 2010: Product Guides - The Office 2010 product guides provide an overview of what’s new in your favorite Microsoft Office programs and a deeper look at benefits across all Office 2010 programs, as well as Office Web Apps and Office Mobile 2010.
• Microsoft Office 2010 At-a-Glance Data Sheet
• Microsoft Office 2010 Overview
• Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 Overview
• Microsoft Office Web Apps Overview
• Get started with Microsoft Office Web Apps today
• Download the Microsoft Office 2010 Trial
• Check out the Microsoft Office 2010 product page
• Microsoft Office 2010 Partner Resources Overview Video
• Microsoft Office 2010 Partner Training Resources
• Microsoft Office 2010 Partner Sales & Marketing Resources
• Microsoft Office 2010 Video Gallery, including:
  • “Make It Great”: Office 2010 Launches in 10 Languages
  • Office 2010 for work - New Features Demo
  • Office 2010 for home - New Features Demo
  • Office 2010 for school - New Features Demo
  • Work from the Pub - Office 2010 for Working Anywhere
  • Excel 2010 for my Business
  • OneNote 2010 for My Business
  • And many more…
• The Office Blog
• Microsoft Outlook 2010 With Business Contact Manager Overview
• Microsoft Office 2010 and Related Products Newsroom: Analyst Reports
• Compare Microsoft Office Suites available through Volume Licensing
• Compare Microsoft Office Suites available through Retail
• Using, learning, and customizing the Office 2010 Ribbon

I can tell you that personally, I love many of the new features of Microsoft Office 2010, such as:

• Video & photo editing and use directly in PowerPoint – This is a killer feature for any of you that do presentations!
• “Ignore discussion” feature in Outlook – How many of you have been on an email where someone “replies all” and then before you know it, you have tons of people ALL replying all saying something like, “Please don’t reply all!” and filling up people’s inboxes with gibberish.  (The irony, I know)  “Ignore” now let’s you delete the email and automatically have any further replies to that thread automatically deleted so you never have to deal with it again!  GREAT FEATURE!!!  (you can also use it for any email thread you want to ignore and not receive future updates on)
• Conversations mode in Outlook – This one I actually like quite a bit and it takes a little getting used to initially, but it groups your incoming emails by conversations in chronological order, automatically pulling prior emails on a thread up front when a new reply comes in.
• Office Web Apps on Windows Live SkyDrive – Here is a great way to access, view, and edit Microsoft Office files from wherever as long as you have an internet connection
• Social connectors in Outlook 2010 – Have friends on LinkedIn and other social media engines that you also have in Outlook?  Connect the info together in Outlook using the social connectors.

And that’s just a few.  Have any Office 2010 features that you love and want to share?  Post a comment below and let me know.

I hope the information and resources above help you in your journey to learn more about Microsoft Office 2010 and the exciting things it brings to users of all kinds, whether at home, school, or work.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER, LinkedIn, and RSS and see “What I’m thinking”
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights