eWeek.com states: Office 2010 Beta Performs with Striking Stability and Polish and drills deeper into Word, Excel, and Access.
bMighty gives us a slideshow of 12 new features in the suite and their take on them.
ZDNet UK summaries their lengthy review:
Office 2010 is shaping up to be an important release. Just as Windows 7 refined Vista, so Office 2010 refines Office 2007, building on Microsoft's telemetry and user research to deliver a fine-tuned and responsive user interface, along with new collaboration features aimed at distributed workforces. It's not perfect, and there are still plenty of niggles — but there's some six months to go before launch, giving Microsoft time to respond to the feedback that millions of beta copies will deliver.
Have you tried Office 2010 Beta? Let us know what you think. You can download it for free here: http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010. --Doug Thomas
Oscar Wilde said "I can resist anything except temptation." Since Bing launched, I've succumbed to the links in the daily photos and ended up deep in sites like Wikipedia, imagining faraway locales. I've also tried Bing travel for real trips, Bing images, Bing maps, Bing Visual Search for work and pleasure....you get the idea.
Bing crew has recently rolled out more features. Bing video now provides up to 900 video channels, thanks to integrated feeds from Hulu, MSN Video, and ABC. And then there's math, using computational wizardry from WolframAlpha to offer numerical answers whenever numbers make sense.
Search for something mathematical, such as "square root," "volume of a cone," or "dodecahedron", and then click Compute in the left nav. Besides a detailed profile of whatever you were asking about, you'll see a field where you can enter a mathematical equation for WolframAlpha to solve. (I could have used that feature back in junior high.)
The math ability shows up elsewhere too. For example (speaking of temptation), do you know your pre-Thanksgiving Body Mass Index? Search Bing for “BMI calculator” and one opens right there. (If you want to make some changes, these Office fitness templates might help.)
Bing also computes nutrition facts for some foods. Search for "chicken breast" and in the left nav click "Nutrition Facts." You'll see a complete nutritional profile down to the mg of tryptophan (648 mg per 212 g of chicken breast, to be precise).
If you have a favorite quote tacked up in your office or taped to your computer, I'd love to hear it.
(Photo by tiseb, via flickr.com)
-- Holly Thomas
For yesterday’s release of the Office 2010 Beta (download a free suite here), our marketing pals have come up with this Facebook app that analyses what kind of app you—and your friends—are. Me? I’m OneNote. Which is good. I like that fit. What are you? See more at the Office fan page. --Doug Thomas
It's come to my attention that some of you (who shall remain nameless thanks to my own sense of restraint and corporate responsibility) have been left behind in the world of computing. Let's just assume — for the time it takes to read this post — that it's not your fault. In fact, I think I know why so many of you have been reticent to jump in there and start mail merging and frolicking in the task pane: You have no clue what these things are or how they can give you a better life — or at least free up some of your time.
When you're trying to get help—any kind of help—one unknown term or phrase can give you that deer-in-the-headlights feeling, stymieing you in your jump across the highway of knowledge.
For example, what’s the difference between:
- a shortcut menu and a keyboard shortcut?
- server and client?
- menu, menu bar, and toolbar?
As well, what are these???
If you want my full list visit my column Demystifying a few computer terms and get on with your life on Office Online.
"I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." — Lily Tomlin
— Crabby
Listen to more Crabby podcasts
![office_logo[1]](http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/inside_office_online/WindowsLiveWriter/Office2010Betaishere_78A3/office_logo%5B1%5D_3.png "office_logo[1]")
Well, what does that mean?
1) Anyone can download and work with the latest versions of Office 2010 for free in this testing phase. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/ to download them.
2) Lots of cool things will pop-up and you can monitor and join the discussion via Twitter using the #officebeta hashtag or check out the new things at www.facebook.com/office.
We’ll keep this post updated with what others think about Office 2010. –Doug Thomas
Here’s a quick peak at the Beta release:
They found water on the moon! How cool is that? I was just on tweetdeck checking the technology news when NASA's announcement started popping up all over the place like meerkats on espresso.
If it were Monday I'd tie this back into Office somehow, but it's late afternoon on a Friday (Friday the 13th, no less) and my "productivity" focus is, what can I say, blurred? More fun to imagine the conga line at NASA right now.
But hang on a minute......speaking of parties....
-- Holly Thomas
photo by Kevin via flickr
The Office OFFline comic pick this week was inspired by all the ways that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has affected our lives these days.
Have you been able to find happiness? What keywords did you use?
Is your job wild or weird? Does Office help you do it?
Maybe you fly through hurricanes, raise alligators, dive reefs, dig subway tunnels, teach skydivers, build oil rigs, track butterfly migrations, train SWAT teams, run a professional kitchen, or test roller coasters. Whatever the setting and no matter how unusual your occupation, if you use Office but don't work in an office, we'd like to talk with you.
E-mail us a short description of what you do. We’ll get back to you!
--Holly Thomas and Leslie Cole
Photo by Ilse Reijs and Jan-Noud Hutton
