Introducing Word 2010!
We've been patiently waiting to talk with you about what we've been working on for the last two years, and the wait is over. Today we'll introduce Word 2010 at a very high-level, and then dig deeper and deeper into specific topics and features in the coming months.
Of course, please let us know what you want to hear about.
Word 2010 from 30,000 Feet
The way we work with documents has changed dramatically. In the past, individuals worked on relatively simple, local documents, from their office. Today, it is common for groups to work on rich, shared documents, from anywhere.
Given this shift, we've focused Word 2010 on dramatically improving document collaboration, graphics, and navigation…and then taking the richness and familiarity of Word, and putting it into the browser and onto the mobile phone.
Dramatically Improved Collaboration, Graphics, and Navigation
- Simultaneous editing of Word documents -- all the richness of Word with multiple people at the same time. Say goodbye to this dialog:
With Word 2010, you can co-author right within Word. You don't need to hassle with email attachments, or documents with names like TSP_final_2_reallyFinal_FINAL.docx. Instead, just open your document, and start co-authoring. You can see who else is working with you, and where they are editing.
- Automatic offline editing and sync'ing of shared documents -- when you open a shared document, Word automatically caches it so that you can edit it offline, and then Word will automatically sync your changes when you come back online. So if you need to work away from the office, you will no longer need to worry about saving local copies or manually merging your changes into the server document when you get back to your office. Word 2010 takes care of all of that for you.
- All sorts of new graphical goodness -- artistic picture effects and easy picture editing, more SmartArt diagrams, and rich graphical and typographic effects on text.
Note how "pear" and "shooze" are squiggled. That's because they are just really rich text in the document, not a picture, WordArt, or any other object.
- A new navigation pane and search experience -- easily reorganize your document via drag and drop, and find stuff quickly with incremental search. You can stop copying and pasting huge sections of your document, quickly find your way around long documents, and you don't need to know exactly what you are searching for to find it.
Word in Your Browser and on Your Phone
The other big piece of Word 2010 is giving you the power and familiarity of Word everywhere you need it. In short, you will be able to view, navigate, and edit your Word documents from the browser and from your mobile phone without compromising your document's richness.
I know that was really high-level, but hopefully you have a sense for how Word 2010 will dramatically improve how and where you work on documents.
We'd love to hear your initial thoughts, and what you'd like to hear more about.
- Jonathan Bailor
PS Here's some fun Word 2010 videos of note:
