Ribbons and Clippy and Clouds, oh my! Office 15 may be revealed today

Subject: General Tech | July 16, 2012 - 01:30 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: microsoft, office 15, office 2013, Metro

If you want to see professionals absolutely lose it, hang out in a office during the first time the encounter a new version of Microsoft Office. Suddenly their barely tamed tool which delivers their emails and allows them to put together slide decks and documents has turned into a wild beast which stands between them and their deadlines. Those that claim Microsoft has to change their Office Suite in order to stay relevant in the marketplace do not have much familiarity with the Sharepoint and Exchange driven companies which don't decide to stick with MS Office because the ribbons are pretty, they do so because their entire infrastructure is built around Microsoft products.

That hasn't stopped Redmond however and those of you in support positions at work or in your family are in for a nightmare as Office goes Metro. That's right, if you thought explaining Ribbons to 'C' level executives was difficult just wait until you have to explain the new Windows GUI as the rumours and leaks we have seen all point to Office going Metro. On the plus side, we should see some sort of Office Suite for ARM based WindowsRT systems, and it isn't Office 365. The Register has some key dates and should post more info as it arrives.

^{What Supersite for Windows saw}

"Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is widely expected to announce details of the next version of the Microsoft Office productivity suite on Monday USA Today reports, giving the public its first glimpse of a product that has so far remained shrouded in secrecy.

Microsoft has been calling the new version "Office 15," but come Monday we'll probably know it as Office 2013, assuming Redmond sticks to convention. To date, only "a select group of customers" have had their mitts on the new suite, via a technical preview program that began in January, and then only under a strict nondisclosure agreement."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

Source: The Register

Microsoft's product leak - it's not wrong, just don't trust it

Subject: General Tech | April 13, 2012 - 11:57 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: microsoft, leak, office 15, internet explorer 10

Microsoft had a very atypical reaction to the leak of slides which you can catch at The Register this morning. While most companies disavow any knowledge of leaks and refuse to either confirm or deny the veracity of the leaks, Microsoft came out and confirmed that the plans and dates are correct but that no one should bank on them actually meeting those deadlines. March of next year is when Office 15 is slated to arrive, along with Exchange, SharePoint, Visio and Project updates. Office 360 should continue to receive updates every quarter, so users of that SaaS may be the first to encounter any changes that will be incorporated into Office 15. Any users of IE should expect a new version this summer, but after that it will be two years before the next major rehaul of the browser occurs.

"Maarten Visser, CEO of Dutch cloud developer consultancy Meetroo, posted the plans, which were issued by Redmond at the end of last year, on his Twitter stream and they include launch dates for product as Office 15, Windows Phone and IE 10. Microsoft has confirmed the veracity of the images, but warns you shouldn't bet the bank on them."