Inside Microsoft Office 2010 Beta

The latest offering from Microsoft Office has more features and enhancements over its predecessor and the beta version is available for testing now. It is designed to deliver unified access across your computer, phone, and anywhere you have web access. The other fascinating thing is that it comes in 32 and 64-bit version.

Here we will take an overview look at what the new apps will look like and some of the new features you able to expect. For this we are showing the 64-bit version.

Installation

If you’re familiar with Office 2007, the installation experience is virtually identical where you able to choose the full or custom install.

As a helpful tip…if you choose custom install with any MS Office version, you able to control a lot of what you don’t want to be included. As in this example where I’m not installing some foreign language features.

When you’re done with the installation you able to go online for some tips or just dive right in.

Word 2010

Word offers a lot of new enhancements with new tools and document creation features. Some of the new things you able to do is collaborate on documents simultaneously, capture and insert screenshots directly from Word, recover drafts of recent edited documents so work isn’t lost, and a lot more.

Excel 2010

New enhancements in Excel include the ability to make mini charts in a single cell, pivot table enhancement, and as with all of the apps, access to your data from virtually anywhere.

PowerPoint 2010

The new PowerPoint version offers enhanced photo effects and editing, enhanced video editing features, and access the projects from anywhere there is a web connection.

Access 2010

For those who are database geeks, Access 2010 has several enhancements as well. It allows you to build database templates, share them, and build upon each other’s designs.

Outlook 2010

They have added several new features to Outlook like being able to make and save custom commands, add dynamic graphics to messages with tools that are included in Word and PowerPoint, and the new Quick Steps feature.

Publisher 2010

If you are a Publisher user, you’ll like the expanded library of new templates and photo editing tools.

Also…

Many of the apps have a File tab which is called Backstage View. It replaces the Office Button and should allow for simpler management.

In this beta, Microsoft wants your feedback and places icons on the taskbar for positive and negative.

When you send a comment, a screenshot is taken of what you reckon is cool or not cool about an Office 2010 feature.

Conclusion

This is just a general overview of what you able to expect and the amount of new features is a bit overwhelming. The Ribbon has been redesigned with a new layout, so finding what you need is a bit of a learning curve again. I am currently neutral on the new Backstage View tab as it takes some getting used to. If you’re an early adopter and want to get an early start on the new Office Suite from Microsoft, you able to try out the beta now.

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