Microsoft is expected to release a beta version ofOffice
2010next month, according to news siteCnet
.
The product, which has been available as a
technical preview, supports collaboration, allowing users to
share documents and move files between PCs, the web and
smartphones.
According to Microsoft, Office 2010 will offer better
collaboration, enabling multiple authors to edit the same document.
Similar to the "lock cell" function in multi-user Excel
spreadsheets, each user can edit a different paragraph in the same
document simultaneously. To aid collaboration over e-mail, Outlook
2010 offers GMail-style threaded conversations. It allows users to
"ignore" unwanted threads
It also provides basic image editing functions, which allows
users to edit images directly in Word or PowerPoint and offers a
new user interface called BackStage, which enables users to work
on, print and manage Office 2010 documents in a common
workspace.
While the product works standalone, Microsoft is urging users to
upgrade desktop PCs to
Windows 7, available from 22 October, to make the most of the
new features in both products.