Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 18 January 2009 07:38
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
When Microsoft launched Office 2007, it also introduced the new
“ribbon” interface, hated by some and loved by others. Screenshots of
the Office 14 suite, said to be due for release in 2010, now show the
ribbon is everywhere – but will Microsoft update Powerpoint so it
matches and betters the “cinema transitions” in Apple’s Keynote?
ArsTechnica has a
nice collection of screenshots of the Office 14 “alpha”, with a wider release (perhaps a “pre-beta”) apparently not due until March this year.
Little is known about the true advances of Office 14 beyond the “ribbon everywhere” development, aside from the additional fact that Office 2007 is really known as Office 12, suggesting that Office 14 is being called that because someone at Microsoft is superstitious, or Microsoft is worried that its customers are.
In addition, Office 14 is only a codename: no-one yet publicly knows whether Microsoft will choose to call the suite Office 2010, Office 7 (to match Windows 7), Office 14 or something else.
iTWire colleague Davey Winder has written an article called “
Does anyone care about Office 14?” where some additional minor detail is exposed, but given the free availability of Open Office, Google Docs and other office suites, the big question for Microsoft will be whether anyone wants to pay for Office 14 or not.
It’s the same story with Windows 7. While reviews of the beta have largely been fantastic, suggesting Windows 7 will be the success that Windows Vista wasn’t (at least in the eyes of the public and the press), the high cost of Windows and Office will be questioned as never before.
Everyone knows that Windows and Office are the cash cows that have kept Microsoft in massive profit over the past few years, funding everything else from online search adventures to the Xbox, Zune and other initiatives.
Keeping Windows and Office prices low and affordable will discourage piracy, get many more people paying Microsoft rather than reaching for Ubuntu and Open Office (or other distros and office clones) and keep money pouring into Microsoft’s coffers - crucial in a time of “economic crisis”.
For me, the upgrade to Powerpoint will be of particular interest. This is because Powerpoint has really changed little over the years, with Apple’s “Keynote” presentation software blowing Powerpoint out of the water when it comes to “cinematic transitions”.
So, will Microsoft update Powerpoint? What about the "Classic Menus" issue? Will Microsoft ever deliver what its customers want, or will economic issues force it to reconsider? All is continued
on page 2 – please read on!
