Microsoft launches beta Office 2010 suite in Gulf

Microsoft Gulf has announced the beta availability of a suite of Office and other related products including Office 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010.

The company also announced the beta version of Office Web Applications for consumers, which are the online, lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. The betas can be downloaded at www.microsoft.com/2010.

"Office 2010 is the premier productivity solution across PCs, mobile phones and browsers," said Elias Tabet, Business and Marketing Director, Microsoft Gulf. "From broadcast and video editing in PowerPoint, new data visualisation capabilities in Excel, and co-authoring in Word, we are delivering technology to help people work smarter and faster from virtually any location using any device. As we look at Office today, we have strong momentum behind our products and are very excited about where we are headed with Office 2010. With the new solutions, Microsoft remains committed to offering our customers the greatest possible choice in the technology they use and to deliver software and services that are compatible with the way they work and live."

Microsoft worked closely with customers and partners around the world to incorporate their feedback into the development of Office 2010 and continues to work with the partner ecosystem to ensure their products, services and devices are ready.

Pinaki Kar, General Manager of Wipro for the Mena region, said: "For IT, it means utilising a set of smart, easy-to-integrate tools in a security enhanced environment that works with existing infrastructure. When combined, all these technologies will connect workers across a single collaboration platform that a business needs to achieve significant productivity and efficiency benefits along with a dynamic technology infrastructure."

Microsoft also announced that it is streamlining the number of Office editions from eight to five and enhancing each edition.

The company said Office Web applications will be available in three ways: through Windows Live, where more than 400 million consumers will have access to Office Web applications at no cost; on-premise for all Office volume licensing customers including more than 90 million Office annuity customers; and via Microsoft Online Services, where customers will be able to purchase a subscription as part of a hosted offering.

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