Productivity suite held back until next year
Microsoft has decided to push back the release of its forthcoming 2007 Office productivity suite to January 2007.
The software was initially promised for late 2006, but consumers will now have to wait until next year. The product unveiling will coincide with the launch of Windows Vista.
Enterprise customers are slated to receive the application in October this year though Microsoft's volume licensing programme. By the same time the first disks will be shipped to hardware manufacturers to allow them to test the software for bundling on new systems by January 2007.
The application is currently in beta and a second beta has been promised before June.
The most visible enhancement to the suite is the new user interface first demonstrated at the Professional Developer Conference last year in Los Angeles.
Menu buttons are set to change according to the task that the user is performing, eliminating the need to access drop down menus when searching for appropriate items.
Microsoft earlier this weak has said that it was forced to delay the release of Windows Vista until January 2007. Windows chief Jim Allchin said that the company needed a "few more weeks" to increase the suite's quality. That would have left insufficient time for computer manufacturers to properly test and certify their systems in time for the holiday shopping season.
The decision is expected to deal a severe blow to the hardware industry this Christmas season. Consumers are expected to delay buying new systems until the operating system comes out. Computer makers last year on average generated 19.6 per cent of their overall sakes in this period, according to data from Current Analysis.
Microsoft has decided to push back the release of its forthcoming 2007 Office productivity suite to January 2007.
The software was initially promised for late 2006, but consumers will now have to wait until next year. The product unveiling will coincide with the launch of Windows Vista.
Enterprise customers are slated to receive the application in October this year though Microsoft's volume licensing programme. By the same time the first disks will be shipped to hardware manufacturers to allow them to test the software for bundling on new systems by January 2007.
The application is currently in beta and a second beta has been promised before June.
The most visible enhancement to the suite is the new user interface first demonstrated at the Professional Developer Conference last year in Los Angeles.
Menu buttons are set to change according to the task that the user is performing, eliminating the need to access drop down menus when searching for appropriate items.
Microsoft earlier this weak has said that it was forced to delay the release of Windows Vista until January 2007. Windows chief Jim Allchin said that the company needed a "few more weeks" to increase the suite's quality. That would have left insufficient time for computer manufacturers to properly test and certify their systems in time for the holiday shopping season.
The decision is expected to deal a severe blow to the hardware industry this Christmas season. Consumers are expected to delay buying new systems until the operating system comes out. Computer makers last year on average generated 19.6 per cent of their overall sakes in this period, according to data from Current Analysis.
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