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I know we all talk about multitasking, but the fact is, machines do it very well, humans, and human organizations, not so much. So when the story arrives that Microsoft is already working on the iteration of Office that will come some years after the one due in June 2010, I tend to wonder when perfection was achieved with the Office 2010 product.
It should have been immortalized.
Now that we have all had a laugh, and know full well that the product will not be perfect, we should ask ourselves why the worker bees at Microsoft are not all working on the project at hand, instead of playing divide and conquer.
In times past, that method might have been justifiable, but today, I really wonder how anyone who is not insane can make a case for it. These days, it becomes necessary to ask, “Just how much more crap can they put into this overgrown beast?”
Nonetheless, Ars Technica tells us about the software giant’s movement on the far and away upcoming suite -
Microsoft Office 2010 (also called Office 14) may not be ready to ship yet, but Redmond is already hard at work on Office 15. The tidbit comes to us from the Microsoft Access Team Blog, which starts off a post titled “Access 15 and SQL Server” with the following joyful message: “Hello everyone! As Office 2010 nears shipping, we are starting to plan Office 15. One area that we are considering improving is our SQL Server support. Based on what I’ve heard from the community, that would be most welcome. Note that we are very early in planning, and considering many possible areas of investment, I unfortunately can’t commit to any actual improvements at this time.” The post continues on with specific questions and asks for responses in the form of comments or an e-mail.
Office 2003 was released on November 17, 2003 while Office 2007 arrived on January 30, 2007. Given that Office 2010 is slated to arrive in June 2010, we can probably expect Office 15 to arrive in the second half of 2013 or the first half of 2014. We’re leaning towards it being released earlier rather than later.
This is just guesswork at this point though, as even Microsoft isn’t sure yet. For all we know, the company will have Office 15 ready in time for launch with Windows 8 in 2012, and launch the two together, as it did with Windows Vista and Office 2007.
We know what a smash that was. The worst version of Windows extant, and the version of Office that moved many to say “no mas”. Those who haven’t stayed with Office 2003 have moved on to OpenOffice or something else. Anytime someone mentions the ribbon-interface in polite company, many look askance, as though a dirty word had been uttered. Perhaps staggering the releases, like the summer and winter Olympics, would be the best plan.
In slightly related news, the Office team last week announced that the 1 millionth download of Office 2010 had been crossed. On the Microsoft Office 2010 Engineering blog, in a post titled “Office 2010 Beta Hits a Milestone!” the details were explained: “This means that more than 1 million people across the world are now experiencing and testing the next version of Office. You’ll recall we launched the public beta just two weeks ago at the Professional Developer’s Conference and in reaching the 1 millionth download milestone, Office 2010 has had more people download it in the first two weeks than any other version of Office including Office 2007! It’s super gratifying to see so many people interested in experiencing the next version of Office and help us deliver the best product possible.”
Downloading and purchasing are two different things. Many who will download will decide that either the product is too costly, too bloated, or too different, requiring yet more training for the staff. Staff training is one reason why many abandoned the Office 2007 merry-go-round. It was enough different that people would not move away from the known, and easily used.
For those still interested in getting their hands on it, the best place to start for the whole 2010 wave of Microsoft products is Microsoft.com/2010. You can provide feedback for the Office 2010 beta over on the Microsoft TechNet Office 2010 Forums.
While I think Office 2010 will be a winner, it’s winning is only predicated upon the integration with Windows 7. The next version of Office will not have a huge difference to deal with in the way it interoperates with the host OS, so it will have to rely upon more added bulk.
That however, was not the original point. The point is that Office 15 should not have to be the fix pack to the sins committed by Office 2010. If it is, people will be as upset with it as some are with being charged for Windows 7, when those same people believe that they should have gotten Windows 7 gratis, after being hosed by Vista. Office 2010 should be the product that gets all hands on deck to make sure it is a winner from day one. If it isn’t there might not be a need for an Office 15 product.
For that, there simply is not enough effort in Redmond for it to be split up on differing projects