The king of office software launches Office 2010 to businesses today, May 12th. It is a major departure from what we have seen before in it’s visual design and user interface, but may still seem familiar to those already used to previous versions. There are many new features hiding under the hood, including a free online component that will let you store your documents in the cloud and access them from anywhere.
Microsoft dominates as the Office Suite of choice for individuals and especially businesses. This continues despite services like Google Docs, Zoho, and others offering cheaper web-based solutions. The push into the web is more than likely a response to these services. It’s important that Office users have the same flexibility to change computers or work at different locations as the competitors may offer. In addition, the popularity of netbooks, iPads and other less powerful devices focused on web browsing means that a web-based solution is imperative to retain existing users and remain an option for new customers. Moving into the cloud and keeping the web based services free may put MS a step ahead given their already dominant position.
Social connector is another new feature aimed to keep Office on the cutting edge. It allows you to integrate your social web life directly into your Office experience. This lets you integrate information about your contacts from the social web so that you know their current contact information in addition to what their current status and activities might be.
It looks like Microsoft has definitely been paying attention to current trends and has no plans to be left behind. For existing users, the new version should be a welcome update. For future users, they will be able to choose a solid brand without sacrificing the ability to work in the cloud. Office 2010 launches May 12th at an event in New York and should be available for businesses immediately. Individuals will have to wait until June for the official retail launch.
If you’re impatient, you can still download the beta and get a feel for what is to come. You can also try Office Live to see what the cloud offering is like.