The highly-anticipated release of Microsoft Office 2007 beta 2 was finally released this week. Our editor's got their hands on the latest free download from Microsoft.com and took a look at the second beta of Microsoft Office 2007, which is scheduled for a full, retail release in January 2007 along with the release of Windows Vista.

View More Office 2007 Screenshots -->

Microsoft Office 2007 beta 2 looks very much like the Office 2007 beta 1 "technical refresh" that was released a few months ago. The Office 2007 interface has remained the same and is still drastically different than Office 2003 and other previous Microsoft Office versions. The first thing that you'll notice when you open an Office 2007 product is the completely revamped interface. The traditional drop-down menu's at the top have been replaced by what is called a "ribbon." It's basically tabs that change depending upon which tab is chosen. For example, the "home" tab contains all of your formatting options, such as font settings, page layouts, and colors. Other tabs include Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review, and View. Each tab is very neatly organized and well though out. It didn't take long for us to master the use of the ribbon and we quickly fell in love with it. In addition to the ribbon menu, the main menu of all the Office 2007 programs is now accessible by pressing the Office logo in the upper-left corner. It then will display a much more expanded main menu that includes a feature selection on the left and then when you hover over one of those features, more options appear on the right side.

Microsoft Office 2007's new "ribbon" menu organizes all of the suite's features into one easy to use tabbed menu system.

The new expanded main menu in Office 2007 programs is accessible via the Office logo in the upper-left corner.

The ribbon also expands to your needs depending upon what you are doing in Word at the time. For example, if you are dealing with pictures or clip art, a new "picture formatting" tab appears with options specifically for editing and manipulating graphics.You can now also edit an image right in Word 2007 without having to open an external image editor.

There is also a new "blogging" system integrated into Word 2007. It works with Blogger and with Microsoft's own blogging services. You use the File/New menu to open a new blog entry, input your blog service's username and password, and then create a new entry or download existing ones to edit. There is also new options to protect your work by password-protecting and encrypting it. Word 2007 used a new XML-based document format (called ".docx") as its default file format and it dramatically shrinks file sizes and allows developers to develop tweaks and changes to the file format to suit their needs. We were, however, unable to open .docx files in previous Office versions. Luckily, you can still save documents created in Office 2007 in the traditional .doc file-format that can be opened in previous Office versions.

Word 2007 makes it very easy to make blog posts to many popular online blogging services.

There is also a new Office Diagnostic feature that allows you to run it and it will attempt to detect problems with your Office 2007 installation and try to fix them. It seems like a pretty nice idea, but we were not able to test it to see if it would work.

The new Office Diagnostics will attempt to find and fix problems with your Office 2007 installation if you find that you're having problems.

Microsoft PowerPoint has also been really revamped behind-the-scenes. The new PowerPoint 2007 is filled with new slide templates, image-editing tools, and slide animations. The new ribbon menu is of course also present in the new PowerPoint 2007. In an effort to please frequent images users, Microsoft is including a ton of preprogrammed style galleries to spice up images and text. New "SmartArt" capabilities allow you to transform boring bulleted text into a chart or other useful informational graphic.

PowerPoint 2007 is filled with new templates that will add some real spice to any presentation.

PowerPoint 2007 files are also XML-based (".pptx") files, which means they are smaller and more easily recovered and saved if they somehow become corrupt or unreadable. Other small improvements make PowerPoint 2007 well worth it if you frequently create PowerPoint presentations.

Other programs that come with the Office 2007 suite include Excel, InfoPath, Outlook, Access, and Publisher. All of them include the new XML-based file formats and the new visual look and layout that the above Office 2007 programs have. To run Office 2007, you must have Windows XP SP2 on a 500MHz or high CPU with 2GB free on your hard drive and at least 256MB of RAM (512MB for Outlook with Business Contact Manager). In our tests, all Office 2007 beta 2 programs have been very stable and functional. However, remember that this is a beta release, so install at your own caution or on a computer other than your primary computer. If you would like to download Office 2007 Beta 2 for yourself, you can sign up for the free beta at Microsoft's Office 2007 Web site.

Comments (8)

Office 2007 - cocentrates on annoying experienced users - no effort in fixing flaws in previous office versions written by Venture on August 29, 2006 What is it the MS doesn't understand? Have they tried their own products? Do they only give them to people who've never used a computer before and say how would you change it? Where are they finding all these 70 plus year olds and people who've been locked up their entire lives? They’ve possibly made it more intuitive for people who’ve never used a computer before but what about the rest of us who have been using them for years – you’ve seriously handicapped us. How would Bill Gates feel if the next car he had to buy had the steering wheel on the right because people in England found that more intuitive? Outlook Issues 1. Does not let you open more than one outlook profile simultaneously. 2. Often retrieves data from one account into another within the same profile. 3. Does not close down reliably so when you attempt to switch between outlook profiles (since it won't let you open both simultaneously) it opens the same one even if you wait a minute. 4. Using the search function in sent folders or your entire mailbox still returns only the FROM field - not sure why MS people don't ever think we want to know who it went TO- Is this such a hard thing? Yes you can customize columns after EACH search to get the TO field but I'm pretty sure when I'm searching MY SENT folder I already know who the e-mail was FROM - what I need to know is who did it go TO. BCM Issues- A GREAT PRODUCT - Completely GIMPED by MS. 1. All it needs to do is sync the most important contact info - name, address, phone number, e-mail address with contacts in outlook so that it is available via OWA and WM5 - no simple copy tool included - making it completely useless for any remote data work. MS Access - no OLE or wrapper or built in handler for JPGs and other picture formats. 1. Why make a database for non techies that can't natively handle pictures. How can you do a decent catalog, inventory, personnel list etc, if you make it so complicated that you have to use code for pictures? Might as well hire an Oracle programmer if you aren't going to make a simple database for non-techies. Either include a good ole program with Office that handles JPGs or make the program wrap the pictures natively. Excel - 1. Still doesn't easily remove data/links. Copy and paste a table showing prices on any product - e.g. E6700 processors. Now go ahead and delete the rows or data. The "buy now" link is still there - isn't it? Word - 1. Doesn't let you easily change spacing between paragraphs and sentences - e.g. this paragraph 1.2 next sentence 1.5 etc. If you want to vary randomly and between lines different when jumping to a new line. ... written by Carsten Jensen on February 10, 2007 Word / password protection I've encrypted a document with a password, but i can't open it again, with the exat same password Best regards Carsten, Denmark Office 2007 written by Robert on April 5, 2007 I installed the Office 2007 Pro and have to say I was clearly disappointed. The new ribbon at the top of the Window invaded 20% to 25% of the screen area. Its about the equivelant of running internet explorer with the links, standard, address, google, yahoo, and MSN toolbars all enabled at the same time. Very cluttered. It reminded me of the old free dial up connections people used to have with add banners running all over the place. You can hide the ribbon however and it offers it more screen area however just click a ribbon item and you'll launch another assault on deskspace and working area. In fact it was so cluttered I began to develop a headache after a few minutes. I was extremely disappointed. If you want a standard menu scheme it did not appear to be an option. I had office installed for less than a day and I couldn't take it anymore. I removed it. I'm glad I installed it before I bought it. comment written by kumar on April 10, 2007 simply superb Guru written by RandyO on April 17, 2007 Office 2007 definitely deserves high praise. However, users should have the freedom to choose how they transition and stay productive. ToolbarToggle is a utility for Microsoft Office 2007 that gives people the choice of using the Office 2003 toolbar and menu system in tandem with or instead of the Office 2007 Ribbon. ToolbarToggle enables Office 2007 users to insert the Office 2003 toolbar and menu system into the Ribbon environment and toggle between the two navigation systems. ToolbarToggle was specifically designed for those who want to transition to the Ribbon at their own speed as well as for power-users who want to compensate for some of the Ribbon’s weaknesses. Offering the functionality of Office 2007 with the familiarity of the Office 2003 toolbar, ToolbarToggle is an exact replica of the toolbar and menu system of Office 2003. For a free ten day trial or to purchase ToolbarToggle, visit http://www.toolbartoggle.com. ... written by liz on May 17, 2007 I just got it! I am excited, power point is favorite. Nice feautres, such as recorded voice for this program. ... written by juanpalo on May 20, 2007 BUt how to download???? Pres written by P R Matthews on September 26, 2007 I loaded Office 2007 and am very displeased with it. I want to go back to Office 2003. I tried to un-install Office 2007 and re-install office 2003 however the screen keeps coming up with "The installation source for this product is not available. Verify that the source exists and that you can access it" What does that all mean, I have 2 office 2003's up-grade and full, what do I have to do to get Office 2003 back on my computer?

Write comment

Name:

Email:

Website:

Remember info?

Title:

Comment:

Write the displayed characters Add Comment