Microsoft: Office 14 and Windows 7
Microsoft Office
It’s been just over a year since the release of Microsoft Office™ 2007 (code named Office 12). The next version, code named Office 14, is rumored to be released in the first half of 2009. With only two years between the releases, how much can really change? Office 2007 had quite a few changes, especially in the look and feel of the user interface. The beta release is expected soon (first half of 2008).
According to Paul Thurrott’s site, Microsoft is estimating a 20% increase in dollars spent on research and development compared to Office 2007. I doubt they will increase the price from $400 to $480, which would be a 20% increase. In fact, I think you will find a less than stellar revenue stream from the next release. We all know the corporate world drives the sales for Office. In my opinion, without the vast corporate entrenchment, other free products would prevail.
What I found interesting is that they are going to try to bring online access to some of the Office products, like Excel in the Office 14 version. This enhancement would seem logical when compared to a competitor like Google Spreadsheets, who already provides this feature. They need this enhancement just to stay competitive. It will be interesting to see if they enhance any of the charting tools that Excel has consistently lacked.
Some free alternatives to Microsoft are: Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Zoho and Open Office.
My personal opinion is for Microsoft to spend a little more time on research and development and deliver a superior product instead of pushing out a new version every few years. Bugs like, in-cell charting should never have made it to market. Here at Support Analytics, we use the Office 2003 suite every day (mostly Excel, Word, Project, Access, PowerPoint and Outlook).
Windows™ 7, the next version of Microsoft’s operating system (codename - Vienna ) has been rumored to be out sometime between 2009 and 2011. At first, it was leaked that Windows™ 7 could be out as early as next year. The next rumor was, don’t hold your breath until sometime in the 2011 vicinity. It’s no secret that Windows™ Vista was the second coming of the disastrous Windows™ ME, which I owned a while back. We all know that Windows™ XP will be around until the next operating system is released. I am no OS expert, but I don’t see companies throwing XP by the wayside and loading up Vista. 
What’s pretty entertaining is that there is a downgrade (a.k.a. revert to an older version) to go from Vista to XP.
I have never owned a MAC computer in the many years I have been a user dating back to the ’80s when my parents bought a Commodore 64. Ah, 64kbs of memory and the old dot-matrix printer, those were the days.
I think we are starting to see Apple really capitalize on Vista’s low adoption, which brings me to my dilemma. Is now the time to go with a MAC OS? If it wasn’t for all of the software I own being PC only, I just might. Maybe a new MAC Air laptop would suppress my appetite…
Commodore 64
