Microsoft plays Office.Net politics

Microsoft has announced the first beta release of Office 10, the final version of the suite that will launch as a pure packaged product.

Microsoft has announced the first beta release of Office 10, the final version of the suite that will launch as a pure packaged product.

The company has already shipped an early beta release to selected customers in anticipation of a shipping date in the first quarter of 2001, according to sources briefed by the software giant.

Building on earlier releases, Microsoft is pushing the notion of better collaboration and communication for office workers.

Microsoft claims that Office 10 will also be the "first Office suite to begin delivering on the Office.Net vision by integrating internet-based services".

Included in the upgrade is a speech recognition capability to enable users to create and edit documents verbally, and Smart Tags such as AutoCorrect, AutoFormat and Paste.

According to Microsoft, these will appear on the screen to provide "useful information for completing tasks or accessing data".

With a variety of competitive Linux and web-based suites being downloaded for free or served up on the internet by application service providers, Microsoft is endowing Office 10 with web services such as HotMail and Instant Messenger.

Industry observers believe that Microsoft has been disappointed by the number of people who upgraded from Office 97 to 2000 and is trying hard to incorporate more enticing features.

Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft's senior vice president for the product, said: "[It is the] most ambitious and significant Office product release ever. The breadth of customer solutions we are delivering in this product exceeds any previous version of Office."

The integration of web services in Office 10 is the first step towards Microsoft's pure-play Office.Net service, but most resellers say they are worried by its arrival.

"We're transforming so we have the ability to sell Microsoft's .Net and applications service providers," said Howard Diamond, chairman of Magellan Holdings, parent company of Corporate Software & Technology. "But the idea that everyone will be using this technology isn't true."