Office 14 alpha screenshots

I am liking it for sure. I am a big fan of the ribbon.

Not to mention placing them inline with the tabs is seemingly unintuitive anyway.

Most of these screenshots are taken with the Windows 7 Basic theme running or on Windows Server 2008 R2, so we don't know how it looks with Aero turned on.

@Ocean - "Whats wrong with the current office suites, that we need to replace them?" Nobody said there was anything wrong with the current MS Office suite. If you don't want to replace yours, then don't. The same could have been said for the 80286 processor and Model T. But, then...you are just trolling. --tayme

>>The same could have been said for the 80286 processor and Model T.<< Differences in speed for both, and comfort came in in the case of the new Model T. So what do I get, basically, by upgrading to the newer office suites?

or windows 95 to 98?

"So what do I get, basically, by upgrading to the newer office suites?" The satisfaction of lining Microsoft's pockets so they can continue to throw money away on "me too" projects such as the Zune. ;-) Seriously, most people use a small fraction of the feature set in Office. For them, there's no compelling need to upgrade.

I paid $29 after an MS rebate for Office 2004 with a free upgrade to Office 2008 Media edition. I get Entourage for Exchange use. Dang, I ain't switching to nothing, even if it's free! Wae, MS sent the wrong edition, so I called MS customer service and they sent the Media edition, refunded my $10 shipping fee, then told me he was talking to me from Canada! Eh! Also, he told me to keep the Office 2008 Student version too! Holy crap was I happy! Thank you Microsoft.

Realistically, since, by all reports, the actual pre-beta is of the server components, there's not even much of a certainty that these screen shots even bear a resemblence to the actual Office 14.

"You're right. I meant "unprofitable projects"." So did I.

"It was called Windows. What ever happend to that?" You could say the same about Apple TV, or OS X Server. The difference is, only one of the three is successful (especially so worldwide), and carries a high level of brand awareness.

"Calling Apple TV and OS X Server "me too projects" really isn't fair since Apple TV isn't even close to the feature list of a Media Center Extender and OS X Server is pretty much only used inside of Apple since it's so far behind any reasonable server OS." I like your explanation. >:)

@Waethorn - That looks like an international number...probably one of these - http://www.microsoft.com/learning/support/india.mspx --tayme

Love the quote at the end of this interview with Mossberg: "No Blue Screen Of Death on Unix" http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/mossberg-on-steve-jobs-health-app... Windows is such a tarnished brand that it's a world wide joke.

lotsa, the stupidity of such a headline of such speculation is beyond words. Also, reading several of these headlines speculating 'a potential lawsuit' also state that most lawyers feel that it would not be successful. Also, wasn't Jobs honest about his cancer and treatment in 2004? Why would he lie now? While I can certainly understand we people would jump to conclusions, his past behavior states otherwise. Lawyers really ruin the world, only to profit themselves. Go ahead, keep electing them into office. More tears will result.

>>Seriously, most people use a small fraction of the feature set in Office. For them, there's no compelling need to upgrade.<< Most businesses will make an upgrade every few years and that's money that's built in and almost pre-counted by MS. What I'm asking is, as an ordinary consumer, what will be some of the compelling features of the new suite that would move me to upgrade?

"In fact, I'm sure a $699 (or $499) phone would've been a massive failure if someone else had released it.The media helps Apple a lot in these matters." Two words: Motorola Razr. That was a $600 phone when it was introduced, and it was an instant hit. And I don't remember "the media" being particularly enamored with Motorola as a company. The iPhone is one of the few products in recent memory worthy of the hype it generated.

"Here's a Wikipedia entry that should give you pause:" No. It actually proves my point. Thanks for that. No company gets the kinds of hype that Apple does these days. I repeat, the iPhone would have probably been a failure had some other company launched it. Razr was before the media's fascination with Apple. Now, when Apple enters a market, competitors have to watch wistfully from the sidelines as it hogs all the media limelight. I'm not saying that their products aren't good. What I'm saying is that there's a feeling in the media that no other company that competes with Apple makes good products. I never liked Razr. Thought it was an awful phone.

>>there's a feeling in the media that no other company that competes with Apple makes good products. << Ultimately, it's the consumer that decides whether they are right or not. Consumers seem to like the iPhone. Consumers didn't have the media telling them to go after the Razr, yet it still sold big. You're overselling the medias impact.

Robert, please, please, please go away.

"Ultimately, it's the consumer that decides whether they are right or not." It is the consumer. And from what I've seen, the only kind of research consumers do is to see which is the hottest product out there. I bet a lot of people don't download apps and other stuff on their iPod Touches and iPhones. I bet a lot of people didn't research the Razr to see if it was actually better for them than competing products and purchased it only because everyone else seemed to have one. For some products, the buzz builds over time. They go through the normal product lifecycles: the introduction phase with low volumes (where customers have to be prompted to buy the product), a growth phase, maturity, and finally decline. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_life_cycle_management#Product_life_... Apple's products come with the buzz pre-generated for them by the media. Many of them have an extremely short product introduction phase or skip that phase altogether. Kinda like that political figure tayme talks about. :)

>>And from what I've seen, the only kind of research consumers do is to see which is the hottest product out there.<< "You're not serious, are you? Apple products may be hot, and thats good marketing, but they are also well designed and easy to use. " Did I say their products weren't good? You're twisting the context of my words there. Apple's products are good, but are you telling me no other company makes good products? I don't think Microsoft just built a fan base for the XBox one fine day. It took time and games like Halo played a huge part. The original iPhone was OK. It was only after the App Store was launched that it became a good phone. What kind of "word of mouth" advertising had people waiting for hours outside of Apple stores on the launch day to buy a $699 phone? Obviously, someone had to be building that buzz. "The media reports only what will get it eyeballs or sales. If they are talking Apple products, its because it resonates with their users. They won't spend time on a product that doesn't." That's like a chicken and egg debate. You say the media hypes Apple's products because it knows they'll be successful. I say they are successful in part because the media hypes them so much.

"I bet a lot of people don't download apps and other stuff on their iPod Touches and iPhones." What? Oh, come on. Now you're just being disingenuous. In December, the App Store saw its 300 Millionth download, and there are more than 10,000 applications available. It's been an overwhelming success. As Joe Biden famously said, "you're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts." http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10114894-37.html

...and people say Pogue is a Apple stoolie... >>Every company and its brother has tried to duplicate the success and the magic of the iPhone. But they have all been working off of checklists. Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth, touch screen - yawn. They never get the importance of elegance, fun, whimsy, simplicity, design. Palm does. Led by the former Apple engineering executive Jon Rubinstein, Palm has created a spectacular, beautiful, joyous machine.<< Now about those apps... http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/14/technology/ptpogue15.php?page=2

"What kind of "word of mouth" advertising had people waiting for hours outside of Apple stores on the launch day to buy a $699 phone? Obviously, someone had to be building that buzz." Trends come and go. Remember the hype for the Windows '95 launch? There was a story at the time about a woman who went into a store to buy it, and the sales rep asked what kind of computer she had. "You need a computer?", she asked. Now THAT is hype. But I don't remember hearing any Windows fanbois complaining. I imagine the "mikegalos"/"waethorn" crowd would correctly say the same thing "Ocean" did: W95 got buzz because it resonated with users. Same with the iPhone. "The media" exists exists to sell advertising (pick one: air time, newsprint space, impressions). They won't report that which won't get attention, because without it they don't exist. Period.