Microsoft to Announce 64-bit Office 2010

Microsoft is going to announce its next productivity suite code-named Office 14, which will be branded as Office 2010. All the related applications will carry 2010 stamp and the suite will be released for public next year. Apart from this, Microsoft will also be rolling out Service Pack 2 for its Office 2007 suite on April 28.

Microsoft Office 14 beta screenshots were leaked in earlier in January and later Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed that the productivity suite will not be released this year.
Office 2010 will be ready and shipped to manufacturers in the first half of next year. Chris Capossela, senior vice president, Microsoft Office, said, after the productivity suite is shipped to manufacturers, it takes six weeks to four months or more to reach PC users. Of course, the availability of the Office 2010 suite will differ for consumers and enterprise segments as well for those who download it or purchase it via retail points.

Julia White, director of the Exchange product management team, said that technical previews of Office 2010 would be available in third quarter this year. Microsoft will release Exchange Server 2010 beta to enterprise users later today and the final version will be available for retail in second half of this year.

Evidence of Microsoft working to offer 64-bit versions of Office 2010 was pointed out by ZDNet blogger Ed Bott. Bott found imprints of 64-bit Office 2010 version in the code while beta testing the suite. Ars Technica received confirmation from Microsoft in which the spokesperson said: "Yes, Office will have two separate 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Office 2010 will be the first to do this."

Usage of 64-bit operating systems has become prevalent after Vista's release. Now, users running 64-bit Windows OS will be able to use 64-bit Office 2010 without emulating it as 32-bit version. It would be interesting to see any synchronization and symphony between Office 2010, Windows 7 and Windows Mobile 7 products from Microsoft.
 
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