Paul Thurrott doet melding van de eerste release candidate van Microsoft Office XP (experience). Volgens het artikel zal deze preview-versie in mei opgevolgd worden door de final, bestaande uit tenminste het onderdeel 'Office Professional with FrontPage'. Naar mijn mening een niet zo lekker in de mond liggende verandering ten opzichte van Office Professional:
Last weekend, Microsoft began shipping to testers the first release candidate build of Office XP (Office 10), a build that also will go out to the public as the Office Professional Corporate Preview Beta. Although Microsoft hasn't announced which editions will comprise the final Office XP release, this package's documentation suggests that Professional Edition will continue, with a slight name change to Office Professional with FrontPage. This release is one of the final stepping stones to the widespread retail release, which is expected in May.[break]
Het experience-principe zal vorm gegeven worden door een nog gebruiksvriendelijkere interface dan we al gewend zijn van Office 2000, zodat ook een leek de verschillende programma-onderdelen snel onder de knie kan krijgen. Verder zullen gebruikers uiteraard te doen krijgen met Microsoft's geliefde .NET-technologie, en zullen niet-betalende mensen problemen ondervinden met nieuwe piracy-beveiligingen:[/break]Microsoft Office XP, like the Windows XP release it shares its branding with, is built around the concept of "experiences." In Office XP, experiences translate to bubbling up functionality to the user in simpler ways, making it easier for users to master tools. As the company notes, "Microsoft Office Professional with FrontPage was designed around and built for end users and will be a trend-setting product in many ways.
With this major release of Office, Microsoft will deliver advancements to simplify the way people work, introduce customers to .NET services, implement new antipiracy measures, and provide benefits to individuals and teams, as well as organizations of all sizes."