REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 15, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the lineup of its upcoming 2007 Microsoft® Office system products, previously code-named Microsoft Office “12,” including new and improved suites, applications, servers and services to be available by the end of 2006. The 2007 release is designed to increase individual impact, simplify collaboration, streamline business processes and content management, and improve business insight. The product and packaging lineup is grounded in a deep understanding of how customers’ needs intersect with trends in the workplace. Microsoft will make available both enhanced and new packaging options to make it easier for customers to purchase the solutions that best meet their unique business needs.
“The 2007 release is the productivity breakthrough that customers have been asking for,” said Chris Capossela, corporate vice president of the Information Worker Product Management Group at Microsoft. “Today, we’re revealing new products in the Microsoft Office system and a number of new options that provide customers with flexibility in how they purchase our products. That’s great news for businesses eager to provide their workers with the best productivity tools possible for information management and collaboration.”
On the desktop, the 2007 release will include new and improved software suites and applications for volume license and retail customers. Major productivity advancements will be experienced through a new, results-oriented user interface. For volume license customers, Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007, the new name for a significantly updated release of Microsoft Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003, will deliver improved information management and teamwork solutions through integration with new Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 capabilities, as well as inclusion of Microsoft Office Communicator. In addition, a new offering called Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 builds on the capabilities of Office Professional Plus 2007 by extending collaboration and mobility scenarios through inclusion of Microsoft Office Groove® 2007 and Microsoft Office OneNote® 2007. Retail customers will also have a new option for bringing the power of Office productivity into their homes. Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, an updated release of Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003, will be available for home users.
Two new product offerings in the 2007 release will help address common organizational needs. Office Groove 2007, an updated release of Groove Virtual Office software, will enable teams to work together dynamically inside collaborative work spaces regardless of location or network connection. Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, partially based on Microsoft Office FrontPage® 2003 technologies, is part of the next-generation Web design tools that will help customers create and customize Microsoft SharePoint Web sites and build workflow-enabled applications using SharePoint Technologies.
Building on existing Microsoft Office server-enabled capabilities, the upcoming release will expand the system with new solutions for sharing, analyzing and managing information. As part of the 2007 release, Microsoft is introducing a full range of new and improved servers that will integrate solutions across collaboration, enterprise content management (ECM) and forms, business intelligence (BI), and enterprise project management (EPM) scenarios. Office SharePoint Server 2007 will become the single server that unifies portal and content management, business insight and business process capabilities to enable customers to collaborate more effectively, make more informed decisions and control content across line-of-business applications. Specialized servers such as Microsoft Office Project Server 2007, Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007, and Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 will deliver project and portfolio management and electronic forms management solutions, respectively. In addition, Microsoft Office Groove Server 2007 will provide the centralized management, data relay and data integration capabilities customers need to deploy Office Groove 2007 across the enterprise. For smaller deployments, Microsoft Office Groove Enterprise Services will provide cost-effective, hosted management and data relay services.
Two client access license (CAL) suite options have been designed to help customers purchase a solution that delivers the power of the integrated desktop and server environment in a simplified manner and at a significant discount from the cost of individual components. Available today, the Core CAL combines the access licenses for Microsoft’s most popular servers, including Windows Server™, Microsoft Exchange Server, Office SharePoint Portal Server and Systems Management Server. The new Enterprise CAL will consist of the Core CAL plus new capabilities such as enterprise data searching, spreadsheet publishing, Web-based form creation and unified messaging. It will also include new offerings from Microsoft Operations Manager, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server, Windows® Rights Management Services and Microsoft Security products.
“Collaboration is more important than ever as we accelerate our innovation processes to bring new products to market for our customers and consumers. It’s imperative that we provide tools and capabilities that allow our people and business processes to be well-synchronized,” said Marc Brown, CIO of Del Monte Foods. “We’ve been testing beta code for the next release of Microsoft Office products and are already piloting workflow management, collaboration and individual productivity improvements. As early adopters of the new technologies, we believe Microsoft Office can help us boost business efficiencies and be more competitive.”
Packaging and Retail Pricing Details
Additional details about the new and improved suites, applications, servers and services can be found online. In addition, customers who are interested in experiencing the 2007 release for themselves can visit http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview to read about the latest product developments and register to receive the 2007 Microsoft Office Beta 2 release when it is available in the first half of 2006.
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