Fact Sheets

Office XML File Formats Guide

Josh Phillips — Sun, 28 May 2006 00:10:55 GMT

With the next version of the Microsoft® Office System, Microsoft will introduce new, XML-based file formats for Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office Excel®, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint®. With these new formats, Microsoft ensures that organizations can successfully and completely integrate the Microsoft Office System into their enterprise architectures. This change represents a large step forward in extending Microsoft’s commitment to XML, industry-standard integration technologies, and to open, published file format specifications.

The published specifications for the new Office file formats will be available with a royalty-free license, enabling anyone to freely access the full documentation and quickly learn how to integrate Office files into their solutions. The use of XML offers the benefits of greater transparency and openness than were possible with the previous binary file formats. The new formats allow Office documents to easily integrate with existing and future line-of-business systems, as the contents are now open and accessible. The new formats are also designed with long-term robustness and accessibility in mind, so that file corruptions will be easily repairable, and there is no reliance on any particular software application to provide access to the document contents. “Office 12” files will also be much more efficient, taking up far less space than the previous formats and allowing for quicker transmission times and a smaller impact on storage.

The new file formats represent a major step forward, and will be made available not only to customers who adopt “Office 12,” but also to customers using previous versions of the Microsoft Office System. Free tools will enable users of Office 2000, Office XP, and Office 2003 to open and save to the new formats, so that everyone can benefit from this innovation.

2007 Office User Interface Fact Sheet

Josh Phillips — Sun, 28 May 2006 00:08:42 GMT

The 2007 Microsoft^® Office system will introduce a redesigned user interface (UI) to make it easier for people to get better results faster. The new UI replaces traditional menus and toolbars found in previous releases of Microsoft Office with a results-oriented design that enables people to focus on what they want to do rather than how to do it. New features will help organize and more effectively present application tools and capabilities. As a result, customers will find it easier to quickly discover and use more of the capabilities that Microsoft Office applications offer, enabling them to produce their best work more efficiently.

Based on detailed usability studies and extensive customer research, Microsoft Corp. consistently heard that the existing UI model hides features under the top-level menu structure and has too many places for people to go to find functionality. Customer input helped make it clear that a new user interface was needed to empower people to work more productively with the powerful Office tools at their disposal. This led to four major design goals for the new UI:

1. Make the overall software experience easier

2. Reduce design clutter and interruptions

3. Increase feature and capability discoverability

4. Support the creation of great-looking documents

2007 Office System Pricing Fact Sheet

Josh Phillips — Sun, 28 May 2006 00:07:21 GMT

The 2007 Microsoft^® Office system, including new and improved programs, servers and services scheduled to be available by the end of 2006, is designed to increase individual impact, simplify collaboration, streamline business processes and content management, and improve business insight. Through additional functionality and updated purchasing options, Microsoft Office customers will have more flexibility than ever before to adopt the specific technologies and solutions that best meet their unique needs.

Below is the U.S. estimated retail pricing (ERP) information for the 2007 Microsoft Office system products. The new and improved lineup has been designed to help meet the business and personal needs of large enterprises, small and midsize businesses, at-home users, and students and teachers. In addition to retail options, organizations will be able to purchase these products, servers and solutions through Microsoft Volume Licensing programs (for as few as five licenses) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

2007 Office System Packaging Fact Sheet

Josh Phillips — Sat, 27 May 2006 23:53:12 GMT

The 2007 Microsoft^® Office system, including new and improved programs, servers and services and scheduled to be available by the end of 2006, is designed to increase individual impact, simplify collaboration, streamline business processes and content management, and improve business insight. With additional functionality and updated packaging options, or stock keeping units (SKUs), Microsoft Office customers will have more flexibility than ever before to purchase the specific technologies and solutions that best meet their unique business needs.