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Office and SharePoint Launch 2010 is Here!

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OK so I'm a little late on this one given that Microsoft made the official announcement on Friday, April 16 that Microsoft Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 have been released to manufacturing (RTM).  Customers all over the world will be able to get access to the new products by June.  Volume License customers should be able to start downloading the RTM code within the next two to three weeks.  TechNet and MSDN subscribers can access the code as of today, April 22, 2010.  I've had access to the final RTM version since April 19, but I'm just getting around to downloading it today.  I'm totally loving the fact there is a 64-bit version.

US Launch events for IT Pros, Developers and Technical Decision Makers began this week and run until the end of May.  We still have capacity to attend these events so click here to register.  The official worldwide launch is Wednesday, May 12 and will include a global virtual launch simulcast.

News Flash:  The price of Office has increased! (Well kinda sorta) The retail price for the Office Suites is relatively flat (at least for now - final retail pricing has not yet been announced) but pricing for stand-alone products (retail) as well as volume licensing has definitely gone up.  In any case, Thank God I get an employee discount.

Volume license customers have until April 30, 2010 to purchase Office 2007 with Software Assurance to lock in today's price.  Consumers have a chance to take advantage of the Microsoft Office 2010 Technology Guarantee.  If you purchase and activiate a qualifying Microsoft Office product (retail or pre-installed on a new PC) between March 5, 2010 and September 30, 2010 you will be able to download the 2010 version of that product at no additional cost.  If you do not meet the eligibility requirements for the Microsoft Office 2010 Technology Guarantee, you can still pre-order any of the Office 2010 Suites or Stand-alone Office products.

So what's new with Office?  I plan to blog about some of the most useful (well, my favorite) new features in the upcoming weeks.  In the meantime, check the following webpages and blogs:

  1. Office 2010 Homepage
  2. Office 2010 Beta Homepage
  3. Microsoft Office Backstage
  4. The Office Blog
  5. Microsoft Office 2010 Engineering
  6. Office on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Office
  7. Office International Blog
  8. SharePoint 2010 Homepage
  9. SharePoint 2010 Team Blog
  10. SharePoint on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MSSharePoint

Take care folks.  I've got a ton of work to get caught up on need to get to it before I get in trouble.

Smooches!