[ Background music ] >> Jason Parker: The Beta from Microsoft Office 2010 is here and we've had a chance to check out the latest version. Though changes are more incremental than they are major there's some cool new features worth noting in this revision. I'm Jason Parker from download.com and this is a first look at Office 2010 Beta. We already saw the redesigned interface changes to the ribbon across the entire suite as well as added inter activity between the apps and much more on the technical preview. The Beta for Microsoft Office 2010 includes a few feature enhancements, some interface tweaks and a little more functionality with office web apps. To get started in the technology preview we talked about the ability to collapse conversations in Outlook. In the Beta, Microsoft has added an additional feature called the Outlook Social Connector. The Outlook Social Connector adds an extra pane of information about a selected contact including pictures, previous conversations, attachments shared, meetings attended and much more. We will soon be able to find out if an associate is on Facebook, Twitter and others and be able to view things like status updates and tweets right within Outlook. Another change since the technical preview is an interface enhancement surrounding the back stage feature. What used to be an Office icon in the upper left corner will now be shown as file. From here you can manage your documents, set permissions and print like you could previously in backstage but now you'll have access to all the other tabs in the ribbon. In the previous version these tabs were blocked out until you left backstage. Also added to the file menu is the ability to save to sky drive with 25 GB of cloud based storage accessed through your Windows Live account. Once registered with your Windows live ID you'll be able to save documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and more to your sky drive. With Microsoft Office Web Apps you'll be able to access these documents anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. You'll also be able to edit documents, presentations, and spreadsheets using Microsoft Web Apps included as a part of sky drive. Even your Windows Mobile handset will be compatible so you'll have access to all your data on any device. According to Microsoft only a couple of the app implementations are available now but Office is still in Beta and that's to be expected. Overall the Microsoft Office 2010 Beta offers up some interesting and useful changes to the technical preview. As Microsoft continues to make enhancements to Office 2010 be sure to check back for more updates as they become available. Microsoft Office 2010 will be ready for the public in the first half of next year. [ Background music ] >> Jason Parker: I'm Jason Parker from cnetdownload.com and this has been a first look for Office 2010. Thanks for watching.
