The next version of Word

[Popeye]

Hi everyone

I'm aware that there have been several versions of Word within the Office
suite and each builds on the functionality of the previous one. I guess that
there will be a further version coming to supersede Word 2003. What's the
mechanism of "ordinary" users (rather than professionals or MVPs) coming to
know the new or updated functions? I know that folks can check out
newsgroups or ask questions, but someone *must* know the new functionality at
the outset. I can't see anyone reading a manual from beginning to end, nor
can I see anyone pressing each of the menus/toolbars in various combinations,
almost at random, to see what's new.

I suppose the ideal situation is for MS to publish a (relatively) short
document stating what's new or updated from the immediate predecessor. Does
that happen? Is it one large document which covers Office or are there
separate documents which cover Word, Excel etc. separately?

Thank you.

 

[DL]

Its generally covered in pc mags, once the product is finalised, otherwise
look on ms site

 

[Popeye]

So MS provide a comprehensive list of new or updated functionality? That's
reassuring! I'm just completing some assessments in Office 2003 and want to
make sure that I keep "up to speed" when the next version comes out.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Shauna Kelly has a page of links to information about Office 2007, including
where to find reasonably detailed information (bear in mind that it's still
in Beta 1).
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/Office2007/index.html

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[John Waller]

I suppose the ideal situation is for MS to publish a (relatively) short

document stating what's new or updated from the immediate predecessor.
Does
that happen?

Increasingly, yes, online.

Microsoft is seeing the need to become far more transparent about upgrading
their products.

Rather than just arriving in the marketplace with the next version ready to
go, they're now allowing those who are interested (even those who are not
official beta testers under NDAs) to follow their products in development.

For example, see
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/programs/word/highlights.mspx for
updates on Word 2007.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

And since the new UI is the biggest news about what's new in Word 2007,
users should be aware of Jensen Harris's blog on this topic at
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/. He recently reprised his series of articles
on "Why the New UI?"