Office 2010 Beta New Features & Changes
I previously did an article on the new features in Office 2010 (technical preview); a couple of days back, the Beta version of Office 2010 was leaked and once again, I have a list of some changes over Office 2007 & Office 2010 Technical Preview. Once you’ve gone through the previous article, here’s what’s new in the Office 2010 beta version that is doing rounds on the Internet. The Office 2010 Beta offers some finer refinements over Office 2010 Technical Preview and a couple of them, I don’t like. The last article I left off at the new icons in Office 2010, these are part of the Beta.
To begin with:
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Article has two main parts, one where I talk about what’s changed over Office 2010 Technical Preview & in the second I talk about what’s new since Office 2007 & Office 2010 Technical Preview.
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You’ll need to uninstall the Technical Preview.
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You’ll need to use a serial key to install, it’s a mandatory first step as noted on iThinkDiff.
Now with that aside, about the programs:
New Features & Changes over Office 2010 Technical Preview:
1. Splash screen:
There is a new splash screen with a single color opposed to the two-color splash screen in the Office 2010 Technical Preview. Screenshot:
Looks cool. +1
2. Backstage looks changed:
Backstage IMO is an amazing part of Office 2010 and I loved its program specific color gradient look. It’s gone. Replaced with a really sad full white background and program specific color swish at the lower right corner. I really liked the way Backstage looked in Office 2010 Technical Preview. Screenshot:
Not so cool. -1
Besides the look, the options have been juggled a bit as well. In Office 2010 Technical Preview, the Save, Save as options were under the Info tab. In Office 2010 Beta, the Info tab has been separated. Screenshot of the Technical Preview & Beta side-by-side:
3. Office Logo/ORB Replaced with ‘File’:
The Office ORB in Office 2007 which was replaced by a rectangular Office logo in the Technical preview has now been done away with and in place is the good old option – File. Screenshot of the Office 2007 (left), Technical Preview (center) & Office 2010 Beta (right):
I loved the tech preview one. -1
4. Themes are back:
Introduced in Office 2007, a mute option in the Technical Preview, the 3 – Silver, Blue & Black themes are back in Office 2010 Beta. I loved the black color scheme in Office 2007 but didn’t appreciate that it was broken so to say. In Office 2010 Beta, the black color scheme blends perfectly well with Aero. Screenshot, comparing the black color scheme in Office 2007 (left) & Office 2010 (right):
Black looks slick. +1
5. Pixelated icons fixed:
Some of the new features that we saw in Office 2010 Technical Preview had pixelated icons, the icons have been fixed and the features have been refined.
- Instance #1
One of my favorite Word 2010 feature is the Background Removal Tool, the icons have been changed and the “Close Background Removal” option has been replaced with “Keep Changes” & “Discard All Changes”. Screenshot:
- Instance #2
The pixelated icon for Record Slideshow in Powerpoint 2010 Technical Preview has also been fixed.
- Instance #3
The new Smart Art sections I pointed out in the previous article had the same icon for Picture & Pyramid. It has been fixed in Powerpoint 2010 Beta.
6. New Slide Transitions in Powerpoint 2010 Beta:
Powerpoint 2010 Technical Preview added some new transition effects but the icons had a ‘?’. In Powerpoint 2010 Beta, more slide transitions have been added and the icons have been fixed. Screenshot:
NOTE: Maybe it’s just me but I feel that the ‘flip’ effect was smoother in the Technical Preview.
New Features & Changes over Office 2007 & Office 2010 Technical Preview
1. Language Review:
In Word 2010 Beta, the Editing Language option as seen in Word 2010 Technical Preview has been replaced with just Language (the new icon is beautiful). The option allows you to change the proofing language & also manage the Language Settings in Word 2010’s options. Screenshot:
2. Linked Notes:
This little feature looks quite promising since One Note will be able to sync with its web version & mobile version. Word now has the added option of linking your documents with One Note. Screenshot:
3. New Powerpoint Presentation Design Templates:
I was wondering where were they and in Powerpoint 2010 beta, the Office team has added some new design templates and the nice part is, I quite like them. Screenshots:
Some of the new templates are:
Apothecary:
Austin:
Thatched:
Black Tie:
UPDATE:
4. Save to Skydrive:
Don’t how but I missed a new option under Share in Backstage – Save to Skydrive! This is to help you save your documents and use them with Office Web Apps. Screenshot:
Oh and the feature is fully functional.
5. Office Live Workspaces Beta:
Office 2010 syncs quite well without an issue with your Office Live Workspace.Screenshot:
UPDATE #2:
6. Social Network Integration:
Social networking integration coming to Office 2010 (Screen shots)
~Enjoy
One big big flaw, which I will be able to provide only when this beta is officially released, is black text in the black theme for the ribbon. It decrees readability. White text on such a dark background would have been better. I am sticking with the silver look.
Nothing beneficial for most businesses – no reason to upgrade/purchase –
Like Vista – all bling – no function.
If they wanted to improve Office they SHOULD have –
1. Made outlook open multiple e-mail accounts as full exchange -not an additional mailbox with some functionality or pop/imap with very limited functionality but two seperate exchange profiles simultaneously from multiple exchange servers.
2. Full OLE support for pictures in access – umm wasn’t that functional with Office XP – why take that out? Why should someone have to code to add pictures to a personal database? Might was well use oracle or a real database if you are going to have to use code. Adding Office XP photo editor is the work around but why not just add photo editor back into office if that is the solution?
3. Offer the old menu bar for people (most of my clients) who don’t want to learn the new menu bar. You can finally modify the ribbon to some extent in 2010 however my clients just want their old ribbon bar. Frankly I have no issue with the new menu bar but I’m one person and most of my clients don’t like it so prefer to stick with office 2003. MS could make money selling the new version if they just offered the old menu as a choice with the new ribbon.
Hi boe,
Thanks for dropping by. I guess I agree with you on the first 2 but not the third. Even with 7, I appreciate the fact that Microsoft has done away with the Classic style :)
From where did u get office 2010 beta?
I like the new office 2010 beta, just got even better than office 2007.. but one thing is bugging me about this software, i just don’t like the office icons, they look like icons from windows xp’s era, do you think microsoft will ever replace this? prolly not.
yeah I agree the black scheme totally blends with windows 7’s aero, and they ditched the glossiness look from office 2007 to match with vista’s aero/ui (ie. vista taskbar has glossy effect – office 2007’s background + office orb), but its still productive, this time they matched it with windows 7 (ie. 7’s taskbar is a total blur – same with office 2010 – no glossiness, just plain).
i do like the new animated splash screen, it does lessen the time of boredom, but i think they should also change the colour depending on what application is opened. (eg. if word 2010 is opened, then splash screen colour should be blue, not yellowish-orange). Most office users are used to this now, like word is blue, excel is green, powerpoint is red, outlook is yellow, publisher is turquoise, etc. For me, a quick look of the colour makes me think less what application is opened.
also, i like the new save as pdf thingy included with office 2010, i like my resumes and cv’s to be pdf’s, not like cheap docx files.
new transitions and templates in powerpoint, new text effects and photo effects in word, quick look of the graph in excel, more organised outlook, new templates in publisher, and accessibility with the new office web apps with my windows smartphone.
hey…was wondering if you had noticed in msword, office 2003 had an option in the format > font > “text effects”. this option has been removed, it is quite handy when you need someone to have a look at most important points in the document you send them.
this feature is missing in office 2007, and if available i am not able to find it. is it available in office 2010
not really sure what did. I have no memory of office 2003 at all. Though i’m fairly certain that the functionality might have been moved as part of some other feature.
Shoot, I was hoping that in 2010 they would FINALLY make tables in one note and Word have basic math functionality. We write proposals in Word and it would be nice to have the fees sections add themselves up (ala Excel tables) without having to do it manually. Office is a suite yes? Why not just use the Excel tables module in all the programs? This would seem logical for a number of other features that ‘sort of’ exist in multiple programs. I’m with the other folks who would much rather have improved basic functions, or have them at all, rather than gee-whiz features we have no practical use for.
If you copy from Excel and use Paste Special and Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object you can have a little Excel Spreadsheet in your Word doc that has full Excel functionality (just double click in to it ) and yet you can format it to look like part of your Word document. Hope this helps
@imseagull – Text Effects are present in Office 2010. When you go into the Font dialog, at the bottom there’s a button called Text Effects. It doesn’t offer the ‘dancing ant’s or sparkles however, there are new features which in my opinion are more professional. In particular the Glow and Soft Edges cuold be useful if you want to point our certain paragraphs (or you could use the Highlighter…)
@Jeff Miller – you actualy can insert an Excel spreadsheet ojbect. Under the Table button, select Excel. it drops in a spreadsheet, fill it out, enter your functions then when finished, double click another area of the document and the normal ‘table’ view replaces the spreadsheet view.