When is Office 2003 likely to be superceded?  I'm trying to decide if
I should upgrade now or wait for the next release.

Johnt01 --

Microsoft has yet to put the next version of Office into beta test. 
Since beta test period for applications last 6 months to a year, it
looks as if the new version of Office is at least a year away.

You can sign up for information about the beta test (and possibly
participate in it) on this page.  It also has quite a bit about the
future structure of Office, particularly in its use of XML file
formats:
Microsoft
"The Future of Microsoft Office"
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/default.mspx

Google search strategy:
"Microsoft Office" beta


Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

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Request for Answer Clarification by johnt01-ga on 10 Sep 2005 08:40 PDT

If I'm not mistaken MS usually schedules a release target years in
advance (and notoriously inaccurate).  Is there a release target for
the next Office release?

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Clarification of Answer by omnivorous-ga on 10 Sep 2005 11:00 PDT

Johnt01 --

You're absolutely correct about there being release date predictions
-- particularly for the operating system -- and those are often off by
years. Two organizations say that Microsoft has said "2006" for the
new version of Office:

Computerworld
"New Microsoft Office release coming in 2006," (Evers, May 11, 2005)
http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/hardware/desktops/story/0,10801,101651,00.html

The 2nd organization is Directions on Microsoft, the company that does
a newsletter and series of reports on Microsoft.  However, I could not
find a specific quarter for the Office schedule, either on the
Directions on Microsoft site nor on the Microsoft home page:

Directions on Microsoft 
"Free Samples of Directions on Microsoft Content" 
http://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/sample/free_samples.html

I've been a past subscriber to their newsletter and if detailed
information on Microsoft products (and organization structure) are
important to you, I'd highly recommend subscribing.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

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Clarification of Answer by omnivorous-ga on 14 Sep 2005 12:24 PDT

Johnt01 --

ZDNet just published quite a bit on Office 12, as it's being called,
after a detailed briefing for developers at the Microsoft Developers
Conference on yesterday in Los Angeles.  There are several stories,
including some image, here:
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9593_22-5863057.html?tag=nl.e539

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Thanks, that's what I needed.  Outstanding.

jtg.