When's Office 2006 come out?

Tuzenbach · Sep 24, 2005

I mean, besides the obvious answer of "2006".....

Does it come out in the beginng of 2006 or the end?

And on a side note......

Is Windows Longhorn still due out in May 2006?

Thanks!

IronWolf · Sep 24, 2005

I don't think MS has said anything more than its coming out in 2006. I think Longhorn is slated for late 2006 according to some sites out there on the web and some folks predict Office 2006 is likely to be released before Longhorn. So I am not sure if there are any set dates for either Longhorn or Office yet, just vague time ranges.

Agamon · Sep 24, 2005

Yeah, Office 2000 didn't come out until XP was realased so Office 06 probably won't be out until Vista hits the shelves. And we probably won't know the exact date of that until a couple months beforehand.

Tuzenbach · Sep 24, 2005

Agamon said:
Yeah, Office 2000 didn't come out until XP was realased so Office 06 probably won't be out until Vista hits the shelves. And we probably won't know the exact date of that until a couple months beforehand.

Uh oh. I thought I was keeping score but I guess I wasn't. What in the heck is "Vista"?

IronWolf · Sep 24, 2005

Tuzenbach said:
Uh oh. I thought I was keeping score but I guess I wasn't. What in the heck is "Vista"?

The official name for the next Windows OS. Longhorn was just the testing release name.

Cthulhu's Librarian · Sep 24, 2005

We just got set up as a Beta location to test Vista/Longhorn Server, and from the little we have been told, don't expect to see it anytime in 2006. Maybe 2007.

drothgery · Sep 24, 2005

Cthulhu's Librarian said:
We just got set up as a Beta location to test Vista/Longhorn Server, and from the little we have been told, don't expect to see it anytime in 2006. Maybe 2007.

Longhorn Server (probably actually named the more pedestrian Windows Server 2007) is supposed to be six-nine months behind Longhorn Workstation, err, Windows Vista.

Tuzenbach · Sep 24, 2005

So......Office 2006 in 2006.......

....but......

........new Microsoft OS in 2007? Is this more or less accurate?

drothgery · Sep 24, 2005

Tuzenbach said:
So......Office 2006 in 2006.......

....but......

........new Microsoft OS in 2007? Is this more or less accurate?

Windows Vista (aka Longhorn Workstation, the successor to Windows XP) almost certainly will launch in 2006. Office 12 (there's been no official branding announced for the next version of Office for Windows yet, though Office 2006 is probably the most likely) will launch in 2006, probably at around the same time.

Longhorn Server, the successor to Windows Server 2003, which will probably be sold as Windows Server 2007, will launch in 2007. Unless you're a programmer or an IT guy, you don't care about the server version.

It's likely that Vista will be the last 32-bit desktop OS from Microsoft (they expect the 64-bit versions to be the high-volume versions with Vista, and I'd bet any post-2008 desktop OS will be 64-bit only).

Psionicist · Sep 24, 2005

I am certainly not looking forward to this and I am surprised you are. Microsoft promised lots of cool features in Vista, features they have removed over the years. What you get is lots of "digital rights management" (Microsoft is working very closely with Hollywood to make it hard to copy music / DVD:s) and eye candy.

For the first time, the Windows operating system will wall off some audio and video processes almost completely from users and outside programmers, in hopes of making them harder for hackers to reach. The company is establishing digital security checks that could even shut off a computer's connections to some monitors or televisions if antipiracy procedures that stop high-quality video copying aren't in place.
-- http://news.com.com/Hollywood, Microsoft align on new Windows/2100-1025_3-5844393.html Read: If Microsoft doesn't like what you are watching / doing, your monitor will go blank.

It's not a coincidence the icon is called "Computer" in Windows Vista, instead of "My Computer"...