Microsoft Releases MS Office 15 Technical Preview

Microsoft has revealed that it is now one step closer to releasing the next edition of its very popular Office software suite, 'Office 15' to the general public.

The Redmond software giant recently noted that the highly-anticipated office suite has now entered the "technical preview state," which is only available to a select number of beta testers. It's suggested that the public beta edition of the suite will likely be available for release this summer.

The focus of Office 15, like the previously released Office 365, is on improving the suite's cloud computing capabilities. Such new capabilities will make it easier than ever for users to keep copies of their documents online, where it's extremely convenient to share them with colleagues, friends and family, as well as to access them from a variety of devices.

Office 15 "Most Ambitious Undertaking Yet"

"The goal of Office 15 is to simultaneously update our cloud services, servers, and mobile and PC clients for Office, Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Project, and Visio," noted P.J. Hough, the corporate vice president of Microsoft's Office division.

"Quite simply, Office 15 will help people work, collaborate, and communicate smarter and faster than ever before." (Source: pcmag.com)

Experts were disappointed that Hough didn't reveal much more detail about Office 15, but he did suggest that it was shaping up to be the "most ambitious undertaking yet for the Office Division." (Source: pcmag.com)

Technical Preview Last Step Before Public Beta

For those not familiar with the terminology of the company's software roll-outs, the "technical preview state" indicates that Microsoft is currently inviting specially selected clients to test drive Office 15's earliest builds.

As in a public beta release, the process involves acquiring loads of user feedback. However, unlike a true beta test, users in a technical preview state test agree not to reveal their experiences and must sign non-disclosure agreements.

It's reasonable to consider this stage the company's first major step towards widespread release of the software. The public beta test which comes later will involve more users and more customer feedback that will ultimately shape the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version of the software.

Experts don't know for certain when the public will get their hands on the first release copy of Office 15, but analysts expect the RTM edition could be ready by the end of the year, setting up an early 2013 release for a commercially available version. (Source: zdnet.com)