Chances are if you're reading our blog, then you're already well aware that Office 2007 is coming. Below we've addressed many of the common questions we've heard people asking about Office 2007 and its impact on SmartDocs.

• When is Office 2007 being released?

  Office 2007 has already been released to volume licensing customers (i.e., large organizations). Microsoft will make Office 2007 available to the general public at the end of January 2007.

• What's new in Office 2007?

  Microsoft's What's new in the 2007 release page does a great job at outlining the new functionality in each of the Office 2007 products.

  In our evaluation of Office 2007, we identified three changes in Office that really make it stand out from its predecessors:

  • New user interface paradigm. The traditional menu-and-toolbar interface has been replaced with a context-sensitive ribbon and tabs.
  • XML based file formats. By default, documents created in Office 2007 are based on the new Office OpenXML file format.
  • Focus on collaboration. Office 2007 collaboration tools like SharePoint and Groove are tightly integrated with traditional Office applications making collaboration easier and more powerful than ever.
• Why the new user interface in Office 2007?

  This series of eight blog entries from Jensen Harris (Group Program Manager for the Microsoft Office User Experience Team) explains in great detail why Microsoft moved away from the tradition menu-and-toolbar interface for Office 2007:

  • The Why of the New UI (Part 1)
  • Ye Olde Museum Of Office Past (Why the UI, Part 2)
  • Combating the Perception of Bloat (Why the UI, Part 3)
  • New Rectangles to the Rescue? (Why the UI, Part 4)
  • Tipping the Scale (Why the UI, Part 5)
  • Inside Deep Thought (Why the UI, Part 6)
  • No Distaste for Paste (Why the UI, Part 7)
  • Grading On the Curve (Why the UI, Part 8)
• How does Word 2007 impact SmartDocs?

  SmartDocs is fully embracing the release of Word 2007. SmartDocs will provide full support for both Office 2003 and Office 2007, with no fear of incompatibilites between the different versions.

  The SmartDocs user interface will be adaptive to both Word 2003 and Word 2007. That is, when running SmartDocs in Word 2003, SmartDocs will utilize traditional menus and toolbars. When running SmartDocs in Word 2007, SmartDocs will take advantage of the new Office ribbon and tabs. In addition, SmartDocs for Word 2007 will take advantage of some of the newer capabilities in Word 2007 to make the user experience even richer than before.

  For additional information regarding SmartDocs support for Word 2007, please don't hesitate to contact us. Also be sure to pay attention this blog for future SmartDocs for Word 2007 updates.