Later this spring, Microsoft is releasing the next version of their Microsoft Office Suite. We've noticed there is more than the usual amount of hype over this product, so we thought we would review Microsoft® Office 2010 to determine what's all the fuss.

For the small business worker, we see the the improvements three-fold:

1. Work flow efficiency is increased through the introduction of Microsoft built-ins replacing third party software.
2. Work is more readily available through on-line, web applications.
3. Collaborating with others becomes easier through increased SharePoint functionality.

If your business could benefit from this focus, Microsoft Office 2010 may be worth the upgrade.

One of the underlying platforms allowing this integration to happen is the Microsoft Sharepoint product. For those of you unfamiliar with Sharepoint and its capabilities, get more info here.

While there are far too many new features to detail in this brief article, we have tried to highlight those below that we felt have the most impact on your business. Plan to attend one of our "New Features" webinars of Microsoft® Office 2010 so you can get a better idea of what's in store. Stay tuned for published dates and times.

Microsoft® Office 2010 is certainly a version worth considering. However, if you're passing over Office 2007 to get there, the leap may pose a steep learning curve. Expect some training time to get familiar it.

What's NEW and IMPROVED about Microsoft® Office 2010?

NEW FEATURES

• Co-Authoring allows multiple people to update and share documents simultaneously. You can see who else is working on the document online and start a conversation with that person in real time. And edits are highlighted, so you can see they've changed.
  
  
• Conversation View (view product demo video) If you're a heavy-duty email user, this feature provides better control of your e-mails in Outlook while minimizing inbox space. Hide entire email conversations you don't care about and condense them with just a few clicks. And if you're prone to be involved in long e-mail threads, you can quickly find information from specific participants without having to scroll through the entire thread. Or ignore entire threads (or future e-mails) on a subject so you can lessen your email distractions throughout the day.
  
  
• Broadcast Slide Show
  (View Product Demo Video)
  Instantly broadcast your slides to a remote audience online and on any device that has a Web browser, even if they don't have Microsoft PowerPoint.
  
  
• Video Editing and Formatting
  If you do a lot of PowerPoint presentations, this is a great new tool for creating professional looking slides.
  
  
  • Edit videos right in PowerPoint 2010 and eliminate the cost of video editing software.
  • Use video links from the Internet in your presentation, and still keep your file size manageable.
  • Take advantage of video controls that let you pause, rewind, fast-forward, and stop audio and video content without leaving slide-show mode during the presentation.
  • Add video effects, fades, and even create video triggers to launch animation during the presentation.
  • If you're doing a static presentation (such as a publication, newsletter, or pamphlet), Office 2010 will let you edit and add effects to images so you won't need third-party image editing software.
    
    
• Microsoft Excel® 2010 Sparklines
  (View Product Demo Video) Sparklines are small charts in a worksheet cell that provide a clear and compact visual representation of your data. You can use them to show trends in a series of values, such as seasonal increases or monthly expenditures or revenue, or to highlight maximum or minimum values.
  
  
• Backstage View Meant to replace the File menu, Backstage is a launching point to share documents, print out your work, set permissions, and other program specific options to get a project or document ready for distribution. The usual features are there, like open and save, but you'll also get a layout of templates for new documents, several different ways to share your work, and print settings and page layouts (all in one place).
  
  
• Linked Notes
  As you take notes, you can automatically link to the application that you referenced, including Internet Explorer® 8, Word 2010, or PowerPoint 2010. An icon is placed in-line to indicate the referencing application.

IMPROVED FEATURES

• Microsoft SharePoint® Workspace 2010
  When you work on a document offline in SharePoint Workspace, and then connect back online, your edits are automatically synchronized so your content remains consistent.
  
  
• Microsoft Office Web Apps
  Browser-based viewing allows you to do editing of Microsoft Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, and OneNote® 2010 files.
  
  
• Microsoft Office Mobile 2010
  Get more than e-mail on your phone. View, edit, and comment on documents and Excel files with your Smartphone, and it keeps the formatting.
  
  
• Microsoft Office OneNote
  They've improved the search navigation. See search results as you type to quickly narrow the selection.
  
  
• Other
  
  
  • The Ribbon was introduced in Office 2007 to keep frequently used features handy at the top of your work space. In Office 2010, the Ribbon is now across all of the applications in the suite.
    
    
  • A Quick Steps section of the Ribbon has options to let you quickly create meetings, move threads to specific folders, or custom forward messages (with premade subjects) to specific recipients.
    
    
  • In Excel, you can flip through the tabs to access formulas, insert diagrams and charts, and quickly import data from connected sources.
    
    
  • The new Paste Preview lets you easily switch between paste options so you know how your work will be formatted before you commit.

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