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12+ New Microsoft Office 2010 Features

Start The Discussion | Fredric Paul | November 18, 2009 14:05 PM

This visual look at what's new for SMBs in the Microsoft Office 2010 beta reveals a number of significant improvements. But is it enough to maintain the productivity suite's overwhelming dominance in the face of cheaper (free!) online alternatives?

The Backstage View Throughout Office 2010

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The Backstage View Throughout Office 2010

Getting information about the properties of a document and a clear list of the things you can do with it has always been harder than it should be in Microsoft Office.

Office 2010 makes big strides in fixing that with the Backstage View. Just click on the File tab that replaces the Orb (or Jewel) in the upper left hand corner of the screen, and you get a full-page, behind-the-scenes look at your document. It's very different from a pull-down menu, but it won't take long to get used to.

The information supplied varies slightly from app to app. Word docs give you file Size, Pages, Words, Total Editing Time, Title, Tags, and Comments, as well as Author and Last Modified By. You also get dates the doc was Created, Last Modified, and Last Printed. While PowerPoint, for example, tells you the Number of Slides and Hidden Slides.

And all the apps use Backstage to let you set options for Permissions and Sharing (using e-mail, SharePoint, or SkyDrive -- online storage, etc.), as well as Versions control. Print preview is also available, and much improved with real-time previews of the options you select.

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