Review: Microsoft Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh

Help Is On The Way
A lot of the improvements in Office B2TR are not in the applications themselves, but in online help, training, and references. Despite all its assurances that beta testers are finding the new interface just dandy, Microsoft has put a plethora of support materials online, including an interactive command guide to help perplexed users find where their favorite features have been hidden in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and a video explaining the thinking behind the new user interface, among others.

The verdict? Since most of the changes here are tweaks rather than major alterations, it's not going to change anybody's opinion of the new interface, the new features, or the new suite as a whole. I must say that the minimized Ribbon feature, along with the keyboard shortcuts that were introduced in the Beta 2, has made me much more inclined to want to start using Office 2007 rather than popping back to 2003's security blanket. There have been a variety of opinions stated in various blogs, editorials, and reviews, ranging from happily enthusiastic to dire warnings of doom. On the whole, I can express cautious optimism -- it looks as though Microsoft has planned the new version of Office with a view not only to elaborate theories of UIs and corporate features, but with a real concern as to how it will fare in day-to-day use.

You can download Microsoft Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh from the Microsoft site. Be aware that you cannot install the Technical Refresh from scratch; it's an update that has to be installed over Office 2007 Beta 2. And if you don't have the Beta 2 yet, you're going to have to pay a $1.50 "cost recover" fee to download it.