Office 11 Unveiled at TechXNY

This week at the TechXNY conference in New York, Microsoft gave attendees a sneak peek at its upcoming next-generation office suite, currently named Office 11. Microsoft group vice president Jeff Raikes discussed the new Office in his keynote speech, touting increased XML support that will better link data between programs.

Raikes demonstrated a new interface in Outlook, Microsoft's flagship e-mail software, which splits the message window vertically instead of horizontally. He said the next version of Outlook will utilize a database-like backend to store e-mails.

SharePoint is also expected to receive a slight makeover in Office 11. Office will more tightly integrate with the SharePoint portal server to support online meetings and more easily track changes made to documents.

The first beta of Office 11 will ship late this summer with a final release slated for mid-2003. Microsoft is aiming to get Office 11 on store shelves by next May.