Microsoft Plots Out Office 12 Timeline

Microsoft has been quietly briefing select partners on its plans for its forthcoming Office 12 series of desktop productivity and server products. According to Microsoft Watch, Microsoft's internal calendar has Beta 1 penciled in for August 29, 2005 with a second beta lined up for December 5, 2005.

Unconfirmed reports point to an array of new Office server products on the horizon. These include server versions of Excel, Visio and potentially InfoPath. The extension of Office System server development has left the rumor mill whirling about potential Web services.

In addition, Microsoft Watch has reported that Redmond may launch a new charting application as part of the Office 12 desktop SKU. The charting application may draw on Longhorn's Avalon graphics subsystem. The subsystem could also be back-ported to legacy edition of Windows to make the Office System more widely available.

According to details leaked from the internal timeline, Microsoft expects to ship the final product on July 17, 2006. The Longhorn wave of products is expected to start shipping in 2006.