Office XP Testers Receive RC1

Office XP testers have begun to receive the first release candidate of the suite after seven months of testing. RC1 graced the doorsteps of beta testers this week as a 5-CD set that included a product guide and three language pack CDs. The build, 10.2511.2511, sports the name 'Corporate Preview Beta', and will ship as 'Microsoft Office Professional with Frontpage.' This will be the final release candidate sent to testers, although Microsoft does have RC2 running internally, with RTM expected early March and a retail release in June.

Contrary to earlier reports, Microsoft has included a version of its Sharepoint Team Services with RC1, a lighter version of Tahoe. This will allow Office users to share their documents with other users via the Web and provide a venue for online collaboration.

Feedback on RC1 thus far has been extremely positive. "This release is much, much improved over Beta 2 - RC1 is definitely release quality," wrote one tester. Earlier betas were not received nearly as well.

BetaNews will have further information on versions and pricing of Office XP as soon as it becomes available.