Microsoft’s Office 2007 slips again

“Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it would delay the release of its Office business software suite, citing ‘product performance’ issues,” Allison Linn reports for The Associated Press.

“In a statement released by the company’s Waggener Edstrom public relations firm, Microsoft said it would now release the product to big business customers by the end of the year, instead of in October as planned,” Linn reports.

“Consumers and other business users are now scheduled to get the product in early 2007. Microsoft had previously said it would be broadly available in January, to coincide with the delayed release of Microsoft’s Windows Vista computer operating system,” Linn reports.

Full article here.

“It was not immediately clear how the Office delay would impact Microsoft’s Vista plans or a potential joint product launch. Many outsiders have already said they expect the Windows update to also be delayed beyond January, but Microsoft has yet to acknowledge a further delay,” Ina Fried reports for CNET News.

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: The amount of surprise cannot be understated.

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62 Comments

  1. Part of the article said…

    “Microsoft said earlier Thursday that it had nearly reached its self-imposed limit for testers of the current Windows Vista beta, with plans to stop allowing new downloads after Friday.”

    ok.. so let me understand this straight.

    Flip4Mac, with the 2.5 mac market share get’s all of the people it needs to beta test in a few short minutes after the link is posted online, and windows vista is up for days and days and can’t fultill it’s beta testing needs out of the millions of people using the windows platform?

  2. What about all those businesses who paid hefty license fees this year. As I read one license plan…once the business pays the annual fee they receive any new Microsoft software release. Those businesses in 2006 were expecting a new Windows and Office release–now they get nothing.

    M$’s new license scheme is such a money bucket for them. They muscle businesses to accept the new terms or else (insert veiled threat) while never promising that anything new will be delivered, just IF an upgrade happens to be released within the license year you will receive it.

    Seems that we would here more from irate IT managers demanding compensation.

  3. This way Vista can be out for a while end then Office comes out to join it. That’s the way to go about it.

    I don’t know what’s with giving the business customers the earliest buggy stuff, though, that’s the opposite of Microsoft’s normal smart strategies.

  4. MSFT announces another delay to a widely-publicized product and their stock price goes up 0.24. *Shaw Wu*, a friggin’ analyst, speculates that an unannounced and unexpected iPod product *may be delayed* due to factors that only he seems to be picking up on telepathically, and AAPL stock dumps almost $2.00.

    Go figure. :-\

    MW Normal == That’s normal operation for Wall Street.

  5. “performance issues”

    LOL sounds like a job for Viagra!

    Seriously, “product performance issues” is code for “it doesn’t work”. And MS thinks they can take a huge, non-functional product to release inside a 2-3 month grace period? OMFG.

    Just watch, the new Office will be Longhorn/Vista all over again.

  6. Oh I think it’s almost to be expected that Vista will slip further into late 2007 from what I’ve heard from the beta testers. There know where near getting Vista out by January 2007. June 2007 is more like it maybe.

  7. Freddy the Pig

    Spot on.

    Been a Mac Head since 1992 and boy am I glad I have nothing to do with microsoft. I had a bad experience with MSDOS and my Powerbook 170 released me to a world of beauty . . . and it’s getting soooooo much better. I think the next 12 months with Apple are going to be fantastic.

  8. Dear Fellow Mac Users,

    Completely unrelated…can we all agree to stop making those awfully contrived comments where the reader somehow ties in the MDN “magic word.”

    They rarely have made any sense, and just make MDN readers look like a bunch of dolts. They are always so freaking tacky it makes me want to vomit.

    So, MDN readers, you’re better than that.

    Sincerely,
    Mike

  9. ?? ~ Today’s Trivia Question ~ ??

    Which OS was the first to run the Microsoft spreadsheet application “Excel”?

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

    “Excel was originally written for the 512K Apple Macintosh in 1984-1985. Excel was one of the first spreadsheets to use a graphical interface with pull down menus and a point and click capability using a mouse pointing device. The Excel spreadsheet with a graphical user interface was easier for most people to use than the command line interface of PC-DOS spreadsheet products. Many people bought Apple Macintoshes so that they could use Bill Gates’ Excel spreadsheet program. There is some controversy about whether a graphical version of Microsoft Excel was released in a DOS version. Microsoft documents show the launch of Excel 2.0 for MS-DOS version 3.0 on 10/31/87.”

    http://www.dssresources.com/history/sshistory.html

  10. Criminy Mike, do you really have nothing better to complain about than the MDN readership having a little fun with the magic word? If they enjoy it, how is it hurting you? One little sentence at the end of their post, and you post a tirade. Get fscking real. If you are so self-important that you must request that all posters make you happy, you need to get a fscking life!

    Perhaps you need a Midol, Mike?

    Magic Word: Fscking, as in Get Off Your Fscking Horse!

  11. I have many friends and relatives that use MS Windows and Office with lemming-like enthusiasm. I hope that MS does a better job of copying Apple’s products so my friends can have a near-Apple experience.

    .

    Proper Etiquette?

    If you’re on a Mac and a friend of yours is all giddy about their new Vista upgrade an starts mentioning how they can now do things that you have been doing for the past 3 years. Do you politely smile with a nod and say “that’s nice” or do you subtly gloat and say that you’ve been doing those things for many years?

  12. I have many friends and relatives that use MS Windows and Office with lemming-like enthusiasm. I hope that MS does a better job of copying Apple’s products so my friends can have a near-Apple experience.

    .

    Proper Etiquette?

    If you’re on a Mac and a friend of yours is all giddy about their new Vista upgrade an starts mentioning how they can now do things that you have been doing for the past 3 years. Do you politely smile with a nod and say “that’s nice” or do you subtly gloat and say that you’ve been doing those things for many years?

    Sometimes, you have to love people enough to let them hate you for a while. I’d gloat. ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”cheese” style=”border:0;” />

  13. “Do you politely smile with a nod and say ‘that’s nice’ or do you subtly gloat and say that you’ve been doing those things for many years?”

    My suggestion is to agree with them. In fact, if you can, give them some tips on what’s useful using Mac OS X terminology.

    He says, “Gadgets look so cool!” You reply, “Widgets are definitely cool! The only problem is that you end up with tons of them all over your screen.”
    “Don’t you mean ‘gadgets’?”
    “Well, in Mac OS X, they’re called ‘widgets’.”

    Since you have a learned opinion, he can assume you’ve used them, so you don’t have to say anything about how you’ve been using them for awhile–it’s inferred. But you’re agreeing with him about cool something is, so it’s tough for him to get offended.

  14. Well this sucks. Not that I don’t enjoy MS being a utter mess, which I do.

    But there is no way we’re getting the Mac version until the PC one is coming out, even if it is ready to ship.

    Normally I am in no hurry to buy a MS product.

    But since Apple still hasn’t gotten the courage to make iWork an Office killer yet and I really want a native version of MSOffice in the interim.

    So, we Mac folks get hosed because of Windows. Remarkable when you think about it.

  15. MDW: “change”

    Your not going to change people from using the “magic word”.

    Change

    change | ch ānj| verb 1 make or become different : [ trans. ] a proposal to change the law | [ intrans. ] a Virginia creeper just beginning to change from green to gold. • make or become a different substance entirely; transform : [ trans. ] filters change the ammonia into nitrate [ intrans. ] | computer graphics can show cars changing into cheetahs. • [ intrans. ] alter in terms of : the ferns began to change shape. • [ intrans. ] (of traffic lights) move from one color of signal to another. • (of a boy’s voice) become deeper with the onset of puberty. • [ intrans. ] (of the moon) arrive at a fresh phase; become new. 2 [ trans. ] take or use another instead of : she decided to change her name. • move from one to another : she changed jobs incessantly | change sides. • exchange; trade : the sun and moon changed places. • [ intrans. ] move to a different train, airplane, or subway line. • give up (something) in exchange for something else : we changed the shades for vertical blinds. • remove (something dirty or faulty) and replace it with another of the same kind : change a light bulb. • put a clean diaper on (a baby or young child). • engage a different gear in a motor vehicle : [ trans. ] wait for a gap and then change gears | figurative with business concluded, the convention changes gear and a gigantic circus takes over the town. • exchange (a sum of money) for the same amount in smaller denominations or in coins, or for different currency. • [ intrans. ] put different clothes on : he changed for dinner. noun 1 the act or instance of making or becoming different : the change from a nomadic to an agricultural society | environmental change. • the substitution of one thing for another : a change of venue. • an alteration or modification : a change came over Eddie’s face. • a new or refreshingly different experience : couscous makes an interesting change from rice. • [in sing. ] a clean garment or garments as a replacement for clothes one is wearing : a change of socks. • ( the change or the change of life) informal menopause. • the moon’s arrival at a fresh phase, typically at the new moon. • Baseball another term for change-up . 2 coins as opposed to paper currency : a handful of loose change. • money given in exchange for the same amount in larger denominations. • money returned to someone as the balance of the amount paid for something : I watched him pocket the change. 3 (usu. changes) an order in which a peal of bells can be rung. 4 ( Change or ‘Change) Brit., historical a place where merchants met to do business. PHRASES change color blanch or flush. change hands (of a business or building) pass to a different owner. • (of money or a marketable commodity) pass to another person during a business transaction : no money has changed hands. change one’s mind adopt a different opinion or plan. change off take turns. a change of heart a move to a different opinion or attitude. change step (in marching) alter one’s step so that the opposite leg marks time. change the subject begin talking about something different, esp. to avoid embarrassment or the divulgence of confidences. change one’s tune 1 express a different opinion or behave in a different way. 2 change one’s style of language or manner, esp. from an insolent to a respectful tone. for a change contrary to how things usually happen; for variety : it’s nice to be pampered for a change. ring the changes vary the ways of expressing, arranging, or doing something. [ORIGIN: with allusion to bell-ringing and the different orders in which a peal of bells may be rung.]PHRASAL VERBS change over move from one system or situation to another : crop farmers have to change over to dairy farming. DERIVATIVES changeful |ˈ ch ānjfəl| adjective ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French change (noun), changer (verb), from late Latin cambiare, from Latin cambire ‘barter,’ probably of Celtic origin.

    So you change. Change is not going to happen. Change is good. Loose change is better.

    Change, Apple is about change. You need to change your underwear. Change your socks and change your mind. Change change, the world is about change.

    Change, Change change. Change your life, your girlfirend your car.

    Change your PC to a Mac is Change. Changing back is not change, it’s the opposite of change. It’s reversing change. Like reversing time, but time isn’t the magic word for today.

    Change is. And change was. And change is going to happen. Wether or not you like it to change. It will change regardless and you’ll have to accept change.

    So change, or be left without change, pennyless and broken, living under a bridge, for most purposes never changes. So you’ll be a changless person. Unable to change, living under a bridge, unchanged, begging for lose change.

    And that’s our loony Magic word for today.

  16. You guys have it all wrong, it’s not that I want you not to do it because I don’t like it — it’s because it makes the Mac community (specifically MDN readers) look dumb and uneducated.

    I guess, if you were actually intelligent, you would have picked up on that not-so-subtle point in my initial post, however.

  17. I can’t this song out of my head and I don’t know why?

    “Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
    (turn and face the strain)
    Ch-ch-changes
    Dont want to be a richer man
    Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
    (turn and face the strain)
    Ch-ch-changes
    Just gonna have to be a different man
    Time may change me
    But I can’t trace time . . .”

    ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”tongue laugh” style=”border:0;” />

    MAGIC WORD: SEEMED! (like a good idea) Bwahahahahaha . . .

  18. “I guess, if you were actually intelligent, you would have picked up on that not-so-subtle point in my initial post, however.”

    What?

    ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”shock” style=”border:0;” />

  19. I almost feel BAD for Microsoft. ALMOST…

    Their continual inability to ship Vista and Office “on time” is stunning when you think about the amount of time and money they’ve spent on this little turd polishing exercise!

  20. Any rumors of the next Office for Mac? It least the Windows folks have an update in the works; I have heard nothing about the next Mac version.

    I’m an Excel power user on the Mac, and there’s some nice additions coming to the next Windows version such as improved pivot table formatting and conditional formatting.

    I would love to have the Mac version on par with the Windows version. 2004 is beginning to seem like a long time ago (not as long as 2003 though!).

  21. It is starting to make sense why Bill Gates is deserting, along with other “top” managers. Gates has finally seen the writing on the wall: no R&D dept, lousy programmers, ugly computers housing his “baby,” &c.

    It was smart of him to leave his sinking ship and now he can slip into obscurity. In a few years MS will be out in the cold trying to reinvent themselves with new blood. It’s like going to the minor leagues for them.

    Gates pulls the plug on his career at a time when his OS is struggling to get out? Good end to his legacy, don’t you think?

  22. And the lesson today is that Microsoft can’t change.

    Bill Gates is giving away all his lose change.

    So much in fact that Warren Buffet is giving Gates his change too.

    Together they intend to create change, but change they will not do.

    Because they are not the agents of change.

    Their money will be used up and nothing will change.

    And if you think I’m annoying, with all this change, beware

    BECAUSE NEXT POST IT WILL CHANGE!!!

    MDN Word “Followed” (I got this feeling, somebodies watching me…, I got no privacy…)

  23. I need a proof reader, I’m just a insane artist.

    I am livin’ on Channel Z
    Getting nothing but static, getting nothing but static
    Static in my attic from Channel Z
    Getting nothing but static, getting nothing but static.
    Static filling my attic from Channel Z

    MDW: “Channel Z” (hehehehe)

  24. “Well I turned around and I said oh, oh oh
    Well I turned around and I said oh, oh oh
    Well I turned around and I said ho, ho
    And the northern lights commenced to glow
    And she said, with a tear in her eye
    Watch out where the huskies go, and dont you eat that yellow ‘Book
    Watch out where the huskies go, and dont you eat that yellow ‘Book”

    Time to change the diapers?

    Bewitching Utterance: major as in Heller’s character

  25. Rock Lobster, Down Down.

    It’s a Rock,

    It’s a Rock

    It’s a ROCK LOBSTER!!!

    — B-52’s

    I am livin’ on Channel Z
    Getting nothing but static, getting nothing but static
    Static in my attic from Channel Z

    MDW: sort “Can you sort the static in my attic from Channel Z?”

  26. “Nobody know what I’m talkin’ about.
    I’ve got my own life to live
    I’m the one that’s going to have to die
    when it’s time for me to die.
    So let me live my life,
    the way I want to

    Yeah.

    Sing on Brother, play on drummer.” – JMH

    Word: need, so true.

  27. Please enter the “MDN Magic Word” you see in the image below:

    ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”cool grin” style=”border:0;” />

    That super cool thing: hair. as in “I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy
    Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty
    Oily, greasy, fleecy
    Shining, gleaming, streaming
    Flaxen, waxen
    Knotted, polka-dotted
    Twisted, beaded, braided
    Powdered, flowered, and confettied
    Bangled, tangled, spangled, and spaghettied!”

  28. “It was not immediately clear how the Office delay would impact Microsoft’s Vista plans or a potential joint product launch. Many outsiders have already said they expect the Windows update to also be delayed beyond January, but Microsoft has yet to acknowledge a further delay,” Ina Fried reports for CNET News.

    Note that Vista appears to be referred to as an update

  29. ====
    Many outsiders have already said they expect the Windows update to also be delayed beyond January, but Microsoft has yet to acknowledge a further delay,
    ====

    The best part of the CNET article…that they refer to Vista as a “Windows update” is SO telling.

    It really will be “just” an update, whereas Leopard will be a proper upgrade.

    update[b/] : make (something) more modern or up to date
    upgrade : raise (something) to a higher standard, in particular improve it by adding or replacing components (features)

    ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />

  30. Now now
    lest we be too critical of Micros**t we should remember something called OS8 – Copland
    It was to be the ‘end all’ of operating systems and it kept being delayed and descoped.
    If Micros**t were really smart at copying Apple, they would simply ditch Windows they way Apple ditched OS9.
    But as Windows xp is evidence – MS is not very good at copying Apple – try though they may

  31. Wings2sky

    Copland, you mean the attempts made during the years without SJ? Is there any wonder?
    Thankfully Apple survived the “Sugar water man” et al, the fools who almost took Apple from corp to corpse.

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