Office 2007 / PowerPoint 2007 (aka Office 12 / PowerPoint 12)

If you've used a beta version of Office 2007 and are having trouble installing the released version of Office see this Microsoft KB article

Microsoft MVP Patrick Schmid also has a page that lists installation issues with Office 2007

Office 2007 comes in more flavors and editions and variations than ever before. What's included in which edition of Office 2007?

The rest of the information on this page refers to the beta or earlier versions. We've left it here in case you're still using the beta.

What's ahead for Office? What's Microsoft planning for PowerPoint 12?

Public Beta Preview

Please note VERY carefully
Read the information here thoroughly, especially this part:

"2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 is a public preview release designed to help you evaluate the Microsoft Office system. The beta is not final and should not be used for business-critical work."

and ...

"2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 is for evaluation and planning purposes only. Beta software does not necessarily display the same high level of stability of shipped Microsoft products. Beta testers may experience problems with 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 products that could potentially result in loss, corruption, or destruction of existing data.
This beta testing release is not appropriate for production use. It is strongly recommended that you back up your existing data before you install and run this software. Beta code is offered "as is," and does not include technical support.
Many organizations have policies prohibiting unauthorized software installation on company-owned computers. Make sure you check with your IT department before downloading and installing 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 on your computer at work."

What does all that mean in practice?

"Beta" is short for "beta test." Beta testing is part of software development. The company lets adventurous users try out the software before it's ready to sell to the public.

In short, it's not ready for the real world and it will have bugs:

Stuff won't work right, there won't be much documentation and it'll crash. And that's what it's expected to do. If that stresses you, it'd be better not to install it and find out about the unexpected stuff.
Don't use it for real work. Don't expect the files you create with it to work in the final released version.
Don't install it on a computer with other versions of Office. It may render them unstable.
Don't install it on your only computer or on any computer that you can't afford to be without.
Do plan to reformat the computer's hard drive and reinstall Windows and all of your working software after you're done working with the Beta. That may seem harsh, but in practice, it's usually necessary to get back to a stable working computer.

None of this is meant as a criticism of Office, Windows or Microsoft. It's just the way it is with beta software. Nobody knows what it will do under all circumstances. That's the point of testing; to learn what breaks and to fix it before releasing The Real Thing.

If you don't have a "throwaway" PC to test on, visit our tutorial on Using Virtual PC / VMWare virtual computers. It describes a great way to test software ON your PC without RISKING your PC. Highly recommended. And free from Microsoft.

There will be no Microsoft-provided support for the beta but Microsoft plans to start a Newsgroup on the preview site where you can discuss issues with other users.

So where do I report bugs?

According to Microsoft, "This public preview of Office 2007 is a preview, and as such, it doesn't have a formal bug reporting mechanism."

In other words (mine, not Microsoft's) you get a chance to try the same version of Office 2007 the beta testers are using, but you don't become one yourself. There are still a few ways you can send information to Microsoft.

Download and install the MS 'Send a Smile' tool. Installing Send-a-Smile places two 'smileys' in your system tray: Smile - to capture a picture of and comment on things you like in the new version and Frown - to capture a picture of and comment on how something you're seeing might be improved by changing it. You can capture a screen with a single click and type in your comments and send your feedback to Microsoft.
Make sure you've turned on the Customer Experience Improvement Program. (Click the round Office button, [program name] Options, Trust Center, Trust Center Settings, check the option next to "Sign up for the CEIP.")
Send crash and error reports when prompted -- MS uses these to fix bugs, too.
If you use OneNote, the OneNote 2007 team is soliciting bug reports. See this page for specifics.

If you don't want to install Office 2007 beta preview software ...

If you'd rather not risk installing beta software or aren't permitted to do so, you can still take the Office 2007 Test Drive on the web.

Other Powerpoint/Office 2007 sites/blogs

Where do you fit in? Does Office 2007 fit you?

Office worker, IT person, developer ... choose your role and see what's in store

A PowerPoint & OfficeArt Blog from some of the PowerPoint team leaders. Who've been too busy leading the PowerPoint team to post much. You're busted, Ric.

Office does PDF: along with the other Office products, PowerPoint will be able to save as PDF. Brian Jones' blog has some good info on this new feature. And a blog from Cyndy Wessling, who's worked on the Save as PDF feature in Office for the last year or so.

What about the new XML file formats? What's the story with backward compatibility?