Now that Windows 7 has been fully released, Microsoft is turning its attention to the next big software release: Office 2010. That's right! Just as you started getting used to having (or avoiding) Office 2007, the next version is being readied for the marketplace. If you're like me, you probably wonder how they can find anything else to do in a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, or mail client. While I did find some features in Office 2007 surprisingly useful, I could have continued without them forever.

The biggest new feature of Office 2010 will be the web-based version. Microsoft is taking the online office tools like Google Apps and Zoho seriously now. And they should. I know many small businesses that use these exclusive of full desktop applications. Many of my Indianapolis small business computer consulting customers use these tools from time-to-time, but none so far have abandoned the desktop application. With the advent of Microsoft Office 2010 web apps, we may have some that take that route.

One of the things that we do to keep our computer outsourcing customers aware of changes in the IT area is to play with new things as they come along. Sometimes that means we find the coolest new things to make life easier. At other times it means we break our stuff and have to figure out how to fix it. The web version of Office 2010 could fall into either category. Time will tell.