By Mani Raj
Microsoft is ready to announce on wednesday that Office 2010 will be finished and ready to be shipped to manufacturers in the first half of next year.
From that time, it can take six weeks to four months or more for the programs to reach PC users. There will be difference in timing for big businesses and individual consumers, and for people who buy packaged software against those who download it.
Office 2010 was previously code named "Office 14". It will include slimmed-down versions of Excel, Word, PowerPoint and OneNote that will let users create and edit documents in a Web browser. Consumers will get access to a free ad-supported version. Microsoft executives' are still working on the details about, what to charge businesses that want a version without ads.
Microsoft plans to let hundreds of thousands of people test a technical preview of the new Office portfolio starting in the third quarter of 2009. The company did not mention whether average PC users will have a chance to test a more polished beta version.
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