According
to News.com, Microsoft plans to ship a new preview release of
Office 2007 next week. The updated beta changes to the user interface, bug
fixes and other changes to make it more stable. Microsoft had said before that
it planned
significant changes to the way users find commands in Office, which can now
be buried deep in menus. The beta refresh will be available only to the about
10,000 participants in a private testing program. Microsoft released the initial
beta of Office 2007 in November. A second, public beta is planned for this
spring.
Microsoft have updated the Office 2007 site with what looks like new UI
screenshots. According to the Office lead
PM's blog,
the
UI is skinnable.