Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) on Monday kicked off the Technical Preview Program for Office 15, allowing selected customers the opportunity to test out the next iteration of Microsoft's Office suite. In a blog post, P.J. Hough, the corporate vice president for program management for the Office group, says a beta version of Office 15 will be available to the public in "late summer."

Details were sparse at the moment, though Hough touted Office 15 as the "most ambitious undertaking yet." He wrote that "with Office 15, for the first time ever, we will simultaneously update our cloud services, servers, and mobile and PC clients for Office, Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Project, and Visio. Quite simply, Office 15 will help people work, collaborate, and communicate smarter and faster than ever before."

There is much to be excited about if Microsoft's recent release of OneNote for iPad and its cloud play in the form of Office Web Apps are any indication. Office 15 appears to be Microsoft's attempt to completely integrate its productivity product line with the cloud. Much remains unknown about Office 15 however, such as whether the technical preview includes a version that works on the ARM-version of Windows 8, or if it will be optimized for a tablet.

Based on the timeline adopted by Microsoft for the technical preview of Office 2010, Computerworld speculated that Office 15 beta could arrive in late May or early June, with the suite on sale this December or in January 2013. Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley agreed, writing on her All About Microsoft blog that "I've heard from my contacts that Microsoft's goal is to RTM [release to manufacturing] Office 15 by the end of calendar 2012."

Are you or your company making plans based on the next version of Microsoft's Office suite?

For more:
- check out this blog post at Office Exec
- check out this article at Computerworld
- check out this article at ZDNet

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