Microsoft officially releases Office 2010…on the worst possible day

June 16, 2010 - By Justin E. Gehrke

Yesterday, Microsoft officially changed the status of Office 2010 from a Beta to an official release. Unfortunately, they chose the worst possible day of the year to do it. While not everyone is interested in the Apple iPhone 4 pre-order that kicked off yesterday, even those who might have been interested in the Office 2010 release probably didn’t hear anything about it.

The latest version of the world’s dominant office productivity suite includes new features like video and editing in PowerPoint, enhanced email management, improved calendar functionality, new text effects and table formatting in Word, and collaboration capabilities in Word, PowerPoint and OneNote. Users will also have available a web-based option with Office Web Apps.

The Office Web Apps functionality ties into Microsoft’s new SkyDrive feature that has been available to users in the U.S., U.K., Ireland and Canada, since last week.

As far as pricing goes, it is much different than what we’ve seen in previous Microsoft Office versions. There are three flavors to choose from: Office Home and Student 2010 ($149.99), Office Home and Business 2010 ($279.99) and Office Professional 2010 ($499.99).

The basic version, Office Home and Student 2010, includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. The only difference between it and the Office Home and Business 2010 version is the inclusion of Outlook. The Office Professional 2010 version includes all of the aforementioned applications, as well as Access 2010 and Publisher 2010.

According to a Microsoft, users will have two ways to activate their Office 2010 suites. Consumers who buy it preinstalled on a new PC can purchase a Product Key Card at a retail seller to activate the product. Those with existing PCs that meet the minimum system requirements can purchase and download a version from the Microsoft Office website, which is equipped with a “Click-to-Run” function that validates their product instantly. Users who download the software from Microsoft can also pay an additional $14.95 to download backup disc for use in the event they need to reinstall it at a later date.

Those interested in purchasing any version of Microsoft Office 2010, for use on an existing PC, should verify their system meets the minimum requirements to run the software. At a minimum, users will need to have: 500 MHz or faster processor, 56 MB RAM; 512 MB recommended, 3 GB of available disc space, 1024×576 or better resolution, and Internet Explorer 7 or higher. Supported Microsoft Operating Systems include: Windows XP SP3 (32-bit version only), Windows Vista SP1, WIndows 7, Windows Server 2003 R2, and Windows Server 2008 (32 or 64-bit versions).

Potential buyers of the suite can also test drive it by downloading a trial version from the Microsoft Office website. For those who are already sold on the idea and are ready to buy Microsoft Office 2010, direct download links can be found here.