Office 2010 Technical Preview: A SuperSite Special Report
Part 6: Microsoft PowerPoint 2010

I recall people mocking PowerPoint at the community college I worked at 15 years ago--as in, "those who can't do, PowerPoint"--but Microsoft's presentation solution has emerged as a powerful force in both corporate settings and in education. I begrudgingly began using PowerPoint myself several years ago when I started providing my own presentations, and while I hardly consider myself an expert, it's an application I do use fairly regularly. In PowerPoint 2010, the major improvements are of the evolutionary variety, but there's a lot of emphasis this time around on creating even more professional-looking presentations, and I think that will go over well with the application's core audiences.

Better transitions and animations

With no mention whatsoever of the Cupertino product that no doubt inspired this work, Microsoft has dramatically improved PowerPoint's transitions and animations. Microsoft describes the transitions as "cinematic," and sure enough there are a number of subtle (fade, wipe) and moderate (checkerboard, blinds) transitions to choose from as well as associated effects for most of them. The animation capabilities have been also been improved, and you can now copy animation effects from object to object using a new Animation Painter that works much like the Format Painter.

The Transition to This Slide Gallery in PowerPoint 2010.

Broadcast Slide Show

One potentially huge new feature in PowerPoint 2010 is the ability to remotely broadcast your presentation via the web. This feature requires SharePoint Server 2010 inside a corporate firewall, but it will be offered for free over Windows Live to individuals as well. The best part? Those wishing to view the presentation on their own PCs only need a browser. You could even view the presentation from a smart phone if you had to.

Video editing

PowerPoint has long been able to embed video clips in presentations, but what's been missing is a way to edit those videos. So in previous versions of the product, you'd have to use an external application to edit video. With PowerPoint 2010, you can edit the video right in the application and then compress it so that the underlying presentation isn't bogged down by unused video.

PowerPoint 2010's video editing capabilities are actually pretty impressive, too. When you insert a video, you get two new ribbon tabs, Video Tools - Format and Video Tools - Edit. The Format tab includes controls for changing the brightness, contrast, color, and poster frame of the video, as well as a gallery for various video styles (borders and shapes, essentially), as well as numerous effects, like shadows, reflections, and glows.

PowerPoint 2010 provides a surprisingly complete video editing experience.

The Edit tab features actual video trimming tools, fade controls, and various playback-related configurations.

So, what can you do with these controls that isn't obvious? You can configure video triggers that fire at precise points in your presentation. You can trim video, download it from sites like YouTube, and convert it into other formats. It supports AVI, Windows Media, MOV/QuickTime, MPEG-2, SWF (Macromedia Flash), and MPEG-4 (H.264).

Continue with Part 7, But Wait, There's More...

--Paul Thurrott
June 30 - July 13, 2009

Special Report: Office 2010 Technical Preview

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Improving Office
Part 3: Outlook 2010
Part 4: Word 2010
Part 5: Excel 2010
Part 6: PowerPoint 2010
Part 7: But Wait, There's More

Related Reading:
Office 2010

Office 2010 Beta: Introduction
Office 2010 Beta: User Experiences
Office 2010 Beta Preview
Outlook PST: Open for Business
SharePoint 2010 Preview
OWA: Is It Enough?
Office Web Applications TP
Office 2010 Technical Preview
Office 2010 Tech Preview Screens
Office 2010 FAQ
Office 14 Web Apps Preview