Office
.NET Revealed?
Is
Office NGO really the next version of Office?
A number of readers alerted me this week to a
fascinating Shockwave animation that purports to
demonstrate some of the online/subscription features of
the next version of Microsoft Office, which will be
called Office .NET. Code-named Office NGO ("Next
Generation Office") in the animation, this Office
version will include links to a number of of online
services, including a secure My Office Web site; a
consolidated email account with Web-based Inbox; Office
.NET Notifications; online scheduling with a sharable
calendar; Meeting Workspaces for viewing agendas,
pending tasks, and related documents, SharePoint Team
Services-based Team Workspace for sharing information
with team members; and a set of online content such as
templates, online training, communities, and the like.
So is it real? Is Office NGO really a sneak-peak at
Office .NET? It's hard to say, and though some UI
inconsistencies have me thinking that this is an April
Fools prank, I will say this: If it is fake, it's the
most elaborate fake I've ever seen. Let's take a look.
The Office NGO animation
Here is a complete run-down of the demonstration
animation. For the most part, a voiceover simply reads
the text that is presented onscreen, but in cases where
this isn't the case, I note what's being said underneath
individual images.
Notifications may be delivered to your
cellular phone, or to your desktop via an
instant messaging alert.
UPDATE
Jim Adams
over at
Vibrant Logic tells me that they had links up for
the original Shockwave animation but Microsoft requested
that they remove the "unauthorized release of an MS
concept piece," indicating that the Office NGO work
shown here is indeed real.
On to Part Two...
In part two of the animation, Microsoft purportedly
discusses the subscription software options it is
considering for Office NGO.
Go to part two...
--Paul Thurrott
April 5, 2002
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