Office 12: New User Interface, Content Management

The Office suite will get a redesigned user interface (UI) and new features for enterprise content management systems, which help enforce policy and automate the handling of documents, reports, Web pages, and other critical corporate content. The next release of the suite, code-named Office 12 and due in 2006, could prove simpler to use for occasional users, and could help organizations trying to manage documents and other content to meet stricter regulatory requirements. However, the new UI might require some retraining, and the benefits of the new suite must be weighed against license costs that are currently unknown.

With Office 12, Microsoft’s continues to try to move the popular suite beyond document creation and e-mail into new business processes. Microsoft has introduced many new “Office System” servers and services that complement Office and add new capabilities, such as the SharePoint products for document management and portal hosting and the Live Meeting Web conference service. Microsoft emphasized enterprise content management at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in September 2005, but Office 12 has additional target areas, and more servers planned to support them.