It is in this regard even more specialized than the getting started guide, the audience limited to IT workers and administrators who manage Office 2010 in a computer network.

The guide has been made available in doc, pdf and xps format, with a total file size of between 226 Kilobytes and 522 Kilobytes.

operations guide for microsoft office 2010

The guide has been written by the Microsoft Office System and Servers Team. It consists of 23 pages that guide the user through various Office related tasks, including:

• Office 2010 Administrative template files
• Group Policy settings, and preventing conflicts with earlier versions of Group Policy settings
• Applying updates for Office 2010
• Uninstalling Office 2010 and installing a previous version
• Adding or removing languages after deploying Office 2010
• Managing and changing user configurations for Office 2010
• Customizing an existing Office installation

The relatively short size of the guide could convince some system administrators to skip it completely. The guide is however filled with hyperlinks to Microsoft websites that contain detailed information about concepts addressed in the guide.

All three versions of the operation guides for Microsoft Office 2010 can be downloaded from the official Microsoft Download Center.

The book’s core audience is mainly IT personal, help desk, deployment staff and consultants even though it contains valuable information for end users as well.

The Office 2010 ebook has a size of 258 pages that are divided into various chapters of interest, among them the following chapters:

• What’s new for IT professionals in Office 2010
• Overview of the Office user interface in Office 2010 including User interface differences in Office 2010 from earlier versions of Microsoft Office
• Changes in Office 2010 including what’s changed and what’s removed sections
• Migration considerations
• Changes in Access 2010
• Changes in Excel 2010
• Changes in InfoPath 2010
• Changes in OneNote 2010
• Changes in Outlook 2010
• Changes in PowerPoint 2010
• Changes in Project 2010
• Changes in SharePoint Designer 2010
• Changes in SharePoint Workspace 2010
• Changes in Visio 2010
• Changes in Word 2010
• Technical diagrams for Office 2010
• System requirements for Office 2010
• Assessment tools for Office 2010
• Office Environment Assessment Tool (OEAT) user’s guide for Office 2010
• Microsoft Office Code Compatibility Inspector user’s guide
• Office Migration Planning Manager (OMPM) for Office 2010
• 64-bit editions of Office 2010

office 2010 getting started

Some chapters of the book contain information that are not available in all Office 2010 suites, users who have purchased Office Home and Business 2010 for instance do not have access to modules like Publisher or Access.

Most chapters contain what’s new, what’s changed, what’s removed and migration information which can be used to quickly compare the new Office 2010 with previous Office releases.

Getting started with Microsoft Office 2010 is available for free at the Microsoft Download Center. The document is provided in doc format.

Office 2010 users can also access relevant information about Office 2010 on the official Office website. There they find help sections for every Office module available including free guides and training opportunities.

getting started guide

Microsoft Excel 2010 example:

The website offers the following information.

• Learn where menu and toolbar commands are in Office 2010
• Basic tasks in Excel 2010, e.g. creating a new workbook, format numbers, applying cell borders and shading, finding and applying templates, sorting data, creating formulas, charts and printing worksheets.
• Make the switch to Excel 2010 training, a 30-45 minute free training course available online and offline.

Have you been working with Office 2010? Let us know what you think of it in the comments.

The process works the following way:

• Purchase Office 2007, or a new PC with Office 2007, and activate it between March 5, 2010 and September 30, 2010.
• Have, or create a Windows Live ID.
• Redeem your Tech Guarantee before October 31, 2010 by visiting www.office.com/techg.

The Microsoft Office 2010 upgrade will be delivered to the user as a download or by DVD for a fee. It has to be noted that not all retailers are part of the free Office 2010 upgrade program and that there is a limit of 25 upgrades per customer.

Upgrade Paths:

Office Ultimate 2007 – Office Professional 2010
Office Professional 2007 – Office Professional 2010
Office Small Business 2007 - Office Professional 2010
Office Standard 2007 - Office Home and Business 2010
Office Home and Student 2007 – Office Home and Student 2010
Office Basic 2007 – Office Home and Business 2010
Word 2007 – Word 2010
Excel 2007 – Excel 2010
PowerPoint 2007 – PowerPoint 2010
OneNote 2007 – OneNote 2010
Access 2007 – Access 2010
Outlook 2007 – Outlook 2010
Outlook with Business Contact Manager 2007 - Outlook 2010
Project Standard 2007 – Project Standard 2010
Project Professional 2007 – Project Professional 2010
Publisher 2007 – Publisher 2010
Visio Standard 2007 – Visio Standard 2010
Visio Professional 2007 – Visio Professional 2010

Eligible Languages:

Brazilian, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English/International English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, Turkish

Note: The language of the qualifying Office 2007 purchase will determine the language of the Office 2010 product.

Check out the faq to read up on all the frequently asked questions. It is recommended to check with the retailer to get a confirmation whether the Microsoft Office 2007 copy is eligible for the free upgrade to Office 2010.

Microsoft will release four different versions of Microsoft Office 2010 with the core difference being the programs (like Word, Excel or PowerPoint) that ship with each Office 2010 edition. Here is a list of the editions and the programs they come with:

• Office Home and Student (Not for use in any commercial, nonprofit or revenue-generating activities, or by any government organization.): Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010
• Office Home and Business: Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010, Outlook 2010
• Office Home and Business: Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010, Outlook 2010, Publisher 2010, Access 2010
• Office Professional Academic (2 Office Professional Academic 2010 is available through authorized academic resellers only): Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010, Outlook 2010, Publisher 2010, Access 2010

The prices to buy Office 2010 editions:

Microsoft lists boxed products and product key cards in the table above. Product key cards are a new way of distributing Microsoft Office 2010. This product key card is only available if the consumer is buying a new PC from selected major PC manufacturers.

For consumers who purchase a new PC, Microsoft is working with major PC manufacturers and our retail partners to make it simpler than ever to try and buy Office 2010.

Through our retail partners, Microsoft is introducing an all-new Product Key Card to help consumers more easily access and experience Office 2010 on new PCs that have been pre-loaded with Office 2010. The Product Key Card is a single license card (with no DVD media) that will be sold at major electronic retail outlets.

An added bonus: The card’s packaging is smaller than the full package (DVD) product, and is eco/retail-friendly. The key number contained on the card will unlock Office 2010 software that has been pre-loaded by the PC manufacturers on their PCs, and enables a simpler and faster path for consumers to begin using any one of three full versions of Microsoft Office – Office Home & Student 2010, Office Home & Business 2010, or Office Professional 2010.

Other useful information about the Office 2010 purchase:

• Microsoft will offer an Office 2010 Family Pack that allows usage on three PCs in one house
• Purchase rights for Office Home and Business, Office Professional, and Office Professional Academic boxed product allow for usage on two of your PCs.
• The Product Key Card is valid for a single installation of the product.

Microsoft has reduced the number of editions of Office significantly. Office 2007 Small Business and Office 2007 Standard seem to have been removed from the portfolio to make it easier for customers to select the right Office edition. Prices on the other hand seem to have remained the same for comparable editions.

Microsoft has released a free e-book a few days ago to further promote the upcoming release of Microsoft Office 2010 and provide users from around with an solid overview of some of the new features and changes that have been implemented into Office 2010.

The e-book is divided into three parts. Part I, “Envision the Possibilities,” walks the reader through the changes in Office 2010 while part 2, “Hit the Ground Running,” focuses on the individual applications and part 3, “Next Steps with Office 2010,” provides interoperability examples.

Envision the Possibilities

• Welcome to Office 2010
• Express Yourself Effectively and Efficiently
• Collaborate in the Office and Around the World

Hit the Ground Running

• Create and Share Compelling Documents with Word 2010
• Create Smart Data Insights with Excel 2010
• Manage Rich Communications with Outlook 2010
• Produce Dynamic Presentations with PowerPoint 2010
• Organize, Store, and Share Ideas with OneNote 2010
• Collaborate Effectively with SharePoint Workspace 2010
• Create Effective Marketing Materials with Publisher 2010
• Make Sense of Your Data with Access 2010

Next Steps with Office 2010

• Putting It All Together
• Security in Office 2010
• Training Made Easy

The e-book offers 183 pages of information about Microsoft Office 2010. Even better is the fact that Microsoft is offering that e-book to anyone without prerequisites like registrations. It is freely and publicly available at the Windows Live Skydrive hosting service

Users need to log into a Microsoft Live account and fill out a short form before they are able to download the beta of Microsoft Office 2010. Downloads are available for 32-bit and 64-bit editions and various languages. The product key for the beta will also be displayed on those pages. The key is required to activate the beta.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Word 2010 Beta and click on the “File” tab. This will take you to the Backstage view. Next click “Help” in the set of tabs on the left.

Step 2: Click “Change Product Key” on the right side of the screen.

Step 3: Enter the Multiple Activation Key (MAK) displayed above. Please check the box to activate automatically or restart the app to activate using the activation dialog box.

Step 4: That’s all you need to do. Entering the MAK key in Microsoft Word 2010 Beta automatically activates all the Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta applications. Click on the “File” tab to return to the Document view.

New features in the beta include:

New features in the beta include:

• Outlook Social Connector (blog)
• Deeper integration between Office client and Web Apps allowing users to save directly to Windows Live Sky Drive or SharePoint 2010
• Improved navigation, visual design and icon update
• New Office logo
• Increased performance and stability

The 32-bit English beta has a size of 700 Megabytes which can take some time to download depending on the Internet connection. Users who want to follow the development of the beta can subscribe to the #officebeta Twitter channel to do so.

Eligible are families, students and small businesses that own 5 PCs or less from the United States. Each selected participant will receive a preview copy of Microsoft Office 2010, access to web versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint plus dedicated support by a program manager and various other sources.

Participants specifically get:

• Microsoft Office 2010 pre-installed on a “loaner” laptop PC – before it ships!
• 24-hour unlimited e-mail support Monday – Friday, with phone support for escalations
• Monthly webcast training and Q&A sessions
• Community site access, so you can connect with other participants and easily use resources like feature videos and announcements
• FREE copy of Microsoft Office 2010 (when available)

This does come at a price. The loaner laptop and Microsoft Office 2010 have to be used on a daily basis and Microsoft expects participants to take part in surveys, trainings and calls with the chance to be invited to share the story on an even broader level by being featured in case studies and videos.

The Microsoft Office 2010 Real Life Stories program is available to US citizens only at this point in time. They can submit an application at the official website until June 30.