The next version of Microsoft Office - Office 2007 - is apparently on schedule to be released on its intended date. The new office suite, which is due for release at the end of this year, is so far looking not to suffer the same delays (and potential for even greater delays) that have befallen Vista, the next version of Windows.
Antoine Leblond, vice-president of Office program management, remains confident that Office 2007 will be released on time. Office 2007 has been in development for three years now, and will have to have a good array of new and useful features in order to convince users all over the world to upgrade. This new version will have a new user interface, which replaces menus and toolbars with richer imagery. Microsoft refers to, for example, a new bar across the top of the screen as "the ribbon", and claims that it will make using Office 2007 a walk in the park. As with Vista, the goal is to provide users with simpler and more intuitive software.