Microsoft today announced that Office 2007 has been made final. Significantly ahead of Vista for release, both Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 will be available for businesses at the end of this month, with retail availability soon after. On top of that, they will be releasing a trial version of Office 2007 programs next month that will be downloadable from Microsoft's sites. The prices are in line with previous releases of Office, with standard packages being $399 to $499 for retail. Home (basic) and Student editions will be $149. On-the-shelf availability in the stores is expected to be at the end of January.

The biggest impact on businesses will be Exchange 2007, since often Exchange migrations are a difficult but necessary process.