New Office Ribbon Developer Center Launches on MSDN

A new Office Fluent UI Developer Center has been launched on MSDN, where you can dind developer resources for customizing the Backstage view for Office 2010 and the Ribbon UI for Office 2010 and Office 2007.

Office Still Top Business Suite: Google Apps Serious Not

New Forrester data, released on May 11, reports that 81% of the enterprises it surveyed are running Office 2007 and 78% supporting SharePoint, compared to only 4% using Google Apps. Forrester also says that one third of survey respondents are already planning an upgrade to Office 2010 within the next 12 months. The Forrester sample is 115 North American and European enterprise and SMB decision makers.

Source: Forrester: ZDNet: Google still a distant Office competitor

Access 2007 Runtime Service Pack 2 Now Available

Details: 957262 Description of the Microsoft Office Access 2007 Runtime Service Pack 2.

SP2 Downloads:

• Office 2007 SP2
• Update for Access Runtime and Data Connectivity 2007 SP2
• Download: Full Access SP2 Runtime
• More info
  

Office 2007 Service Pack 2 Out Now

Office 2007 SP2 can be downloaded from here.

SP2 includes two types of fixes:

• Previously unreleased fixes that were made specifically for the service pack, and in addition to general product fixes, improvements in stability, performance, and security. Product-specific changes are are set out in MS KB Article 953195.
  
  
• All hotfixes released through to February 2009.

Office 2007 Service Pack 2 due April 28

The Microsoft Update Product Team Blog has announced that Office 2007 SP2 will be available for download on April 28. Details are available here.

Access updates include:

• The ability to export reports to Excel
• Fixes for issues with the import data wizards, report printing and previewing, macros, Excel integration, and date filters.
• Updates to Access Developer Extensions now included in SP2

Office 2007 SP2 Out This Month

According to Bink.nu, Office 2007 Service Pack 2 will be made available to Windows Server Update Services in April.

SP2 includes: built-in saving of documents in ODF & PDF formats, improvements to Outlook’s performance and calendar reliability, significant bug fixes for charts in core Office applications, the ability for client service packs to be removed using an uninstall tool, user-requested enhancements, and a roll-up of all fixes that have previously been released for Office 2007 products.

ADP Developers: Stick With SQL Server 2005

The MS Access Team Blog has today posted this advice:

• Access 2007 ADP’s will run against SQL Server 2008 but do not support designing server objects (tables, views, stored procedures, functions and relationships).
  
  
• SQL Server 2008 shipped after Office 2007 SP1 and after MS had locked down all the fixes for Office 2007 SP2 (coming out in a few months).
  
  
• If you rely on the design features of ADP’s it is recommended that you stick with SQL Server 2005.
  
  
• If you do make the move to SQL Server 2008 use the SQL Server Management Studio to design your server objects.

New Hot Fix for Access 2007

The fix is available at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960307.

Issues fixed include:

• You experience slower performance than you did in previous versions when you share a database file over a network.
  
  
• You may notice your database file increase in increments of 4 KB without any user interaction when the database is open.
  
  
• You may see a sub-form become blank after you set the main form’s recordset. You may also receive the following error: “Run-time error 2467 – The expression you entered does not exist”.
  
  
• When you make a change in a code module in an Access 2007 database under source code control, the changes are not saved if you do the following:
  
  
• Close the Visual Basic Editor without saving the changes
• Check the Object back in
• Use the Get Last Version feature to view the latest changes.

Download Updated Office 2007 Help Files

Microsoft has released updated Help files for Office 2007:

• Access 2007
  
• Word 2007
• PowerPoint 2007
• Excel 2007
• Publisher 2007
• Outlook 2007

Office 2007 SP2 Slated for Early 2009

An MS TechNet blog has announced that Service Pack 2 for Office 2o07 will be released on a date between February and April 2009.

Some details of changes in Office desktop applications in SP2 have been included in the announcement:

• Improved Outlook Calendaring Reliability
• Improved Outlook Performance
• Enabling Object Model support for Charts in PowerPoint and Word
• Improved cryptographic functionality by supporting all cryptographic algorithms offered by the operating system
• Improved functionality in Excel’s charting mechanism
• Ability to un-group SmartArt graphics and add animations in PowerPoint
• Ability for Visio to export UML models to an XML file compliant with the XMI standard
• Tool that enables the un-install of Office client Service Packs

Download Office 2007 Data Connectivity Components v2.0

This download will install a set of components that can be used by non-Microsoft Office applications to read data from Office 2007 files such as Access 2007 (mdb and accdb) files and Office Excel 2007 (xls, xlsx, and xlsb) files. Connectivity to text files is also supported.

ODBC and OLEDB drivers are installed for application developers to use in developing their applications with connectivity to Office file formats.

Microsoft advises that the Office 2007 Drivers are not designed as a general replacement for Jet: if you need a general replacement for Jet you should use SQL Server Express Edition.

File Name: AccessDatabaseEngine.exe
Version: 2
Date Published: October 3, 2008
Download Size: 25.3 MB

Security Update for Office 2007

Microsoft today issued a security patch for a vulnerability in Office 2007 that could allow arbitrary code to run when you open a maliciously modified file.

Office 2007 Security Guide

Understanding the 2007 Microsoft Office Security Guide This guide from Microsoft sets out best practices and automated tools to help strengthen the security of computers running Office 2007 on Windows XP/Vista.

Expanded List of Formats to be Supported in Office 2007 SP2

Microsoft has announced that the release of Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) scheduled for the first half of 2009, will include support for XML Paper Specification (XPS), Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.5, PDF/A, and Open Document Format (ODF) v1.1.

When using SP2, Office users will be able to open, edit and save documents using ODF and save documents into the XPS and PDF fixed formats from directly within the application without having to install an add-in. Users will also be able to set ODF as the default file format for Office 2007. To also provide ODF support for users of Office XP and Office 2003, Microsoft says it will continue to collaborate with the open source community in the ongoing development of the Open XML-ODF translator project on SourceForge.net.

Microsoft Business Desktop Deployment Kits

Business Desktop Deployment 2007 provides planning, building, and technical guidance, templates, and scripts to facilitate deployment of Windows Vista® and the 2007 Microsoft® Office system. This release includes updates to support Windows Vista SP1 in addition to previously supported platforms.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008 is the next version of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007. It is the recommended process and toolset to automate desktop and server deployment. This release includes updates to support Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 in addition to previously supported platforms.

Office 2007 Ribbon XML File Reviewer Freeware

Click on the image to zoom in...

My new Access freeware tool provides advanced Office 2007 Ribbon XML file review features. Open your Ribbon XML file in the Reviewer to review the Ribbon's full menu hierarchy in a tree-view with all control attributes detailed in an adjacent panel. Extensive reference resources are also incorporated into the GUI.

Download (Requires Access 2007)

You can also try the free BETA 2 of Access 2007 RibbonX Reviewer and Builder Add-In

Tips On Using Office 2007 Help

Video: Quick Tips on using VBA Help with Office There are some quick and easy things you can do to make sure you are getting the optimal VBA Developer Help experience when working with the 2007 Office System. Watch this three minute video to learn more. From the Office Client Developer Content and Resources portal.

Office 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Now Available

You can now download the just released Office 2007 SP1. Get more information from Description of the 2007 Microsoft Office suite Service Pack 1.

I recommend you go to the Microsoft Update site to get all updates required for Windows, IE, and all Office versions, as MS has today also released a swathe of updates for Windows, IE, and other Office versions.

Also Secunia Site Inspector will provide direct links to security updates it identifies as being needed.

Office 2007 Office SP1 to be released Tuesday December 11th

Next Tuesday, December 11th 2007, the Office System team at Microsoft expects to announce the availability for download of the 2007 Microsoft® Office System Service Pack 1 (SP1). This is sooner than previously announced.

SP1 is said to deliver significant stability and performance improvements to Office applications.

The use of Automatic Update (AU) Deployment has been an issue for MS customers in recent months, and SP1 will not be released to AU immediately.

For more information go to the Office Download Site.

Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Office 2007 (v3.0 Runtime) (x86)

This free download (1.9mb) installs the Visual Studio Tools for the Office system 3.0 Runtime, which is required to run VSTO solutions for the 2007 Microsoft Office system built using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008.