It’s hard to say Microsoft has ever done its Office suite poorly. Ever since Word 1.0, I’ve been an avid user of the product and the family since Office95. While there’s been some bumps in the road of upgrades, like when Office95 users couldn’t read Office97 documents, each version has offered something new.

Now Microsoft has done something never done before. It has kissed off the common file bar we’ve all come to love and rely on. Instead, Office will use something called ribbons. Each ribbon has a specific function, such as format, that groups all common tasks together more conveniently then having to drill down through a bunch of menus only to be greeted with another pop-up box. The fluidness of ribbons will surely increase the productivity of an Office user for sure.

I’ve been dying to see what Outlook looks like with the ribbons and the Office 2007 blog has a single screen shot of it. Talk about alien. I don’t recognize any of it and the interest is high on my list now to see just what the heck Microsoft did to its very popular PIM.

Microsoft has also embraced the customization fad of skins. You’ll be able to easily change the look of your Office 2007 program with a simple click of a button. While I’m not a huge fan of skins (they’re nice, but it’s not a must for me,) many most likely will take advantage of this feature as well as create their own skins.

Office 2007 is expected to be released late this year with the Beta 1 already out in the wild. No pricing information has been released at this time.

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