Windows 4ever

Microsoft Office 2007 SP1 Arrives Early

In an unusual move, the software maker limited testing of the update to the productivity suite to a few months and only at large enterprises in its Technology Adopter Program, as well as internally at Microsoft, to shave time off the production schedule.

The decision to limit testing of the service pack was made largely because the team felt they were not really modifying anything that would impact users in a big way.

“We weren’t adding new features that we needed broad feedback on, and our TAP partners were talking to us all the time about their experiences,” said Reed Shaffner, a product manager for Microsoft Office.

The update will bring improvements in stability, security and performance and will be compatible with Windows Server 2008.

Microsoft executives had said in November at its annual TechEd IT Forum in Barcelona that Office 2007 SP1 would be available in early 2008.

Microsoft’s decision to limit the testing cycle may reveal more about adoption of the software than the strategy of the development team, said Rob Enderle, an analyst at the Enderle Group.

“The main reason for the haste in getting Office SP1 out the door is that its adoption is linked to that of the latest operating system—in this case Windows Vista, where uptake has been low,” Enderle told eWEEK. “The real issue is they don’t have that many people ready to do a broad beta due to poor Vista penetration in business. They are doing the first service pack to help get people to adopt this thing.”

But, Microsoft’s Shaffner said, if it turned out that customers wanted access to Office betas moving forward, that is something the company would evaluate.

Microsoft will also release a White Paper Dec. 11 that details everything in the service pack and walks customers through how it may impact their deployment and what might be modified if they do install it, Shaffner said.

Microsoft listened to feedback from analysts and others and will only release the service pack through automatic updates three to six months after launch, and only after a customer had been given 30-days notice of this.

“So, at a minimum, customers will have 30 days to evaluate the service pack and whether or not they want to install it,” he said. “Users could also use group policies to turn off automatic updates if they so chose.”