What’s next? Microsoft Office Enterprise Professional Ultimate Plus 2007?
In the spirit of full disclosure, the company that I work for, American Technology Services, Inc., is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and I am one of the 1.8 million people worldwide who has achieved Microsoft Certified Professional status. I have been using Microsoft products and application development tools for a long, long time. I am a big fan of Microsoft and their products. So, if you expect me to poke fun at Microsoft… you would be correct 
Earlier today, I was asked to take a look at the Excel Web Services functionality in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Excel 2007. At the time, it seemed like a fairly straightforward request. We had a development server with MOSS 2007 and a development workstation with Office 2007. I’m all set, right? Well, not really. I discover that the Excel that comes in certain Office suites doesn’t have a particular feature — Publish to Excel Web Services — that I need to use the Excel Web Services functionality. How many versions of Excel 2007 are there? According to this chart, there are 8 — yes, eight — 2007 Microsoft Office system suites. They are:
- Microsoft Office Basic 2007
- Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007
- Microsoft Office Standard 2007
- Microsoft Office Small Business 2007
- Microsoft Office Professional 2007
- Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007
- Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007
- Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007.
FWIW, Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 and Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 are both labeled as NEW!
Here are some things that inquiring minds want to know:
- What on earth was Microsoft thinking in coming up with 8 different Office suites?
- Why does Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 *not* include everything in the Microsoft Office suite?
- Why is Microsoft Office Ultimate listed between Professional and Professional Plus?
- What’s next for Microsoft Office? Microsoft Office Enterprise Minus 2007? Microsoft Office Professional Plus Plus 2007?
Why should Microsoft stop at just eight? Post your suggestions for future Microsoft Office System suites…