In the Sharepoint Beta 2 Refresh Email on the 17th of June, Microsoft made it clear that migration of its hosted sites would start that day and last until the 19th of June. They also made it clear that users will have to upgrade to the refresh in order to work properly with Windows SharePoint Services Beta 2 Refresh.
Today in a post by Sloan Crayton from Microsoft, details have emerged about how the "patches" for this update will work. Also to quote "we're very close to delivery of the Beta 2 Technical Refresh". The post warns users about free HD space as for the professional install you'll need 1gig free but the actual download will take up over 100meg. The updates are designed to work onl ... more

For the past couple of months since that first "Ooooooh, they've really made Outlook look good!" we've looked forward to using the final product, a far superior upgrade to the all but ignored Office XP. Then word filtered out that we were not having RC1 just now, and that the target shipping date of late Q2 2003 would indeed slip. Recent emails for those on the Office 2003 beta testing team have added a number of other betas while Office 2003 seemed to just meander along like a leaf in a quite eddy on a molasses-paced river...



While the beta 2 refresh build number remains a mystery except in the deepest darkest labs in Redmond, build 5207 leaked and very well could be the refresh ... more

We've got hold of a few screenshots of the latest update to the Office 11 beta. From the screenshots below you can see there are a lot of icon improvements. It finally looks like Microsoft has decided to sort out the icon consistency in its products.
According to sources the beta update is to be released to testers soon and for download only.



We hope you like the screenshots and there should be more to follow. Screenshots : Outlook 2003 Word and Excel 2003 ... more

A distinction that Microsoft is making between professional and standard versions of Office 2003 means that many customers may not get all the features they've been expecting, including broad support for Web services.

For more than a year, Microsoft has touted Office 2003's support for Extensible Markup Language (XML), a highly anticipated new feature of the productivity suite. But Microsoft now plans to fully deliver the feature only in the two high-end versions of the product, one of which will be available only to businesses subscribing to Microsoft's volume-licensing program.


Two other features also are similarly restricted: the document protection technology Windows ... more

While I was browsing on the beta place website I went into the bug fixes section and by the looks of it RTM is being put underway and there will be no beta 3 for all of the testers.



I guess MS wants to push this office out quick and find all of the bugs so they are workin on RTM!
Source : Windowsxpstuff.net ... more

Microsoft on Monday officially launched the long-awaited second beta of Office 2003, which will be marketed as part of the newly dubbed "Office System." 500,000 copies of beta 2 will ship worldwide to partners and testers, as well as customers who order beta kits. SharePoint Products and Technologies facilitates easy, connected collaboration
across an organization by combining the collaboration features of Microsoft
SharePoint Portal Server and Microsoft Windows? SharePoint Services. SharePoint
Portal Server integrates information from various systems into one secure solution
through single sign-on and enterprise application integration capabilities.
It provides flexib ... more

CNET News.com
February 20, 2003, 12:18 PM PT:


Developers and enterprise customers are getting their first glimpse of OneNote, one of two new Office 2003 applications that Microsoft accidentally posted--then quickly removed--from the Web on Wednesday. Microsoft inadvertently released a new test version of OneNote, along with copies of the other new program, InfoPath, and the entire Office 2003 Professional suite.
The Redmond, Wash.-based company posted the Office 2003 betas to its Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) around noon Wednesday, but pulled the software a little more than six hours later following an inquiry from CNET News.com. The accidental posting p ... more

Office 11 beta 2 Released on MSDN
Thats right people. If you have an MSDN universal account you can go grab Office 11 beta 2 right now as its just been posted.

Readmore...As you can see from the screenshot below, included this time is OneNote 2003
beta 2 (scribbler) and InfoPath beta 2 (XDocs).
This surely means that Office 11 beta 2 Kits for testers will be shipped very soon. Office 2003 Beta 2 Core Update Readme Office 11 Beta 2 Homepage ... more

Office 2002 was retailed as Office XP. The next office started as Office NGO (next generation office) then codename Office 11, Office .NET and as of Beta 2 will be released as Office 2003.


... more

Thanks Chris. "Be one of the first to use OneNote. Sign up to receive information about the OneNote beta program and other OneNote news. We expect the beta to be available early in 2003. Shipping and handling charges may apply and participation may be limited to select countries. "
Sign-up : HERE ... more