"People like to put in a version of Office and keep it there as long as they can," notes JupiterKagan analyst Joe Wilcox.
This may be why Microsoft has put a fresh coat of paint on its marketing site, Microsoft Office Online.
U.S. and Canadian customers will be able to download trial versions of Office 2007 from that site beginning December 1, 2006.
That offering will be extended to thirteen other markets soon thereafter.
A notable addition to Office 2007 is an SMS (define) link for Office Outlook 2007.
The new service allows Outlook 2007 users to send e-mail, contacts, appointments and tasks — all current Outlook functions — as SMS messages to mobile phones.
Wilcox also noted that Microsoft has a lot more at stake than simply Office.
"Office is an important step but Vista is really important," he said.
Microsoft said it will release its new Vista operating system as well as release details of Exchange Server 2007 availability on November 30, 2006.
The company expects to make all three products generally available in early 2007.
Should this happen on time, it will punctuate a difficult year with a sigh of relief for Microsoft, which endured the negative publicity and potential earnings impact of having had to delay the release of Vista.
