Everybody is expecting the release of a new Beta for Office 12 as Microsoft pushes the old office suite forward once more. It seems that this new release will also make available versions of applications inside the suite, custom made for mobile devices.
At the end of last week, Microsoft sent notices to the first group of testers accepted to participate to the Office 12 Beta 1 program. The company let the testers know they should expect to receive the Beta 1 code, documentation
and support sometime in the next two to three weeks.
In addition to the Office 12 desktop suite, Microsoft is also updating the Exchange Server and SharePoint Portal Server products.
Still, the issue of Office 12 for Windows Mobile is not very clear as none of the Microsoft representatives made any official statements on the subject. We are aware of rumors from partners close to Microsoft who said there is another Office 12 suite, designed for Windows Mobile, that will include viewers for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and these applications should be light enough to run on smartphones and PDAs.