Microsoft Office 2010 reaches RTM! Download on April 27th if you have Software Assurance.

On Friday, Microsoft made the exciting announcement that Microsoft Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010 have all reached the Release To Manufacturing (RTM) milestone! This is a very exciting time and one that has been reached after so much input and feedback from so many of you. In fact, there have been more than 5,000 organizations and partners who have worked with us on rapid deployment and testing of the products. In addition, since the start of our public beta in November 2009, we’ve had more than 7.5 million people download the beta version – that’s more than 3 times the number of 2007 beta downloads! If you haven’t looked yet, you might want to check out the Top 10 Benefits of Office 2010 Beta.

So now that we have reached this milestone, let’s answer the question you’re asking: “When can I get it?”

For businesses with Software Assurance on their Microsoft Office licenses, we’ve got some really good news for you! You will be able to start downloading the Office 2010 RTM bits in English via the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center starting on April 27th. 

For those of you without Software Assurance, you will be able to begin ordering Microsoft Office 2010 through the Microsoft Volume Licensing programs starting May 1st. Then, you will also be able to download the Office 2010 software from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center. Not familiar with the different Open License Volume Licensing Programs? No worries. Check out my: What are the different Open License Programs? post and I’ll walk you through it. Oh, and don’t think that your company is not big enough to take advantage of the Microsoft Open License Programs. After all, you only need 2 computers to qualify for Volume Licensing.

For those of you who are individual end users and looking to purchase Microsoft Office 2010 through Retail Box, it will be available in retail stores in June in the US. Can’t wait to order a Retail Box version of Microsoft Office 2010? If not, you can do so online today and it will ship in June when it becomes available. If you are a business, I would highly suggest talking with your Microsoft Partner about one of the Open License Programs to order your Microsoft Office 2010 through as you can take advantage of all of the benefits of the Microsoft Volume licensing programs and you’ll be able to get access to your Microsoft Office 2010 bits in May. Need a Microsoft Partner? You can locate one here. if you are a small business, be sure to look for a Microsoft Small Business Specialist to help you with all of your technology needs. You can identify them by the blue Microsoft Small Business Specialist badge next to their name in the Partner locator above.

Ready for even more Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 excitement? Then be sure to join us on May 12th at 11:00 am EST when Stephen Elop, President of the Microsoft Business Division, announces the launch of Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 during the virtual launch event. During this event, you will be able to:

• Find out how peers and partners are already seeing benefits to their business by leveraging the next wave of productivity.
• Submit your questions through live Q&A.
• Participate via blogs, tweets, social media networks, commenting, and more.

Check out more on the virtual launch event and how to add it to your calendar today at the Virtual Launch site.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER , LinkedIin, and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

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