Microsoft Office 2010: A Sneak Peek

This alternative view, accessed via the Application menu, provides details on document properties and provides quick access to system-level functions. Read the full report.

Excel 2010 of course also sports the updated ribbon bar look and feel. Read the full report.

And Excel 2010 has its own variation of the Application menu view. Read the full report.

Even Microsoft Access doesn’t escape the 2010 treatment, with a new default view that is far less confusing and cluttered than the 2007 version. Read the full report.

In addition to the prerequisite update to the 2010 look and feel, Access 2010 also sports an expanded set of design tools. Read the full report.

Outlook receives by far the more comprehensive overall, with the 2010 version sporting a sleek new Ribbon Bar for the main application window. Read the full report.

The new Outlook 2010 reading pane shows even deeper integration with Word, including the latter’s zoom slider control. Read the full report.

Outlook 2010 uses the Application menu view to provide access to account settings and mailbox maintenance functions, among others. Read the full report.

The newly “ribbonized” Outlook main window does a good job of exposing otherwise hard-to-find items, like the option to disable the reading pane. Read the full report.

Individual Outlook message items receive their own Application menu view treatment. Read the full report.

Unlike the Ribbon Bar in other Office applications, Outlook’s Ribbon Bar features multiple, context-sensitive variations -- for example, a different Home icon set for the Calendar function. Read the full report.

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