Office 2007 delayed for Vista launch

The new version of Microsoft Office will not be available in the shops until January 2007 to coincide with the delayed commercial release of Vista, the next generation Windows. 

The Office product is on track for completion in October and will be available to business customers in the same month, according to a company statement issued today.

But the code will not be available in shops or new PCs until the new year, which means that machines sold over Christmas will lack both the latest operating system and Office 2007, the newest version of the world's most used applications suite.

Both products have undergone the biggests revamp for decades and were originally scheduled for released late this year. Office 2007.

Microsoft is still negotiating with retailers and systems builders on details of a scheme by which people who buy a new machine or an old versions of Office may get a free upgrade when the code becomes available, according to UK Office product manager Darren Strange.

He stressed that Office development itself was not behind schedule and that the decision to launch at the same time as Vista had been taken in consultation with PC vendors, who a simultaneous launch would be easier.

But he admitted that some vendors had disagreed and that there were "likely to be problems over Christmas."

In fact the major hassles are likely to come in January. PC builders will have been able to test their machines out with Vista and Office 2007 before the launch, so they can be fairly sure there will be no problems with drivers and other potential hiccups.

But new 'Vista ready' machines will need upgrading worldwide at untold cost  - presumably one of the issues Microsoft is negotiating is who is going to pay for that. First-time users will only have begun to get used to current versions of the software before they are faced with a radical revamp.

And who is responsible if third-party software runs on the PC as sold and not with the upgrade?

The delays are bound to effect sales at Christmas. There are in any year good reasons to delay a PC purchase until after the holiday, and not only because of the January sales. Intel often releases new processors that month, neatly rendering Christmas models out of date. Now people will have a double reason to hold back from purchasing.

It all adds up to a lot of trouble. Microsoft must have big problems with Vista to put itself in this position.