Microsoft is expected to release the first beta-test version of Office 11 this week. The latest version of its ubiquitous application suite will have deeper support for the XML data description language, which will improve connectivity between teams and supply chains. Rather than adding yet more end-user features to Office, the upgrade, due to ship in mid-2003, will focus on automation. By embedding XML support for developers, Office documents may be able to show automatically updated data such as stock quotes. Alternatively, documents could be automatically displayed in the in-house document style of each particular recipient.
|