**NOTE: You have not yet been granted access to any website or newsgroups, as the Technical Beta has not yet begun. As soon as the Beta does begin, you will receive another e-mail from betamail@microsoft.com with details on how to access the website to download software and documentation, and information about Technical Beta support. Please read this entire e-mail carefully, as it contains special instructions about your participation in the upcoming Microsoft� Office "12" Technical Beta program. **DO NOT REPLY - THIS E-MAIL IS BEING SENT TO YOU FROM AN UNMONITORED ACCOUNT.** Hello Beta Tester, Thank you for completing our nomination survey sometime within the past several weeks, and letting us know about your interest in participating in the Microsoft� Office "12" Technical Beta program. We are pleased to announce that your request for participation in the Office "12" Technical Beta has been approved. You will be provided with access to the Office "12" Beta software, documentation, and support within the next 2-3 weeks. But we wanted to let you know now that you have been accepted, so that you can make any preparations that you need (Technical Beta system requirements are found below). Our goal for the Technical Beta is to have a well targeted group of testers who are willing to actively participate and provide useful feedback to our development team. Regular and consistent participation throughout the program is expected. As an approved Technical Beta tester, we ask that you do the following: * Download Office "12" software and related information * Participate in private beta newsgroups * Submit bug reports online * Complete periodic surveys to share your input on various technical issues * Observe the non-disclosure terms of participation *** DOWNLOAD OFFICE "12" SOFTWARE AND RELATED INFORMATION *** The software will be made available to you primarily as a download from a secure website location. We will provide this location to you in our next e-mail. If you are unable to download the software for any reason, we will provide the ability for you to request physical media shipped to you. If you need to have physical media shipped to you, a form will be provided on the website. Simply complete this form and we will send you the physical media. *** PARTICIPATE IN PRIVATE BETA NEWSGROUPS *** Details on accessing these newsgroups will be provided in the e-mail which you should receive within the next 2-3 weeks. We encourage you to participate actively in these newsgroups, as they are the primary method of support provided during the Technical Beta. *** SUBMIT BUG REPORTS ONLINE *** >From the website which we will point you to in our next e-mail, you will have the ability to submit bugs and feature requests. Details on how to provide good bug reports will be available on the website. *** COMPLETE PERIODIC SURVEYS TO SHARE YOUR INPUT ON VARIOUS TECHNICAL ISSUES *** You will be notified about these periodic surveys as they become available. We encourage you to answer each survey that pertains to the products or features that match your use of Microsoft Office products. Your responses will help us to better understand the personal and business needs of our valued customers. *** DURATION OF THE TECHNICAL BETA *** The Technical Beta of Office "12" is scheduled to begin within the next 2-3 weeks and will run through RTM, which is currently planned for the second half of 2006. *** NON-DISCLOSURE REMINDER *** By participating in the Office "12" Technical Beta, you agree to abide by the non-disclosure terms as contained in the End-User License Agreement (EULA), which you must accept at the beginning of product installation. This Technical Beta employs a pre-release version of the Office "12" software that is for your testing use only and is not publicly accessible. We appreciate your keeping all information about Office "12" strictly confidential, per the terms of the EULA. Failure to comply with the terms outlined in the EULA is a violation of the EULA and grounds for your termination from the Microsoft� Office "12" program, at a minimum. *** SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS *** Below are the system requirements for the Microsoft� Office "12" Beta-1 software. NOTE: We have provided these minimum hardware recommendations here as guidance for deploying Beta-1, but as with any Technical Beta, they do not necessarily represent final Office "12" hardware requirements. CLIENT * Operating System: Windows XP SP1 or Windows 2003 (RTM or higher) required * Processor: Pentium 512 MHz or higher * RAM: 256 MB minimum * HD: Varies depending on installation choices * Resolution: 800 x 600 or higher SERVER Operating System: Windows Server 2003 SP1 Single box installation: * Processor: 2.5 GHz * RAM: 2 GB recommended, 1 GB minimum * HD: Scenario dependent Farm Deployment: * Web server - Processor: 2.5 GHz; RAM - 2 GB * App server - Processor: Dual proc - 2.5 GHz; RAM - 2 GB * SQL - Processor: Dual proc - 2.5 GHz; RAM - 2 GB *** NOTICE ABOUT FREE SOFTWARE *** Please note that participation in the Office "12" Technical beta does not guarantee gratuity to all participants who are accepted. For example, copies of Office "12" final product are not automatically distributed to all participants at the end of the Technical Beta. This program is a volunteer effort by participants for the mutual benefit of you/your organization and the Microsoft Office team to enable feedback on your testing of 'real world' usage scenarios, and improvement of the final product quality for all Office users. Thank you again for your interest in Beta testing Microsoft� Office "12". We look forward to your valuable feedback. Sincerely, The Microsoft Office Customer Programs Team