Office 2007 Pro Plus Drawing more Microsoft roadma

Now that Microsoft has provided an official ship target for Windows 7, the next main version of Windows client, it;s time for some educated guess operate.Windows seven will be the only piece with the Windows consumer roadmap for which Microsoft is prepared to offer a date ideal now. Here;s what I;d guess concerning the rest with the customer roadmap: Update to Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack: Drop 2007Windows Vista SP1: November 2007Windows XP SP3: Late 2007/Early 2008Windows “Fiji” (out-of-band update to Media Center functionality of Vista: Mid- to late 2008Another Update to Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack: 2009Windows 7: 2010 On the Windows server side,Office Ultimate 2007, there;s less need for educated guesses,Office 2007 Pro Plus, as the server team supplied a futures roadmap at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in May perhaps. On the server roadmap: Windows Server 2008: RTM in drop 2007 (I hear November)Windows Small Business Server “Cougar”: 2008Windows Midmarket Server “Centro”: 2008Windows Server 2008 R2: 2009Next key edition of Windows Server: 2011 A couple of points worth noting/pondering:* Microsoft has said its goal — with both Windows customer and server — is to release a new version every two years. The company is trying to alternate between main and minor updates every two years. So, if Windows Vista was a “major” update,Microsoft Office 2010 Pro Plus, and Windows seven is supposedly another “major” update, is “Fiji” considered the minor interim Windows update?* Members of Windows Server management told me recently that they;ve reconciled themselves to not pushing to sync with Windows client from a delivery standpoint. In other words, no more chasing after the elusive goal of delivering simultaneously Windows consumer and Windows server releases. That doesn;t mean, however, that client and server are completely out of sync. In addition to fixing bugs, Vista SP1 is expected to help Vista clients perform better with Windows Server 2008 servers.* Will the MDOP subscription service — only available to Software Assurance licensing customers — become the preferred (or ultimately, the only) way for Microsoft to deliver new interim features and fixes to Windows customer customers? Will there be an equivalent to MDOP for server customers?The other roadmap piece Microsoft has shared next-to-nothing about is Office. Last time a date leaked on Office 14, the next major edition of Microsoft Office,Office 2010 License, the word was Microsoft was planning to roll it out in the first half of 2009. (Microsoft officials did confirm the slide deck,Windows 7 X86, from which this leak came, was authentic.) My bet — given the internal-target-date slide from 2009 to 2010 for Windows 7 — is Office 14 also might end up a 2010 deliverable.Anyone hearing more tangible dates yet for forthcoming Microsoft Windows and Office deliverables?