Microsoft Office 2010 hasn’t arrived just yet, but you can end the year with a little head start of experience and knowledge about the productivity suite. The free beta of Office 2010 has been available for some time, but I just now caught word at GHacks of a free e-book to help folks understand what’s coming in the new version. “First Look: Microsoft Office 2010” is in Adobe PDF format and just a click away from downloading. Microsoft is hosting the e-book on its Windows Live SkyDrive service right here.
The 14-chapter book runs 183 pages, so as the title implies, this is a first look — not an all-encompassing guide to Office 2010. But it’s filled with useful tidbits on old and new features alike. Here’s a table of contents summary:
Envision the Possibilities
- Welcome to Office 2010
- Express Yourself Effectively and Efficiently
- Collaborate in the Office and Around the World
Hit the Ground Running
- Create and Share Compelling Documents with Word 2010
- Create Smart Data Insights with Excel 2010
- Manage Rich Communications with Outlook 2010
- Produce Dynamic Presentations with PowerPoint 2010
- Organize, Store, and Share Ideas with OneNote 2010
- Collaborate Effectively with SharePoint Workspace 2010
- Create Effective Marketing Materials with Publisher 2010
- Make Sense of Your Data with Access 2010
Next Steps with Office 2010
- Putting It All Together
- Security in Office 2010
- Training Made Easy
Although I’ve long since migrated to Google Docs, I gave the book a download and quick summary scan. It’s definitely worth the download and read for anyone who uses Microsoft Office.

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