If you are already using the Office 2007 version, then you have an option to upgrade the set up to 2010 beta or install 2010 beta along with Office 2007. If you are using the technical preview version, then you will need to uninstall it and then reboot the system to install Office 2010 beta.

The office 2010 beta keys are valid till October 2010. You will need to activate the keys online within 30 days of installation.

Steps to download evaluation

1. Review system requirements.
2. Register for evaluation.
3. Download software.
4. Check email for resources.

Download Office 2010 Beta

Office 2010 beta comes in three versions- Office Home and Business 2010 Beta, Office Professional 2010 Beta, Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta. You can compare the different versions and applications available in the suite here.

Office 2010 Beta software is designed so that it will no longer function after October 31, 2010. So in case you are upgrading from Office 2007, then you will either need to reinstall older version after October 2010 or purchase a new license of 2010.

You can check out the complete FAQ of office 2010 here.

The new home page is simple and yet effective with no clutter and is also very easy to read. The new page has 50 percent fewer links than the previous home page and a simplified navigation across news, entertainment, sports, money and lifestyle. The new home page also has integration with social media and email. You can access Windows Live Hotmail, Facebook and also Twitter from the home page.

New key features of the MSN home page include;

• Innovative search technology from Bing. Deeper Bing integration on the new home page helps people make faster and more informed decisions and easily find the information they want from anywhere on the Web.
• Information and news people care about. The new home page delivers against the No. 1 customer request — simplicity and ease of use, through its fresh design and smart categorization.
• Convenient ways to communicate. Simplicity drove the clean integration of popular social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and Windows Live.

Check out the new home page here.

Instead of adding pictures as attachments to your Hotmail messages by clicking Attach and then File and then selecting the pictures you would like to include, Hotmail brings you a tool so you can more efficiently select and add multiple photos to a Hotmail message in Internet Explorer in a couple clicks: select Attach and then Photo.

This feature might not be available to all account as of now.

Source

One of the prominent change is the integration with social networks like Flickr, Facebook and MySpace, along with Windows Live. You can easily share photos on your favorite social networking sites

Another feature added is the ability to add location to sync, with this feature you can track your lost phone. The My Phone service can show you the last known location of your phone on a map (based on where it last synced or shared photos using My Phone).

In case you are already using MyPhone service, you can easily update to the latest version.

Microsoft MyPhone

With Zune HD, users now have the ability to store and play back 720p HD video files to an HDTV using the new Zune HD AV dock accessory. Users can also buy or rent HD content from the Zune Marketplace, sync that content to a Zune HD device, and take it with them to play back on a large-screen HDTV.

Zune HD device offers the first portable HD Radio receiver on a Wi-Fi-enabled device. Zune also has build in games and includes marketplace. Zune also plans to release free applications such as Twitter for Zune and Facebook in future. Zune HD is available from major retailers with a black 16GB version for $219.99 (estimated retail price) and a platinum 32GB version for $289.99 (ERP).

Zune has also announced its new free Zune PC software (version 4.0) with new discovery and recommendation features, such as Quickplay and Smart DJ, that help users find and play digital content.

Here is a video demo of Zune HD in action.

What are the new features in Zune HD;

• Built-in HD Radio receiver which allows you to listen to higher-quality sound than is available from traditional radio channels, as well as access additional programming through HD2 and HD3 multicast channels from many of your favorite local FM radio stations at no extra cost.
• It supports HD video playback from the device through a premium HDMI A/V docking station directly to an HDTV in 720p, making it easy to enjoy better-than-DVD-quality video on your own big screen at home.
• OLED touch screen which allows you to easily flip through music, movies and other content. The 3.3-inch glass screen and 16:9 widescreen format display (480×272 resolution) offer a premium viewing experience.
• Built-in Wi-Fi for browsing, streaming or downloading new music from Zune Marketplace.
• Internet browser for full-screen Web browsing, optimized for the multitouch screen with zoom-in and zoom-out gestures.
• Zune HD and AV Dock charges and syncs players while playing supported 720p HD videos on HDTVs. Play HD Radio, music and podcasts from your Zune HD device through your car stereo using the Zune Premium Car Pack.

With pre-order you will be one of the first to get the full experience of the Zune HD.

Pricing for Zune HD:

1. Zune HD 16GB: $219.99 (estimated retail price)
2. Zune HD 32GB: $289.99 (estimated retail price)

Pre-order starts Thursday, Aug. 13 and will be available for purchase in stores on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

You can pre-order Zune HD from Zune online store. If you want to pre-order from Microsoft store (which is available only in US), then follow the links below.

1. Pre-order 16GB Zune HD
2. Pre-order 32GB Zune HD

Office Web Applications are browser-based Office clients which include Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Word and also Outlook (although Outlook has a Web Access in previous versions).

The Office Web Applications can be accessed by opening the documents that are hosted in Office Live Workspaces, Windows Live Skydrive, SharePoint Online, on-premise SharePoint Server 2010 instances, etc. You will be able to edit the documents in the web browser. As of now Office Web Apps supports IE8, Firefox and Safari browser.

The browser versions are not full versions of Office desktop application but a basic version which will still feature the ribbon and Office button.

Now coming to the availability and cost of Office web apps, it will be available FREE of cost to all Windows Live users (400 million + users).

Source

You can set this up in Hotmail in three simple steps:

1. Open your Hotmail account and in the left hand sidebar, you can see an option “Add an e-mail account”

2. Next step is to enter the email details (user name and password). There is also advanced set up for POP3 settings.

3. Once you have entered the settings and login credentials, you can also set preferences for mails coming from this ID. You can move this to new folder and also assign flags.

This is a good move by Hotmail team and now you can start reading all your emails from POP3 enabled accounts in Hotmail.

Img Credit: Neowin

Please remember you need to take a survey at Microsoft connect before downloading and also the downloads will be available only for first 75000 downloads.

Download Morro (Microsoft Security Essentials)