A beta version of Microsoft’s Office 2010 software package has unsurprisingly tipped up on some BitTorrent sites ahead of its expected official release next week.

In recent days the beta code has begun to appear on the likes of The Pirate Bay et al.

Microsoft will host its annual Professional Developer Conference in Los Angeles next week, where it’s widely expected that the vendor will announce the beta release of its flagship word-processing, spreadsheet, email and presentation software.

The firm squirted out a tech preview of Office 2010 to a limited number of testers in July this year. That code also spilled its guts on the torrent sites ahead of its official release.

A completed version of the suite isn't expected to ship until the first half of next year.

Meanwhile a browser-based preview of Office 2010 finally rocked up in September for some testers to tinker with, it's not yet clear if that will be made available as part of the beta launch next week. ®

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