Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2010/11/18/microsoft_office_2010_sp1_beta/

Microsoft pings first Office 2010 service pack beta at testers

Private viewings only for now

By Kelly Fiveash

Posted in Software, 18th November 2010 12:24 GMT

Updated Microsoft has released a private test build of the first service pack for its Office 2010 product to a select bunch through its MS Connect web portal.

Testers received an email from Redmond in which they were invited to download beta build 14.0.6011.1000 from Microsoft’s site.

WinRumours was first to report the arrival of the beta and The Register has asked Microsoft to confirm its availability, although we're still awaiting a response.

Office 2010 only hit retail shelves in June this year, so it’s interesting to see Microsoft readying a service pack so quickly.

That said, the final iteration of Office 2010 SP1 could take up to a year to land. Microsoft typically spins out service packs within about 18 months of releasing a new software product.

It’s not clear what will be squirted into the first Office 2010 service pack, but it’s likely to contain security and bug fixes.

But given that the suite itself wasn’t a major upgrade from Office 2007, it’s fair to surmise that SP1 probably won’t involve a major overhaul of the software. ®

Update

Microsoft gave us this mealy-mouthed statement:

“The stability, performance and security enhancements in the Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 Service Pack 1 Beta are a direct result of customer feedback and designed to extend the value customers experience with the 2010 products. We have nothing more to share about specific updates of SP1 beta at this time.”