Microsoft Expression Web Beta 1

Thanks CoolCatBad...Microsoft® Expression® Web is a new designer-focused product that provides powerful tools you need to produce high-quality, standards-based Web sites the way you want them.

Notes:

• Install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 before installing Expression Web.
• Uninstall all Microsoft Office 2007 Beta 1 programs from your computer; however, Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh programs can remain on your computer when installing Expression Web Beta 1.

Download: Microsoft Expression Web Beta 1
News source: Neowin BPN

Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS

This download allows you to export and save to the PDF and XPS formats in eight 2007 Microsoft Office programs. It also allows you to send as e-mail attachment in the PDF and XPS formats in a subset of these programs.

Download: 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS

Amazon.com leaks Office 2007 date

Windows Vista is not the only forthcoming Microsoft software for which Amazon.com has apparently pre-announced availability. The online retailer also is taking pre-orders for Microsoft Office 2007, and has listed that the day that product will be available is the same as Windows Vista: Jan. 30, 2007.
 
Microsoft on Wednesday still would not confirm the exact availability of Office, continuing to maintain in a statement through its public relations firm that the system will be available to business customers by the end of the year, and consumers in early 2007.

On Tuesday, the company also toed the party line on Windows Vista availability, repeating what it has said since March: Vista will be available to business customers in November, and consumers in January 2007.

Microsoft's comment on Vista followed Tuesday's news reports that Amazon.com was taking pre-orders for the OS and had not only listed the software's date of availability, but also pricing, which the vendor had not announced yet.

If Amazon.com's listings are correct, it seems Microsoft plans to ship the consumer versions of Windows Vista and Office 2007 simultaneously at the end of January. Both products have been delayed from the release dates the company originally targeted for them. However, Microsoft has said for some time it would release the two products together, and in March even purposefully pushed Office 2007's release date into next year so it would ship at the same time as Vista.

Amazon's listing for Office 2007 can be found at its Web site. 

(Edit:  Please note that the Amazon page has been changed and the specific date removed. - Spy. )

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Microsoft awards executives millions

Several high-ranking Microsoft Corp. executives Thursday received millions of dollars in stock awards as part of a compensation program that the company rejiggered several years ago.

Three years ago, as its share price stagnated, making stock options less attractive, Microsoft switched from offering stock options to stock grants.

The executives reaped the first rewards of the new program Thursday, company spokesman Lou Gellos said. The first of three chunks of stock awarded under the program vested, making it available to the executives.

Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft division that includes Microsoft's Office business software, received stock worth $7.5 million at current prices.

Kevin Johnson, co-president of the group that includes the Windows operating system, received stock worth $6 million.

Brad Smith, Microsoft's top lawyer, received stock worth $2.3 million, and Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell received shares worth $1.2 million at current prices.

Robbie Bach, head of the division that includes the Xbox videogame console, received a grant worth $2.8 million. Lisa Brummel, head of human resources, received a grant worth $1.5 million.

Another 900 senior leaders also received stock grants on Thursday, Gellos said.

The second and third chunks will vest in August of 2007 and September of 2008, providing those executives still work for the company, Gellos said. Those will be for the same number of shares as the ones awarded Thursday. Continue At Source

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