Microsoft has announced that official connectors, built by MySpace and Facebook for Outlook Social Connector, will be available for download in the first of half of this year.
The software giant also announced the immediate availability of the LinkedIn Outlook Social Connector that was first demonstrated in November 2009. The download is now live and allows LinkedIn users to see their LinkedIn contacts latest activity and also add new people to LinkedIn via the interface.
Outlook 2010 features a new Outlook Social Connector (OSC) straight into Outlook 2010. The connector provides a stream of content from SharePoint, Windows Live and other social networking sites. At the bottom of Outlook emails users will be provided with contacts latest social networking posts. The presence of social networking inside Office 2010 is part of a broad strategy that Microsoft is implementing across its products. The next version of Windows Live Messenger will also feature a social stream within the client, similar to the OSC. Windows Phone 7 series also includes a number of live feeds that include social networking features.
In January Microsoft announced Office 2010 pricing. The professional edition will retail for $499 boxed. Office 2010 will be released in at least five different flavours, including a free version that includes Microsoft Word and Excel, but comes with limited functionality and includes advertisements. The editions of Office 2010 will include Starter, Home and Student, Home and Business, Professional and Professional Academic.
Microsoft also revealed that customers who purchase Office 2007 between March 5, 2010 and September 30, 2010 will receive a free upgrade copy to Office 2010. Check out Neowin"s top new features in Office 2010. Microsoft Office 2010 is expected to be generally available on June 15.
Download: LinkedIn Social Connector