Office 2010 beta out now with new features on board, Windows 8 scheduled for 2012

Four days ago Microsoft released the first public beta of their next Office 2010. It brings some new features for all apps in the package, along withal slightly upgraded UI but still keeping the Office 2007 feel.

The first new upgrade to the Office family will be the ability to save your files directly into the Cloud. If you have Windows Live SkyDrive account you can upload all your documents there for free and easily access them from your mobile phone afterwards. The free SkyDrive service offers 25GB online storage where you are able to save, view and edit all kinds of documents.

The next major feature is that now you can embed online videos in your Power Point presentations. You just need to copy the embedding code and voala. But remember, you’ll still need an active internet connection during your presentation.

Then, there comes the integrated PDF writer. Now you will be able to save your documents into PDF format.

The rest of the new stuff includes video editing, improved printing options, built-in screen capture, easy ways of distributing docs on different devices and internet, and more.

You can download the free beta version from its official website. However, keep in mind that if you’re currently using an older MS Office version, it will be overwritten. And if you are using the Technical Preview of Office 2010, it should be uninstalled in order to install the new beta.

In the meantime a roadmap for Windows Server family has popped up in the web showing the next Windows installment – Codename 8 – and scheduled for release in 2012. This means we might even see early builds leaking out as early as next year.