The next version of Office moved a step closer to reality on Monday as Microsoft released an invitation-only technical preview of Office 2010. Also, it won't show off the program's biggest change--the addition of browser-based versions of Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and OneNote. Those so-called Office Web Applications are being demonstrated on Monday, but the technical preview of the Web apps won't come until later this year. For consumers, Microsoft plans to make the browser-based versions a free part of Windows Live next year, but hasn't decided whether they will include advertising.

The applications, which run in Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer, are aimed at both expanding the number of Office users within businesses as well as holding the ground threatened by Google Docs and other Web-based productivity programs. On the desktop side, Microsoft plans a broader beta of the software later this year, with a final release in the first half of 2010. Word gets a collection of cool image effects that stem from the DaVinci Imaging Engine that was part of Microsoft's now-discontinued Digital Image Suite product. Word, as well as the other programs, gets a new "paste preview" tool that lets users hover over different paste options and see what their paste will look like before accepting that selection. Excel gets a new feature called Spark lines, which are tiny graphs that can fit in a single cell of a spreadsheet. PowerPoint picks up video editing features as well as the ability to create a video of one's presentation, including voice annotations. The Outlook e-mail and calendar program adds a conversation view feature, a la Gmail.

Microsoft's feature goes further though, offering an "ignore thread" option which keeps a user from having to see a message string they are no longer interested in being a part of. It also has a "Mail Tips" feature that offers etiquette and security alerts before doing things as replying to a large group or sending a document outside the firewall. Microsoft has yet to announce pricing for any of the products.