Microsoft Sets Office Service Pack 1 Timing; Watch For InfoPath Improvements

Original plans called for Service Pack 1 (SP1) to include fairly substantial enhancements and even new features for the InfoPath and OneNote components of the Office System lineup (see story). InfoPath enables a user's desktop applications--Word or Excel, for example--to tap into back-end data via XML links. OneNote is a note-taking application that accepts penned or inked input.

For InfoPath, Microsoft wants to enable users to "ink" in input into fields and make it easier to route the created forms around, sources close to the company said.

"It will be easier to e-mail the form around. Before, it had to be deployed on a Web server as a URL, and, if I didn't have InfoPath myself, I couldn't see it. They're working to open that up," said one source.

Also on the wish list: better workflow using the BizTalk 2004 integration server and better editing and layout tools, sources close to the company said.

Internal marching orders came down late last year at Microsoft for the service pack to be broadly available in late May. "[Release Candidate] was to be April 15, and [Release To Web] by May 28," said one insider, referring to the dates for code drops. That date raised eyebrows among insiders who felt it was being rushed to facilitate volume-licensing deals.

Office 2003 shipped broadly in late October. Many large enterprises refuse to update their desktops until the first service pack--with its bug fixes and updates--is out, a large account reseller said.

Microsoft is also rolling in security fixes in line with its "springboard" push, sources close to the company said. The goal of that effort is to retroactively secure already-shipping products against threats.

A Microsoft spokeswoman said it is too early to say what might make it into the service pack or future versions of InfoPath and OneNote.