Microsoft will begin alpha testing the next version of Office in November or December, according to a blog posting by a Microsoft employee.

According to a blog posting by Hayley Rixon, who works on the Microsoft business intelligence team, Microsoft is calling for people to be part of a technology adoption program (TAP) that will give them an early opportunity to test the monitoring and analytics components of Office PerformancePoint Server.

The TAP for this product will be a part of the TAP for Office 14, the alpha test of which will begin in the "November/December timeframe this year," according to the blog posting. Office PerformancePoint Server is business performance analysis software that will be a part of the Office 14 release.

Microsoft's public relations firm did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

The deadline for submissions to be a part of the Office PerformancePoint Server TAP is Aug. 28, according to the post.

Office is the most widely used productivity software in the world, though competitors such as Google and IBM are competing with Microsoft by offering free office productivity applications.

With the latest version, Office 2007, Microsoft has begun to expand business versions of Office to include collaboration and business-intelligence capabilities, as well as links to Microsoft's enterprise applications and database. Though Microsoft has divulged few details about Office 14, the company probably will expand these features and links in the next release.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.