OK, so we've been a bit quiet recently, but my excuse for the last week is that I updated my system and been running Beta 2 Technical Refresh, which I wasn't allowed to talk about until today. And as we've spent the last week in the office getting far too excited about some of the improvements in B2TR, it was hard to think of anything else to write about! (Yeah, I know, as excuses go, that's right up there with "the dog ate my homework"...)

 

But at last, the news is out: Beta 2 Technical Refresh is here and publically available.

 

This update to Beta 2 addresses a whole stack of the problems that have been uncovered as part of the Beta testing and personally I was really pleased to see some significant improvements, in particular to performance times. (At last, I no longer have to go and grab a drink while I'm waiting for other people's calendars to load in Outlook!)

 

It's really quite impressive to see the way in which so much of the public feedback has been incorporated into the product. A prime example of this is to do with the ribbon and the way in which it works when you minimise it - there are some big changes here, primarily as the result of the feedback from all the beta testers worldwide.

 

Some logistical details: B2TR is available free of charge as a patch, so you install it on top of the beta software you already have. The US preview site has links to all the patches: you can get the Office patch here, and this page has all the available patches. Remember, if you haven't installed the beta software you need to do this first!

 

If you want to read more about B2TR, Jensen Harris has a great post detailing many of the changes made and eWeek have already put B2TR through its paces.

 

I'll blog more about the various changes and improvements to B2TR next week. In the meantime, get out there and try it for yourself!