Amazon.com Releases Office 2007 Ship Date

Consumer versions of Office 2007 and Windows Vista to be released together.

Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service

Windows Vista isn't the only forthcoming Microsoft software for which Amazon.com has apparently preannounced availability. The online retailer also is taking preorders for Microsoft Office 2007, and has listed that the day that product will be available is the same as Windows Vista: January 30, 2007.

Microsoft Still Won't Confirm or Deny

Microsoft on Wednesday still would not confirm the exact availability of Office, continuing to maintain in a statement through its public relations firm that the system will be available to business customers by the end of the year, and consumers in early 2007.

On Tuesday, the company also toed the party line on Windows Vista availability, repeating what it has said since March: Vista will be available to business customers in November, and consumers in January 2007.

Microsoft's comment on Vista followed Tuesday's news reports that Amazon.com was taking preorders for the OS and had not only listed the software's date of availability, but also pricing, which the vendor had not announced yet.

If Amazon.com's listings are correct, it seems Microsoft plans to ship the consumer versions of Windows Vista and Office 2007 simultaneously at the end of January. Both products have been delayed past the release dates the company originally targeted for them. However, Microsoft has said for some time it would release the two products together, and in March even purposefully pushed Office 2007's release date into next year so it would ship at the same time as Vista.