Office 2007 as Development Platform

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Since it looks like the NDA wraps have been removed from Office 2007, I believe I can now post about it here and let you know where I think it presents some interesting opportunities for ISVs. Having just returned from the Office Developers Conference in Redmond, I have just one word to say for what I've seen: wow!

As a developer who grew up on Win16 and Win32, I could help but find some of the VBA based apps produced by Office developers amusing. "They're just playing with script" I'd say to myself in reassuarnce as they blew away my (I thought) elegant threading logic with apps that solved real end-user business issues. "They don't know a NULL from a void - they'll never be able to touch what I can do."  Well, as self-satisfying as my internal monologue was, it didn't amount to a hill of beans - both types of developers have their place in this ecosystem - both serve valuable and necessary functions.

However, I've seen a place where both kinds of developers can be happy and productive: that place is Office 2007. Very soon, Microsoft will place the power to do the following in the hands of developers:

  • Native XML file formats
  • First class managed wrappers for extending the UIs of Word, Excel, and Outlook
  • Server side Excel, InfoPath, and Groove
  • The truly awesome new SharePoint platform

All from Visual Studio, and all using/extending the .NET Framework patterns and metaphors in a natural way.

If you're a dev who had the same sort of reaction to Office development, I strongly encourage you to take a close look at Office 2007. If you're an ISV building these kinds of solutions, now is a great time to gain a strategic advantage from the rising tide of the Office platform.

Have fun, and have at it!