There has been a fair amount of confusion about the expiration of the Office 2007 Beta2 Technical Refresh (B2TR). Even the Q&A session in the SBSC webcast yesterday didn’t yield an immediate answer.
Understandably Partners are concerned that the Microsoft Action Pack Subscription (MAPS) version of the final Office 2007 bits may not arrive before the Beta bits time-bomb and drop into hockeypuck mode.
Like many folks, the copy of Office 2007 B2TR on my demo machine states an expiration date of Feb 1, 2007. This date is incorrect!
The correct expiration date for Office 2007 B2TR is March 31, 2007.
Proof (and I quote):
“The correct expiration date for Beta2 Technical Refresh is displayed during setup. If the user checks the License Agreement from the client once Beta2 Technical Refresh is installed, it will display the incorrect date. The correct expiration date for Beta2 Technical Refresh is: March 31, 2007.”
URL: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/FX101517941033.aspx
So now you can breathe a little easier and not have to worry about downgrading to 2003 if your Action Pack gets held up by DHL.
Props: Hats-off to Paige Boesen, Chris Van Wesep & Stacy Miros for tracking down the official date and for the excellent followup. You guys rock!
BTW: To save a follow-up blog post, Vista Beta RC1 expires on June 1, 2007.