Microsoft Corp. plans to release a new version of its Office productivity software next year, company Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates said yesterday. Although many insiders had speculated that a new version of Office would come in 2006, Microsoft until now had not publicly confirmed when it would deliver the product. A 2006 release is in line with Microsoft's two- to three-year release schedules for Office. The last major version, Office 2003, arrived in late 2003.

Microsoft officials have been coy about the next Office release, which has been referred to as Office 12. Gates, in a speech at a Microsoft event for developers in Las Vegas, said the new release will offer enhancements in areas such as workflow capabilities, rights management, advanced scheduling, document sharing and business intelligence.