Microsoft has been hard at work developing the next major version of its office product, namely the office 2010. It has just reached the RC stage, which means the final development process is over and only the existing bugs will be sorted out.

The latest build is stated to be Office 2010 RTM Escrow Build 14.0.4734.1000. It has already been released to Microsoft trusted partners, although it has not been available for public testing by end users.

The new features in office 2010 include more application of the Ribbon UI, screenshot tool, protected mode, author permissions, and means to compress as well as manipulate media, broadcast option, and general improvements in all applications.

The company claims that people would be able to purchase office 2010 in June, which means that the final RTM would be developed at least a month or so earlier, to facilitate distribution.